Eskom rebuts report it leads world nitrogen pollution

The Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. Arnot coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga, South Africa.Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg

JOHANNESBURG: Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, South Africa’s state power company, disputed the findings of a Greenpeace report that it operates many of the world’s worst emission sites for toxic nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide.

The Major Air Polluters in Africa report, released last Thursday by Greenpeace, asserted that coal-fired plants operated by the utility account for five of the world’s 10 biggest single-source nitrogen-dioxide emission sites.

The company also runs two of the 10 worst sulfur-dioxide sites, Greenpeace said.

“The Greenpeace report appears to rely on satellite interpretation of the high levels of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide in the troposphere,” Eskom said in a response to queries.

It “links the nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide measured many hundreds of metres above the ground to direct health impacts at ground level,” the utility added.

South Africa, which relies on coal for the generation of more than 80% of its electricity, has some of the world’s worst air pollution, with emission standards that, while considerably more lenient than in other major polluters China and India, are rarely enforced. — Bloomberg