Rolling out the friendly fires

ECOSERV measures the impact a new method of lighting coal fires can have on the air quality for a community

ECOSERV consultant Mia Antoni recently wrapped up a four-month dust monitoring project for Anglo Coal in Witbank's Hlalanikahle township, a low-income area plagued by high levels of PM₁₀ in the air.

The PM₁₀ testing is an integral element of tracking the effectiveness a Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) initiative to teach the local community a new method of lighting coal fires. The method is called “ Basa Njengo Magogo ”, which means ‘make your fire like the old lady'.

It is named after Nobelungu Mashinini, a 63-year-old gogo from Secunda who discovered that by following five simple steps, she could light a fire that produced less smoke than traditional methods and burned for longer.

“The burning of fossil fuels for cooking, water and heating can result in high levels of indoor and outdoor air pollution,” says Mia. “The way coal is typically burnt, which is in open fires and old stoves, has a huge impact on health and the environment. And since coal is likely to remain a major source of energy for the foreseeable future, it is essential to find ways to reduce its impact.”

Several companies have been empowered by the DME to roll out the Basa Njengo Magogo (BnM) initiative, targeting communities that use a significant amount of coal as a household fuel. Business is funding the rollout of the strategy in different areas, with Anglo Coal focusing on Witbank, whose community is close to many of the Anglo Coal operations.

On 4 October, Anglo Coal won a Nedbank Green Mining award in the socio-economic category for the project. “The Nedbank award shows that Anglo is going the extra mile with this project,” says Linda Watson , Sustainable Development Analyst at Anglo Coal. “We believe it is a genuinely worthwhile project. It benefits the environment and the community's health as it reduces air pollution, which also benefits the health of our employees who live in the community. And from a social point of view it provides income to the field workers who are employed from the local community for the duration of the rollout.”

Crucial to measuring the success of the educational component of the initiative is to measure the air quality before and after the rollout, says Frank Schwegler from Anglo America's technical department.

“It is critical to get enough data so you can see the improvements,” says Frank. “The BnM programme was rolled out in Witbank last year but they did not do enough monitoring to get a good baseline reading. We decided to do it properly this year and brought in ECOSERV as they have the best reputation in PM₁₀ monitoring. We will tackle one area at a time and take data over at least two or three years.”

Mia agrees that ECOSERV is the leader in the field of PM₁₀ monitoring. “We offer consistencies in methodology in terms of equipment and calculation and can repeat the sampling study next year to get comparative study results. The idea is to measure to establish whether the PM₁₀ levels drop within a year of the programme being rolled out in Witbank. It would be a good indication that the educational component has worked if there has been a reduction in the amount of PM₁₀ in the air.”

From June to September, Mia based her Microvol PM₁₀ sampler at the Hlalanikahle Clinic. “We specifically monitor for PM₁₀ as opposed to total suspended particles because PM₁₀ has the potential to impact on human health."

PM₁₀ can be defined as air pollutants consisting of small particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 10 micrometer (about 1/7 the diameter of a single human hair). Their small size allows them to make their way to the air passages deep within the lungs where they may be deposited and result in adverse health effects. PM₁₀ also causes visibility reduction.

But levels of PM₁₀ were very high. “We have had results in excess of 300 µg/m³ which is way over the Department of Environment (DEAT) limit of 180 µg/m³ , and the SANS recommended guideline of 75 µg/m³ .”

BnM Rollout

Mmathabo Mrubata, director of Onke, is rolling out the BnM project in Witbank. In 2004 Mmathabo rolled out the first BnM programme to 20 000 households in Orange Farm.

“Witbank was chosen for the programme as it is one of the areas where people rely heavily on coal as a fuel source,” she says. “By implementing the programme, it will not only make a difference in the way people make a fire, but in their lives generally. The fires last longer and require less coal, giving the people more heat, saving them money and improving their health.”

Mmathabo says the best way to spread the word starts with conducting street demonstrations, where her staff gather the names and addresses of people watching the demonstrations. “The next day we do a follow up visit at their homes to ask if they are using the method and whether they need help, and another check up is done after two weeks. We also do house-to-house demonstrations for small groups of four or five people.”

The method is demonstrated in five steps, backed up by a song. “The song has lovely harmonies and melodies that people can't forget. They like the song and it reminds them of the steps they must follow when lighting a fire. It will be with them for the rest of their lives.”

Five steps

The BnM method involves placing coal at the bottom of the brazier, followed by paper and a few sticks of wood. This is followed by lighting the paper to burn the wood. Once the wood is burning, a handful of coal is placed on top.

The principle is based on the fact that smoke is generated at the hot/cold boundary. In the normal bottom-up coal fire ignition process, the smoke rises through the cold coals and escapes. In the top-down ignition process, the smoke rises through the hot zone and is burnt.

Study results

Results of studies on the DME website indicate that after implementing the BnM fire ignition method at Orange Farm during the winter in 2003, 76% of households reported less smoke in their homes, 67% reported less smoke in the streets after one month, and 99% of households reported a saving of R26 per week.

And in 2005, a survey of BnM retention in Orange Farm indicated that about 49% of people who attended demonstrations in 2003 were still using the method correctly and over 60% of these households had seen economic and health benefits.

Another BnM method rolled out in 2005 to the informal settlement of Diepsloot, which has a high coal usage, reached about 20 000 households. A month after the BnM demonstrations, 100% of the people who attended demonstrations were using the BnM method and 53% of households were saving 5kg to 10 kg of coal a month.

The BnM progamme is one which ECOSERV has warmed to. “It has been extremely rewarding,” says Mia. “The people I have worked with at the Hlalanikahle Clinic have been fantastic. The security guard at the Clinic, Sylvester Moepye, has been responsible for changing the sampler filters every 24 hours and running the sampler. He has operated the equipment practically flawlessly for four months and has had an amazing data capture rate of 98%. The fact that it has been a cooperative effort with all these groups has been significant. It is always encouraging to see something coming from high in national government and working on the ground.”

Anglo Coal is also happy with the team working on the project. “ECOSERV's equipment has worked flawlessly and consistently this year and we are now waiting for feedback on the results,” says Linda. “Everyone involved in rolling out the programme has been very energetic and dedicated to the work at hand.”