Energy, environment and urban poverty in South Africa Clive van Horen, Anton Eberhard, Hilton Trollip and Stephen Thorne The high levels of inequality which characterize the South African political economy are reflected in its patterns of energy use and consequent environmental impacts. In spite of significant overcapacity on the national electricity grid, two- thirds of households do not have access to electricity, and rely instead on dirtier and less convenient fuels, such as coal. As a result, urban air quality is severely degraded, with health guidelines for concentrations of particulate mat- ter frequently being exceeded. Adverse effects on residents' health have been observed. On the whole, the impacts of a national electrification initiative are likely to be positive, although a complete switch to electricity may not occur immediately. It is argued that efficiency mea- sures should form part of an electrification initia- tive to ameliorate environmental costs. Finally, this paper considers some investment implica- tions of mass electrification and concludes that the electricity supply industry itself has the means to bring about more equitable access to electricity services for the urban poor. Keywords: Householdenergy;Environment;Urban Many of South Africa's environmental problems derive from its patterns of energy use. The energy sector is characterized by an exceedingly high dependence on coal; unique and massive invest- ments in oil from coal plants and large coal fired power stations; intensive use of abundant and cheap energy supplies in the mining, industrial and The authors are with the Energy for Development Re- search Centre, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7700, South Africa. commercial sectors of the economy; and energy scarcities among large numbers of poorer house- holds. Moreover, it is the urban poor who suffer most acutely the consequences of a deteriorating environment. South Africa's pattern of energy use Coal contributes approximately 80% of primary energy use in South Africa, about half of which is consumed in the production of electricity by Eskom, the national electricity utility. 1 Eskom generates 98% of electricity sold in the country, and more than half of the electricity produced on the African continent. The utility has an installed generating capacity of 38 000 MW and operates a series of large 3600 MW stations which are concentrated around the coal fields of the Eastern Transvaal Highveld, east of Johannesburg. Less than a quarter of local coal consumption goes to industry, commerce, services and households, and just over a quarter is consumed in the three Sasol synthetic fuel plants which provide about a third of South Africa's petroleum requirements. 2 Coal com- bustion and the coal based petrochemical industries contribute to deteriorating air quality, particularly in the Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging (PWV) region of the Southern Transvaal, which is home to about a quarter of South Africa's total population and nearly half of its urban population) Eskom operates Africa's only nuclear power sta- tion, which comprises two 290 MW French designed pressurized water reactors at Koeberg, 30 km north of Cape Town. Medium and low level nuclear waste is buried in the desert wilderness of the Northern Cape, while high level waste is kept under water at the Koeberg plant, awaiting reprocessing in France and decisions on long-term storage and disposal. 0301-4215/93/050623-17~ 1993 Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd 623