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Published in Winter 2004-2005
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First look at air pollution from over 1,000 fossil-fuel power plants in North America
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In January, the CEC released the first comparability report on emissions data from over 1000 individual fossil-fuel power plants in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The study finds a small percentage of facilities release much of the electricity sector's sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury and carbon dioxide emissions in North America. These emissions are known to contribute to acid rain, haze, smog, and climate change, as well as toxic mercury found in fish and eaten by people.
The report compiles data from 2002—the first year in which it is possible to compile comparable power plant-specific pollutant information from all three countries. It notes that each nation utilizes a unique mix of fuels and technologies to produce electricity. Whereas the United States generates half of its electricity from coal, Mexico only gets about 8 percent of its electricity from coal, while generating more than two-thirds of its power from oil and natural gas. By contrast, Canada produces the largest share of its electricity from hydropower.
Despite these variations, the report documents that coal burning power plants are the largest sources of air pollution from the electricity sector in North America. While coal combustion accounts for only 44 percent of electricity on the continent, it is responsible for the vast majority of mercury emissions, 86 percent of total sulfur dioxide emissions and 90 percent of nitrogen oxides. For example, in the United States, which gets about half of its electricity from coal, the US coal plants collectively emit over 85 percent of the sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the nation's entire electric power industry. In Canada, where coal provides only about 20 percent of national generation, its coals plants still collectively contribute over 80 percent of SO2 and NOx pollution from the electricity sector. In Mexico, with only three coal plants providing about 10 percent of national generation, the coal plants still emit almost five percent of the sector's NOx emissions.
The report also provides a snapshot of emissions from individual power plants. The data reveal wide variations in the emissions performance of individual fossil-fuel power plants throughout North America. The biggest sources of air pollution are generally clustered in the midwestern and southeastern United States, along with some large oil and coal plants in Mexico.
"Only a relatively few big power plants use modern pollution control equipment for some of these pollutants," says Paul J. Miller, the report's co-author and the CEC's Program Coordinator for Air Quality. "For example, there is tremendous potential to use technology to make further reductions in sulfur dioxide emissions, linked to fine particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides, linked to smog.
Miller adds that carbon dioxide, which has been linked to global warming, "presents a challenge to policymakers and industry." For CO2 emissions, the largest emitting power plant in North America is the Nanticoke facility in Ontario, Canada. The remaining top 10 plants are all coal plants in the United States, led by the Bowen facility in Georgia in the number two spot.
He noted that fossil fuel power plants in Canada, Mexico and the United States contribute 22 percent, 30 percent and 39 percent of the three countries' respective national emissions of carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas.
"The report is a snapshot of the air pollution and power generation relationship in North America, but we should recognize that many companies have already acted to reduce their environmental footprint," says Kennedy. "In fact, a number of power plants are currently installing new technologies to reduce pollution, and this report helps set a North American benchmark with which we can show their environmental achievements over time."
A copy of the report can be downloaded from: <www.cec.org>.
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