Environmental Technologies Industries

South Africa Environmental Export Market Plan

Chapter 4

Project Summary
Project number:	ENV-03
Subsector:	Water
Location:	Nkomazi Area, Mpumalanga Province
Project cost:	$23 million
Export potential:	$7.25 million
Key Contacts
Company/ agency:	Department of Water Affairs And Forestry District Council of Lowveld and Escarpment
Contact name:	Mr. Werner Comrie Mr. Nico Classen
Phone number:	27-13-752-4183; 27-82-808-0435 (cellular) 27-13-755-2580; 27-83-286-1402 (cellular)
Fax number:	27-13-7522-505627-13-755-2453

Project Summary
Project number:	ENV-04
Subsector:	Water
Location:	Mlondozi Area, Mpumalanga Province
Project cost:	$7 million
Export potential:	$5.25 million

Project Summary
Project number:	ENV-05
Subsector:	Water
Location:	Mswati Area, Mpumalanga Province
Project cost:	$6.6 million
Export potential:	$4.4 million
Key Contacts
Company/ agency:	Department of Water Affairs and Forestry District Council of Lowveld and Escarpment
Contact name:	Mr. Werner Comrie Mr. Nico Classen
Phone number:	27-13-752-4183; 27-82-808-0435 (cellular) 27-13-755-2580; 27-83-286-1402 (cellular)
Fax number:	27-13-7522-505627-13-755-2453

Project Summary
Project number:	ENV-06
Subsector:	Water
Location:	Nsizaki Area, Mpumalanga Province
Project cost:	$18 million
Export potential:	$13.5 million
Key Contacts
Company/ agency:	Department of Water Affairs and Forestry District Council of Lowveld and Escarpment
Contact name:	Mr. Werner Comrie Mr. Francois Van Eck
Phone number:	27-13-752-4183; 27-82-808-0435 (cellular) 27-17-631-1257
Fax number:	27-13-7522-5056

Solid and Hazardous Waste

There is scant information from South Africa on solid waste management. Information has never been gathered in the black townships and the countryside. The South African Government is currently developing new legislation, which will lead to new regulations, policies, and operating procedures for solid and hazardous waste. In the interim, the old system is being retrofitted to meet the immediate needs of the country. As in water provision, local government will play an important role in providing baseline information as most waste sites are under the management of local authorities.

DWAF and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in South Africa announced a joint effort to develop the Integrated Pollution Control and Waste Management (IPC&WM) policy. According to information from these two departments, “A national waste management strategy will be developed as a second phase of this project.” This strategy will give greater resolution to components of the IPC&WM policy.

Mining Waste
Mining companies produce most of the solid waste in South Africa. Some of this waste is toxic as a result of contamination with cyanide. The total annual amount of this waste is estimated to be 200 million tons. This waste is sometimes placed in very large dumps or used for backfilling mines and the rehabilitation of sites.

Municipal Waste
Urban populations in South Africa produce municipal waste. The most affluent areas of South Africa produce about 1 kilogram of waste per person per day. Practically all of this waste is deposited in landfills, although a small part is composted. Some recycling--specifically of aluminum cans, paper, and glass--also takes place.

Hospital Waste
Hospital waste is disposed of by incineration. The incinerators are normally small and in most cases operated by the hospital. One company in South Africa handles nearly all hospital waste that is not destroyed on-site.

Chemical and Hazardous Waste
The chemical industry produces most of the hazardous solid waste in South Africa. In the past, a considerable amount of waste was dumped at company sites. Since there are no large incinerators in South Africa, most of the hazardous waste is now deposited in landfills. However, only one site in the whole of South Africa is classified for hazardous waste dumping. This is called a codisposal site where hazardous waste is mixed with municipal waste. Extremely toxic waste is encapsulated in concrete or stored at the same site. There is a need for sophisticated technology to treat this type of waste.

A hazardous waste incinerator is planned for the Gauteng region.

Potential for U.S. Businesses

Potential markets for U.S. companies in the solid/hazardous waste field include:
Landfill technologies: Liners, covers, methane collection systems, barriers to prevent underground pollution migration into the aquifers.
Cogeneration of electricity plants: “Turnkey” power plants that burn trash to generate high-pressure steam and electricity. The plants will provide jobs and cheap electricity that will encourage industry to locate nearby, thereby creating more jobs.
High-temperature incinerators: For medical and hazard-ous waste, to include low-level nuclear medical waste. (See major infrastructure requirement for Peacock Bay below.)
Vitrification: The incinerated low-level nuclear waste can be vitrified.
Methane collection systems: Waste recovery, including farm waste, can be used to generate local electricity.
Slag recovery technologies: Recovery of precious metal from tailings (e.g., gold) can be realized, while cleaning up the slag heaps (e.g., arsenic) to environmentally safe levels.

