Cost is the overriding factor affecting the success of emissions treatment technology.
A number of effective technologies have been developed to treat fossil fuel emissions prior to venting them into the atmosphere. However, due to the cost, most of the world's power plants do not significantly treat exhaust gases. Likewise, utilities often elect not to burn abundant fuels such as coal, which have a relatively high sulfur content, because of the expense of removing sulfur dioxide. The LBL team, which includes Shih-Ger Chang of LBL's Energy and Environment Division and visiting professors Yun Jin and Qiquan Yu from Beijing University, says the primary advantages of their new technology are its affordability and simplicity. The process relies on the team's invention, a new catalyst for which a patent is pending.