U.S. 2022 Power Plant Emissions Decreased on Coal-to-Gas Transition  #foryou #foryoupage #coal #gas
Channel: Brain Wired Media
Date: 2023-02-25

As power plants converted from coal to natural gas last year, the EPA said Friday that pollutant emissions declined.

Despite a 2% increase in energy demand in the lower 48 U.S. states last year, the transition off coal, a dirty fossil fuel, saved the most.

The EPA reported 4% and 10% reductions in nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions.

Mercury emissions, a neurotoxin that builds in the environment and makes some fish unsafe to eat, fell 3%.

"Power plant communities deserve the same protection from environmental and health dangers as everyone," said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. "We're not done, but the data show we're on pace."

The EPA reported 1% lower power plant CO2 emissions from 2021.

As the world's largest LNG exporter, environmentalists want to cut natural gas industry methane emissions, which the EPA data did not include.

The EPA confirmed its 2012 legal and scientific decision that power plants must manage harmful air toxics and mercury this month before tightening air limitations.

One of several initiatives to clean up the power industry and force power station owners to tighten controls or shut down outdated plants, the EPA will issue a final rule on those pollutants in coming months.

#foryou #foryoupage #foryourpage #usa #powerplant 
#power #conversion #emission #decrease #coal #gas #transition