Variability of domestic burning habits in the South African Highveld: A case study in the KwaDela Township (April 2017)

Abstract

Air quality in the South African low-income residential areas is poor due to gaseous and particulate emissions from a range of sources including domestic burning. The absence of data on fuel use and variability in low-income residential areas introduces uncertainties when quantifying total emissions from the township. The aim is to characterise KwaDela resident's fuel use, and stove operation behaviour. Data-sets used to meet the objectives of the paper were both qualitative and quantitative. These include detailed fuel use survey responses, two-week first person observations, and stove temperature data collected from KwaDela. The observations were made during winter (2016) to capture the residents' fuel use behaviour when ambient concentrations are at their peak. Residents use modern and traditional energy sources. Coal is the primary fuel while wood and dung are mostly used to start coal fires. The most common burning appliance in KwaDela is cast-iron coal stove. Inter- and intra-variability of fuel use, burning patterns and stove operations were recorded during observations. The majority of the residents have two burning events per day, a morning burning events starts between 06h00–08h00 end 11:00–12:30, and the evening fire events starts between 16h00 up to 17h30 end 21:30–22:00. Factors determining household energy profile are (I) fuel availability (II) demographics and (III) seasons.