Anthropogenic mercury emissions in South Africa: Coal combustion in power plants

Dabrowski, J.; Ashton, P. J.; Murray, Kevin; Leaner, Joy; Mason, Robert P.

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2008.04.032

Cited by 87 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The emissions were attributed to coal burning and gold production in equal parts. Whereas the emissions from coal burning are reasonably well documented, the large emission from gold production has been found to be incorrect as industrial gold production in South Africa relies almost exclusively on cyanide technology which does not emit mercury (Dabrowski et al, 2008;Leaner et al, 2009;Masekoameng et al, 2010). According to the more recent inventories the mercury emissions in South Africa amounted to 40 t Hg yr −1 in 2004 (Leaner et al, 2009) and 50 t Hg yr −1 in 2006 (Masekoameng et al, 2010).…”

Section: E-g Brunke Et Al: Emissions Of Mercury In Southern Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Emissions of mercury in southern Africa derived from long-term observations at Cape Point, South Africa

et al. 2012

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Abstract. Mercury emissions in South Africa have so far been estimated only by a bottom-up approach from activities and emission factors for different processes. In this paper we derive GEM/CO (GEM being gaseous elemental mercury, Hg 0 ), GEM/CO 2 , GEM/CH 4 , CO/CO 2 , CH 4 /CO 2 , and CH 4 /CO emission ratios from plumes observed during long-term monitoring of these species at Cape Point between March 2007 and December 2009. The average observed GEM/CO, GEM/CO 2 , GEM/CH 4 , CO/CO 2 , CH 4 /CO 2 , and CH4/CO emission ratios were 2.40 ± 2.65 pg m −3 ppb −1 (n = 47), 62.7 ± 80.2 pg m −3 ppm −1 (n = 44), 3.61 ± 4.66 pg m −3 ppb −1 (n = 46), 35.6 ± 25.4 ppb ppm −1 (n = 52), 20.2 ± 15.5 ppb ppm −1 (n = 48), and 0.876 ± 1.106 ppb ppb −1 (n = 42), respectively. The observed CO/CO 2 , CH 4 /CO 2 , and CH 4 /CO emission ratios agree within the combined uncertainties of the observations and emissions with the ratios calculated from EDGAR (version 4.2) CO 2 , CO, and CH 4 inventories for South Africa and southern Africa (South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique) in 2007 and 2008 (inventories for 2009 are not available yet). Total elemental mercury emission of 13.1, 15.2, and 16.1 t Hg yr −1 are estimated independently using the GEM/CO, GEM/CO 2 , and GEM/CH 4 emission ratios and the annual mean CO, CO 2 , and CH 4 emissions, respectively, of South Africa in 2007 and 2008. The average of these independent estimates of 14.8 t GEM yr −1 is much less than the total emission of 257 t Hg yr −1 shown by older inventories which are now considered to be wrong. Considering the uncertainties of our emission estimate, of the emission inventories, and the fact that emission of GEM represents 50-78 % of all mercury emissions, our estimate is comparable to the currently cited GEM emissions in 2004 and somewhat smaller than emissions in 2006. A further increase of mercury emissions due to increasing electricity consumption will lead to a more pronounced difference. A quantitative assessment of the difference and its significance, however, will require emission inventories for the years of observations (2007)(2008)(2009) as well as better data on the speciation of the total mercury emissions in South Africa.

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Section: E-g Brunke Et Al: Emissions Of Mercury In Southern Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Emissions of mercury in southern Africa derived from long-term observations at Cape Point, South Africa

et al. 2012

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“…Peak GEM values (PEs) are believed to reflect known anthropogenic sources such as coal burning and waste incineration (Pacyna et al, 2001;UNEP, 2002). Since South Africa's coal driven power stations in the Gauteng and Mpumalanga region constitute a strong Hg source (Dabrowski et al, 2008) long-range transport from up country is also likely to show up as PEs at Cape Point -an aspect, which requires further investigation.…”

Section: Other Features Characterising Pes and Desmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gaseous elemental mercury depletion events observed at Cape Point during 2007–2008

Brunke

Labuschagne

Ebinghaus³

et al. 2010

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Gaseous mercury in the marine boundary layer has been measured with a 15 min temporal resolution at the Global Atmosphere Watch station Cape Point since March 2007. The most prominent features of the data until July 2008 are the frequent occurrences of pollution (PEs) and depletion events (DEs). Both types of events originate mostly within a short transport distance (up to about 100 km), which are embedded in air masses ranging from marine background to continental. The Hg/CO emission ratios observed during the PEs are within the range reported for biomass burning and industrial/urban emissions. The depletion of gaseous mercury during the DEs is in many cases almost complete and suggests an atmospheric residence time of elemental mercury as short as a few dozens of hours, which is in contrast to the commonly used estimate of approximately 1 year. The DEs observed at Cape Point are not accompanied by simultaneous depletion of ozone which distinguishes them from the halogen driven atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs) observed in Polar Regions. Nonetheless, DEs similar to those observed at Cape Point have also been observed at other places in the marine boundary layer. Additional measurements of mercury speciation and of possible mercury oxidants are hence called for to reveal the chemical mechanism of the newly observed DEs and to assess its importance on larger scales.

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“…Comparing the per capita emissions of mercury from coal-fired power plants in South Africa to those in Canada, China, Europe, Mexico, Poland, Russia and the USA, South Africa is ranked second. 3 South Africa is also a major producer of gold but production has declined from between 600 and 700 t in 1985 to between 300 and 400 t in 2004. 4 Since 2007, China has surpassed South Africa as the world's largest gold producer.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…3 More than 90% of electricity generated in South Africa is from coal-fired power plants that are considered to be the biggest source of mercury in the country as they consume 112 Mt of coal annually, and release 9.8 t of mercury. Comparing the per capita emissions of mercury from coal-fired power plants in South Africa to those in Canada, China, Europe, Mexico, Poland, Russia and the USA, South Africa is ranked second.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 It is estimated that gold production from large and small-scale mining in Africa accounts for about 45% of total mercury emissions on the continent. 3 Other sources of mercury exposure include releases from dental fillings containing mercury, consumption of contaminated fish and breakage of mercury-containing devices such as thermometers and fluorescent lights. 6 Mercury is toxic even at low concentrations, 7 particularly the organic form of mercury called methylmercury, which accumulates in the food chain.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Mercury exposure in a low-income community in South Africa

2010

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Anthropogenic mercury emissions in South Africa: Coal combustion in power plants

Cited by 87 publications

References 13 publications

Emissions of mercury in southern Africa derived from long-term observations at Cape Point, South Africa

Emissions of mercury in southern Africa derived from long-term observations at Cape Point, South Africa

Gaseous elemental mercury depletion events observed at Cape Point during 2007–2008

Mercury exposure in a low-income community in South Africa

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