Eskom's absolute emissions of greenhouse gases declined 0.85 percent to 221.7 million tons in the 2009 reporting period of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) due to reduced electricity demand.
However, the power utility's relative emissions increased due to a decline in overall thermal efficiency. Relative emissions measure intensity per unit of output.
Although not a listed company, Eskom reports voluntarily to the CDP. It accounts for about half of South Africa's estimated annual emissions.
Eskom intends to cut relative emissions until 2025, and then reduce absolute emissions. It is developing "technology roadmaps" to decide when lower-emitting technologies such as underground coal gasification will be commercially available for baseload capacity.