Peacock Bay Hazardous Waste Incinerator Project: The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) has approved a grant of $343,500 to the South African firm Peacock Bay Environmental Services (PBES) to fund a feasibility study on a proposed high-temperature industrial waste incineration project. TDA believes this project holds significant potential for U.S. exporters (up to $50 million) and will provide substantial commercial and environmental benefits to South Africa.

The study is intended to determine the technical and commercial viability of establishing hazardous waste fixed treatment, storage, and disposal facilities for government and industry near Johannesburg, South Africa. PBES, a privately held South African company, has been working on environmental projects for several years.

High-temperature, rotary kiln-based incineration, with integral air pollution control equipment, is applied worldwide as the most environmentally appropriate and cost-effective technology for treatment of broad spectrum industrial and hazardous organic wastes. Substantial quantities of these wastes are currently being generated by industry in South Africa, and a large backlog of poorly stored wastes currently awaits suitable treatment and disposal facilities. The technology proposed for this project has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The proposed project will provide a key element in reducing health and other risks in South Africa and will help to minimize the adverse impacts of both current and future industrial waste streams. The ability to mitigate hazardous waste impact on the environment will become increasingly important given the projected rates of industrial growth anticipated in the country.

Following are a summary of the Peacock Bay Hazardous Waste Incinerator Project and contacts for additional information:

Project Summary
Project number:	ENV-01
Subsector:	Water Management
Location:	Johannesburg, Gauteng
Project cost:	$725 million
Export potential:	$50 million
Owner/agency:	Peacock Bay Environmental Service (Pty) Ltd.
Key Contacts
Company/ agency:	Peacock Bay Enviromental Services (Pty) Ltd.CSIR Environmental Services
Contact name:	Mr. Sidney Sanders Managing Director Cape Town, Western Cape, SA Mr. Sean O’Beirne Pretoria, Gauteng, SA
Phone number:	27-21-644-98627-12-841-3463
Fax number:	27-21-644-98627-12-804-1354
E-mail:	sobeirne@ematek. csir.co.za

Energy and Air Pollution
Along with acquiring new environmental technology that will improve the health and safety of the population, South Africa is becoming aware of the environmental degradation stemming from deforestation and open combustion of fossil and biomass fuels.

Though crucial for sustainable development, energy production and use pose significant threats to the environmental stability and are responsible for over 50 percent of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change. Suspended particulate matter and acid rain pose major threats to the local environment and public health. In South Africa, the causes of air pollution and contamination range from domestic coal burning stoves to uncontrolled emissions from fuel burning power plants to the use of virtually 100 percent leaded gas in vehicles. For example, it is estimated that in the city of Soweto, 88 percent of the black households have no access to electricity.

Potential for U.S. Businesses
Technological solutions are needed to alleviate air pollution from industries; alternative energy sources are needed to assist urban and rural dependency on domestic coal burning; and education on all aspects of air quality is needed. Many U.S. technologies would be appropriate solutions to these problems. Potential opportunities for U.S. companies include the following:

Clean coal technologies: Clean coal washing, scrubbers, and other fossil fuel-related technologies can dramatically degrade the amount of sulfur dioxide and other harmful emissions being produced.

Clean mining technologies: Technologies that negate carbon dioxide emissions will negate some of the greenhouse gases generated by the mining industry.

Alternative energy technologies: The ability to provide alternative electricity capabilities to meet current and projected domestic and industrial requirements could have a large impact on South Africa’s current dependency on burning coal.

Clean air technologies: Technologies that reduce ozone-depleting gases could have long-term impacts.
Unleaded gas technologies: The ability to convert existing petrochemical facilities to produce unleaded gas and convert existing and future vehicles to operate efficiently on unleaded gas are required.
Air quality monitoring equipment.

Electricity
South Africa intends to electrify an additional 2.5 million households and approximately 17,000 schools by the year 2000. This large need for electrification has created opportunities for private investment by joint-venture consortiums. In theory, excess generation exists in the country. Nevertheless, power plant upgrades for life extension, or introduction of newer technologies, are likely to be needed to ensure that the electricity supply remains reliable as demand begins to dramatically increase. An opportunity exists for service-oriented ventures such as turbine refurbishment or specialty welding, which can improve existing power plants at a fraction of the cost of building new facilities.

There may also be a market to retrofit technologies to existing coal-fueled power plants, depending on the nature of future emissions regulations. Similarly, a window of opportunity exists for ventures specializing in energy efficiency. The energy intensity (i.e., energy use per unit of economic output) of South Africa is one of the highest in the world, and there is room for improvement in everything from housing construction to industrial energy use.

The greatest opportunities for electricity-related ventures appear to be in the field of renewable energy. Because much of the population of South Africa is located in areas far from electric power grid connections, renewable energy sources—photovoltaics in particular— are expected to play a big role in South Africa’s energy future.

