South Africa produced its inaugural official gauge of the carbon intensity of its electricity production, confirming its status as one of the world’s top producers per capita of greenhouse gases. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and he Environment this month said that the country’s domestic generation grid emission factor a measure of the carbon intensity of electricity produced in the country, is 1.013 tons of carbon dioxide or its equivalent per megawatt hour. The department used 2021 data. While there’s no direct comparison, as different methodologies are used to determine the factor, Ember, a climate think tank, said South Africa has the most carbon-intensive energy system of any of the countries in the Group of 20 nations followed by Saudi Arabia and India. The introduction of the measure is a further step by the country, which relies on coal for more than 80% of its power, to transition its grid away from fossil fuels. While the process has been beset by political infighting, it has committed to ambitious emission reduction targets and has drawn up a plan to lessen its dependence on coal.