The greatest greenhouse gas emitter in South Africa is the energy sector. Photo: Reuters
The energy sector remains the main contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in South Africa, according to the country’s ninth national greenhouse gas inventory report.
The 598-page report, which is required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, was published by Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Dion George earlier this month.
The report, which tracks emissions from all sectors of the economy, covers the period 2000 to 2022, providing estimates of the current emission levels and trends in the country.
George’s department said South Africa is required by the UN framework convention to provide in its national inventory “on a gas-by-gas basis, and its units’ mass, estimates of anthropogenic [human-caused] emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, by sources and removals by [carbon] sinks”. An accurate, complete and updated greenhouse gas emissions inventory is a “good foundation for effective mitigation responses”.
The primary uses of the inventory report are to support informed policy and decision-making on viable climate mitigation response measures “for the country to achieve the envisioned transition to a lower carbon economy and climate-resilient society”.
Gas trends
Carbon dioxide is the largest contributor to South Africa’s emissions, accounting for 81.9% in 2022. Most of it is from the energy sector, which accounted for an average of 92.3% of total carbon dioxide emissions between 2000 and 2022.
This was followed by the industrial processes and product use sector contribution, which accounted for an average of 7.2% to carbon dioxide emissions between 2000 and 2022, while the agriculture sector contributed an average of 0.5%.
Methane emissions climbed from 12.9% to 13.2% between 2000 and 2022, with the report noting that in the agriculture sector, specifically enteric fermentation, and the waste sector, specifically solid waste disposal, were the major contributors to the total methane emissions in 2022.
Enteric fermentation refers to a natural part of the digestive process of ruminants, including cattle, sheep and goats, where microbes decompose and ferment feed present in the digestive tract to produce energy and protein along with methane. Enteric methane is a by-product of this process and is expelled by the animal through burping.
The report found that nitrous oxide emissions rose from 3.4% to 3.5% between 2000 and 2022. The main contributor of these emissions is the agriculture sector followed by the energy sector, which contribute 73.4% and 14.8%, respectively.
Fluorinated gases emissions were only estimated for the industrial processes and product use sector in South Africa, with the report finding that these rose from 0.2% to 1.3% between 2000 and 2022.
“These emissions have increased since 2011 because of the addition of hydrofluorocarbons emissions from air conditioning, foam blowing agents, fire protection and aerosols. There is no data prior to 2005, so this time series is not consistent. The replacement of ozone depleting substances did contribute to this increase.”
Energy sector
Energy emissions in 2022 accounted for 78% and 86% of total emissions, the report said. Most of the energy sector’s emissions were from energy industries (60%) and transport (14%), while the least emissions were from solid fuels (0.6%) and oil and natural gas activities (0.03%).
Energy sector emissions fell by 2.5% for the period 2000 to 2022. Emissions from the other sectors category decreased the most (by 62%) during this period mainly because of the residential sector.
“This is likely due to increased electrification over the years, as well as an increase in the use of renewable energy. Emissions from domestic aviation and petroleum refining also decreased significantly, 70% and 73% respectively, since 2000,” the report said.
Although energy sector emissions fell slightly from 2000 to 2022, emissions from electricity production rose by 11.5% because of an 8.7% increase in power generation in that period.
Since 2020, energy emissions have declined by 0.2%. In 2021, emissions increased by 3.5% but then dropped again in 2022 to pandemic levels. “This decrease is due to a 6.5% decrease in emissions from the energy industries sub-sector which, on average, accounts for 67% of the energy sector emissions.”
Industrial processes and product use sector
Emissions from this sector in 2022 accounted for 6.4% of the country’s emissions. The largest source category was the metal industry, which contributed 51.2% to the total sector emissions.
The mineral industry and the products used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances sub-sectors, contributed 19.8% and 19.4%, respectively, to the industrial processes and product use sector emissions.
Since 2000, industrial processes and product use sector emissions have fallen by 6.7%, the report noted. “The decline can be attributed to the decline in metals production (-39.0%), specifically iron and steel and aluminium. This can be ascribed to the deteriorating economy. The chemicals industry also declined (-31.4%).”
Meanwhile, the production of cement and the use of fuels and solvents in cement-making caused a rise in carbon dioxide emissions by 2 081Gg (gigagrams) of carbon dioxide equivalent since 2000, with the report noting that the local demand for cement had “increased dramatically” from 2000.
The sector’s emissions had climbed by 23.1% since 2020, mainly because of the restoration of production in the minerals (26.8%) and metals (26.83%) industry post-Covid, while the report noted that 2020, which marked the start of the pandemic, was used by some industries for maintenance.
“A contribution was also made by the increased replacement of ozone depleting substances by fluorinated gases (12.5%). The chemicals industry had lower emissions (- 22.5%) due to lower production.”
Agricultural emissions
In 2022, agriculture emissions accounted for about 12% of total emissions for the country. Most of the agriculture sector emissions were from enteric fermentation (68%), agricultural soils (18%) and manure management (8%), while the least emissions were from field burning of agricultural residues (0.1%).
The report noted that, since 2000, agriculture sector emissions had decreased by 9.1%.
“Emissions from enteric fermentation decreased the most (by 14%) during this period mainly because of the reduced non-dairy cattle total emissions. This is likely due to decreased livestock population numbers since 2000.”
The emissions from manure management rose by 8% because of the increase in nitrous oxide emissions from manure management.
“The rise in [nitrous oxide] emissions from handling manure occurred primarily due to the practice of leaving most manure in dry lot/ kraals across various livestock categories … The storage of dry-based manure predominantly contributes to increased [nitrous oxide] production.”
The report said that, since 2020, agriculture sector emissions had declined by 0.6%, mainly owing to the declining livestock population.
Waste sector emissions
For 2022, waste sector emissions accounted for 4% and 4.8% of the total emissions. Most of these emissions were from wastewater treatment and discharge, which contributed 44.7% to the total sector emissions. This was followed by solid waste disposal, which contributed 41.5%.
The biological treatment of solid waste, incineration and the open burning of waste contributed 12.2% and 1.6% of the total waste emissions, respectively.
Since 2000, emissions from the waste sector rose by 44.1% while solid waste disposal emissions increased by 47.6%. Meanwhile, emissions from incineration and the open burning of waste had climbed by 53.1% since 2000, while emissions from wastewater treatment and discharge increased slightly throughout the time series.
“This is largely driven by increases of 35.6% in domestic wastewater treatment and discharge emissions, while there was a 9.4% decline in industrial wastewater treatment and discharge emissions.”
According to the report, the carbon intensity of the population — total net emissions per capita — had fallen by 33% since 2000, with 2020 experiencing the highest annual decrease of 10%.
“Similarly, both the carbon intensity of the economy and the carbon intensity of the energy supply have decreased, by 42% and 35%, respectively, since 2000. These carbon intensity indicators show that, overall, South Africa’s carbon intensity is decreasing over time.”