South Africa’s priority in the electricity sector is rural electrification. This will improve the quality of life in nonurban areas and help stem the migration of rural job seekers into urban areas; however, the mechanisms for financing the electrification program have not yet been identified. Eskom, the national utility, has a monopoly on power generation and transmission. Should South Africa consider privatization and deregulation, opportunities for international joint ventures will emerge.

Coal, Oil, and Gas
South Africa lacks oil and gas reserves. This fact, combined with years of international isolation, led the country to build a highly developed synthetic fuel industry. Sasol is presently the world’s sixth largest private coal mining company and the world’s largest manufacturer of oil from coal. The South African Government started it in the 1950s to help reduce the country’s dependence on imported oil. Sasol’s coal-to-synfuels process, which involves coal gasification and subsequent liquefaction of the resulting syngas, supplies South Africa with virtually all feedstocks needed for the country’s petrochemical industry. Sasol also provides over one-third of the country’s transportation fuel.

Oil production in South Africa does not nearly meet the country’s oil demands. Of the 140,000 barrels of oil produced daily in South Africa, almost all of it--130,000 barrels per day--is synthetic. South Africa presently consumes about 400,000 barrels per day. Soekor, South Africa’s state-financed exploration company, has for years attempted to develop its own conventional oil resources in addition to synfuels.

A number of offshore oil development leases have been auctioned since the new government took over to entice foreign companies into the market. Soeker--together with Engen, an independent oil company in South Africa--is attempting to develop a small oilfield on South Africa’s southern coast. The downstream oil sector in South Africa is well developed, with sufficient refining capacity for at least 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day. South African refineries spent about $700 million on upgrades and improvements to accommodate the introduction of unleaded fuels into the market.

South Africa’s proven natural gas reserve is only about 1 trillion cubic feet, or about 0.6 percent of that of the United States. Although natural gas production presently meets the yearly consumption of about 50 billion cubic feet, additional supplies of gas will soon be needed. Enron Corporation has a memorandum of understanding with Mozambique’s Mineral Resources Ministry to develop the Pande gasfield, which contains as much as 1.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Enron would construct a pipeline to export much of the gas to South Africa. Two other somewhat less direct approaches to expanding South Africa’s natural gas resources are implementation of new technologies to extend the life of existing gasfields and coalbed methane recovery. The U.S. Department of Energy is sponsoring a coalbed methane project involving the Southern African Development Community and South Africa. It is too early to predict the possible impact of these projects on South Africa’s natural gas reserve.

Coal is one of South Africa’s largest exports. It accounts for 98 percent of South Africa’s energy production and 78 percent of energy consumption. At an estimated 60 billion short tons, South Africa’s coal reserves are the seventh largest in the world. Coal combustion in South Africa is now nearly 150 million short tons per year, with almost all of it used for electricity generation and synthetic fuel production. Sufficient coal reserves and a well-developed coal mining and transportation infrastructure make it possible for South Africa to export large amounts of coal. In 1993, about 57 million short tons were exported, mainly to the European Union. Coal ranks as South Africa’s third largest foreign exchange earner, after gold and platinum.

It is uncertain how the fuel sector will evolve in South Africa; however, opportunities exist for U.S. corporations, either as part of joint venture consortiums or by themselves. For example, there are opportunities in the oil sector for both exploration and refining, and as we have seen, South Africa has shown its willingness to open offshore tracts for exploration. Refining capacity is sufficient now, but planning for additional capacity and associated infrastructure will be needed in a few years as the energy needs of the country grow. The natural gas sector presents a clearer window of opportunity for technology
providers that can help extend existing gasfields or economically recover coalbed methane from South Africa’s extensive coal reserves. In the coal sector, there are needs for improvements in mine safety tech-nologies and for technologies that can recover energy from coal preparation plant refuse heaps and reclaim old mines.

However, there are strong indications that the energy field as a whole is the major source of air pollution as shown in the box below.

Indications of the Magnitude of the Air Pollution Problems Eighty-three percent of South Africa’s electricity is generated by coal combustion. Coal stoves and coal-heated boilers emit approximately 50,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the atmosphere. The mining industry accounts for an additional 27,000 tons of SO2. The coal mining industry emits approximately 35 percent of the 2.25 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane. An additional 2 million tons of CO2 are emitted by the metallurgical industry. Coal burning also contributes 68 percent of the 307.86 million tons of carbon dioxide and 83 percent of the 470,000 tons of nitrous oxide emitted each year into the atmosphere. The chemical process industry is responsible for emitting 124,000 tons of toxic hydrogen fluoride gas and approximately 500 tons per year of other toxic gases (e.g., chlorine gas, ammonia, and hydrochloric acid). Pollution from dust is an ever-increasing problem due to poor farming practices and lack of water. Leaded gasoline acutely exacerbates air pollution and ozone depletion. The lack of unleaded gas technologies for refineries and resistance to converting to a “lead-free South Africa” indicate that this could be a long-term problem.