Power Generation Industry is all about generating electricity from primary energy sources, such as coal, natural gas, nuclear, solar, wind and hydro power. All power plants are created with one particular goal: to produce electric power as efficiently as possible. There are several types of power plants depending mainly on the sources of energy that are used. Among them, solar, wind and hydro energy are considered as the clean, sustainable and renewable energy.
The percentage of electricity generated by the clean energy sources is on the rise as governments around the world are making the Net Zero Emission committments by 2050. However, fosil fuels are still the dominant energy source currently. In 2022, more than 60% of electricity was generated by Thermal Power Plants by burning fosil fuels (natural gas, coal and oil), and only 27% of electricity was generated by clean energy sources.
Air pollution from Thermal Power Plants contains more than 80 hazardous air pollutants, including arsenic, chromium, lead, formaldehyde, acid gases, dioxins and furans. These pollutants cause cancer; damage the eyes, skin and breathing passages; harm the kidneys, lungs, and nervous system; cause cardiovascular disease. They harm people not only near the plants, but also hundreds of miles away. Thermal Power Plants also emit mercury into the air, which falls into waterways and accumulates in fish that families eat. This potent neurotoxin causes permanent damage to the brains of babies and children, leading to developmental delays, learning disabilities and birth defects. Less talked about are the impacts of the acid gases these plants emit. They spew out of the smokestacks as gases but change into deadly particle pollution in the atmosphere. Particle pollution alone worsens asthma, triggers heart attacks, causes lung cancer and shortens lives.
It’s crucially important to keep the dust collection systems at their peak performance at Thermal Power Plants in order to keep the dust emission contained and controlled.
