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Increasingly Clean
The coal-based
electricity industry has a strong commitment to the environment
and to producing electricity that is increasingly clean.
- America's
electric utility industry has invested tens of billions of dollars
in advanced technologies to improve the quality of the air over
the past 20 years. In addition, each year electric utilities
also spend between $1.3 and $3.3 billion on environmental practices
(e.g., operation and maintenance). While this figure includes
spending on all types of pollution controls, a significant portion
is related to air emissions.
| Source:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Form 1 Database |
This investment
has paid off. Between 1980 and 2001 (the last year data were available)
emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOX), and particulate
matter (PM-10) from electricity from coal have dropped.
- The SO2
emission rate has dropped 38%
- The NOX
emission rate has dropped 32%
- The PM-10
emission rate has dropped 25%
| Source:
EPA, National Emissions Inventory, Average Annual Emissions,
February 2003 |
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