Abstract:
SIGNIFICANCE :
South Africa’s scheduled power outages, commonly known as load shedding, are increasing each year due
to instability and poor performance of the existing fleet of power stations supplying electricity. The power
provider projects that there will be load shedding every week for the next year. Data availability from the
existing air quality monitoring stations infrastructure is already sparse over South Africa. Increased load
shedding exacerbates this issue as power outages disrupt equipment operation. The collection of long-term and continuous ambient air quality data is needed for air quality-related research, policy and strategy
development, and air quality management. The introduction of air quality monitors that are reliable and
climate-friendly, such as passive samples, rechargeable battery-powered sensors and renewable energy
powered sensors, might be interim interventions to ensure continuous data collection.
