Initial estimates of anthropogenic heat emissions for the City of Durban

Abstract

Cities in South Africa are key hotspots for regional emissions and climate change impacts including the urban heat island effect. Anthropogenic Heat (AH) emission is an important driver of warming in urban areas. The implementation of mitigation measures within urban sectors such as transport, industry, community and local government can hav eco-benefits for ameliorating the urban heat island effect and improving air quality. Characterizing atmospheric emissions is a first step for the generation of empirical evidence to identify policy measures that are most likely to simultaneously meet development needs that allow for societal wellbeing and economic growth whilst living within environmental thresholds. This study provides an initial estimate of AH emissions for Durban for 2011. A top down emission model was developed to quantify the AH emissions using municipality energy consumption statistics.