Electricity and externalities in South Africa

Spalding-Fecher, Randall; Matibe, David K

doi:10.1016/s0301-4215(02)00123-4

Cited by 70 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The quantities of emitted pollutants depend on fuel type, plant efficiency, and whether or not the plant is equipped with filters. To link air emissions to human illness requires an understanding of air dispersion patterns, human exposure to environmental quality risks, and the dose-response or exposure-response functions [19]. The estimated physical impacts are quantified and transferred to human health impacts using the Exposure Response Function (ERF).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Human Health Impacts and Costs Due to Iranian Fossil Fuel Power Plant Emissions through the Impact Pathway Approach

et al. 2017

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Air pollutants from fossil fuel fired power plants harm the environment and human health. More than 91% of Iran's electricity production is from thermal power plants that use natural gas, diesel, and fuel oil. We apply the impact pathway approach to estimate the health impacts arising from Iranian fossil-based electricity generation emission, and in a next step, we calculate monetary costs of the estimated damages, for a one-year period starting from 20 March 2016 through 2017. We use the new version of SIMPACTS (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria) to investigate the health effects from 61 major Iran fossil-based power plants separately. The selected plants represent 95.6% of total Iran fossil-based power generation. Using the individual and different power plant estimates, we avoid extrapolation and our results can be considered more reliable, taking into account spatial differences. The total damage cost is 723.42 million USD (2000). The damage cost per generated electricity varies from 0.06 to 22.41 USD/MWh and average plant damage cost is 2.85 USD/MWh. Accounting for these external costs indicates the actual costs of fossil energy. The results are useful for policy makers to compare the health costs from these plants and to decide on cleaner energy sources and to take measures to increase benefits for society.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Human Health Impacts and Costs Due to Iranian Fossil Fuel Power Plant Emissions through the Impact Pathway Approach

et al. 2017

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“…For this reason researchers adjust monetary estimates of externalities from previous studies and transfer them to new contexts. 10 The benefit transfer technique is therefore another method that has been used by researchers.…”

Section: Externality Costs Of the Coal-fuel Chainmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The entire chain of coal-based electricity generation is thus associated with dire impacts. 6 However, research has mainly focused on the externalities of the combustion process both internationally 7,8 and locally [9][10][11][12][13] . In addition, the emphasis, even within this phase, is on human health and climate change impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Externality costs of the coal-fuel cycle: The case of Kusile Power Station

Nkambule¹,

Blignaut²

2017

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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ARTICLE INCLUDES: Supplementary material × Data set FUNDING:National Research Foundation (South Africa) Coal-based electricity is an integral part of daily life in South Africa and globally. However, the use of coal for electricity generation carries a heavy cost for social and ecological systems that goes far beyond the price we pay for electricity. We developed a model based on a system dynamics approach for understanding the measurable and quantifiable coal-fuel cycle burdens and externality costs, over the lifespan of a supercritical coal-fired power station that is fitted with a flue-gas desulfurisation device (i.e. Kusile Power Station). The total coal-fuel cycle externality cost on both the environment and humans over Kusile's lifespan was estimated at ZAR1 449.9 billion to ZAR3 279 billion or 91c/kWh to 205c/kWh sent out (baseline: ZAR2 172.7 billion or 136c/kWh). Accounting for the life-cycle burdens and damages of coal-derived electricity conservatively, doubles to quadruples the price of electricity, making renewable energy sources such as wind and solar attractive alternatives. Significance:• The use of coal for electricity generation carries a heavy cost for social and ecological systems that goes far beyond the price we pay for electricity.• The estimation of social costs is particularly important to the electric sector because of non-differentiation of electricity prices produced from a variety of sources with potentially very dissimilar environmental and human health costs.• Because all electricity generation technologies are associated with undesirable side effects in their fuelcycle and lifespan, comprehensive comparative analyses of life-cycle costs of all power generation technologies is indispensable to guide the development of future energy policies in South Africa.

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“…Papers such as Alton et al (2013) Blignaut (2012, Blignaut et al (2015); Inglesi-Lotz & Blignaut (2011;2012a;2012b;; Inglesi & Pouris (2010);Joubert (2015); Spalding-Fecher & Khorommbi (2003);and Winkler (2007), amongst others, have made valuable contributions to the literature across a wide variety of electricity related topics. However, none of these papers used a comprehensive general equilibrium modelling framework to assess the economy-wide effects of Medupi and Kusile, specifically, whilst also measuring the cost of lost production due to inadequate supply in recent years, as we do in this paper.…”

Section: Background and Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

An economy-wide evaluation of new power generation in South Africa: The case of Medupi and Kusile

Bohlmann

Inglesi‐Lotz

et al. 2016

Energy Policy

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This paper investigates the role that the building of two new power stations, Medupi and Kusile, will play in facilitating future economic activity in South Africa. We use a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to estimate the economy-wide effects of these new power stations. Our simulation results also provide insight into how much the local economy has lost due to inadequate electricity supply in the period leading up to the construction of Medupi and Kusile. We find that the decision to build additional power generation capacity was necessary and justified, and that the failure to sooner recognise the need for expansion of the country's electricity generation capacity and subsequent delays in commissioning Medupi and Kusile, likely cost the economy over R110bn in lost production. Additional analysis, in which a further two-year delay in the construction of Medupi and Kusile is simulated, shows that such an event will cause the economy to perform below baseline projections up to 2022.JEL Codes: C68, Q41, Q43

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Electricity and externalities in South Africa

Cited by 70 publications

References 16 publications

Estimating Human Health Impacts and Costs Due to Iranian Fossil Fuel Power Plant Emissions through the Impact Pathway Approach

Estimating Human Health Impacts and Costs Due to Iranian Fossil Fuel Power Plant Emissions through the Impact Pathway Approach

Externality costs of the coal-fuel cycle: The case of Kusile Power Station

An economy-wide evaluation of new power generation in South Africa: The case of Medupi and Kusile

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