Mercury from power plants

Reductions in U.S. mercuiy emissions from medical and municipal waste incinerators and other industrial sectors have already occurred. Additional emission reductions from some coal-fired power plants have also already begun as co-benefits from technologies used to control SO2 and NO emissions. These mercury emissions from power plants are, however, expected to be reduced further over the next few decades. Meanwhile, changes in mercuiy emissions in other parts of the world may also affect some U.S. ecosystems. 

Methylmercury, which we referred to in the neurotoxicity section, occurs in fish and shellfish found in both the ocean and fresh water systems. The mercury that is the source of methylmercury arises from power plant emissions and industrial processes. Some even comes from... 

If clean coal technology works well enough to be implemented widely in industry, it could have a huge impact on the environment. According to the DOE, the Clean Coal Power Initiative, a plan presented by President George W. Bush in 2001, will help cut sulfur, nitrogen, and mercury pollutants from power plants by nearly 70% by the year 2018. ... 

Mercury Pollution from Power Plants by State http //ewg.org/node/8150... 

Flue and waste gases from power plants and other industrial operations where coal is used as a feedstock invariably contain constituents that are damaging the climate or environment—these will be constituents such as carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), dust, and particles and toxins such as dioxin and mercury. 

Mercury is identified as the toxic of greatest concern in all the air toxics emitted from power plants due to its persistence and bioaccumulation in the foods and environment (Senior et al., 2000). It generally occurs in coal in association with sulfide minerals (FeS2 and HgS), it may also be organically bound to the coal macerals (Pavlish et al., 2003 Sondreal et al., 2004 Kolker et al., 2006). Mercury concentration in coals is about 0.1-0.15 g/ton and it passes to the flue gas during the combustion... 

On Dec. 21, EPA issued the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, the first national standards to protect American families from power plant emissions of mercury and toxic air pollution such as arsenic, acid gas, nickel, selenium, and cyanide. 

More than 18 years after Congress instructed EPA to address mercury emissions from power plants, the agency was back to square zero. In the meantime, mercury emissions continued to increase, and at least five mercury hot spots were identified in New England and Canada. ... 

Mercury. EPA responded to the judicial remand of the Bush Administration s Mercury regulation in March 2011 by proposing to establish a hazardous emission standard under section 112 of the Clean Air Act reflecting the maximum degree of reduction in emissions that was achievable (MACT). EPA predicted that compliance with these standards would reduce mercury emissions from power plants by about 91 percent, and this would in turn prevent 17,000 premature deaths, 11,000 heart attacks, and 120,000 asthma attacks per year. ... 

Environmental Protection Agency, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, From Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units and Standards of Performance for Fossil-Fuel-Fired Electric Utility, Industrial-Commercial-Institutional, and Small Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generatirtg Units, 76 Fed. Reg. 23,399 (2011) EPA Finalizes Rule to Reduce Mercury, Air Toxics Emissions From Power Plants, 42 BNA Env. Rept. 2877 (2011) Amy Harder, Mercurial, National Journal, September 17, 2011, at 54 (Obama Speech). 

Chu, P and D.B. Porcella. 1995. Mercury stack emissions from U.S. electric utility power plants. Water Air Soil Pollut. 80 135-144. 

Environmental Our dependency on energy results in a range of consequences, for example drilling for oil and mining coal to run power plants to generate electricity, in turn mercury is released in the atmosphere from burning coal... 

Ash samples obtained from three commercial power plants were analyzed for trace mercury. The results of the analyses are shown in... 

A series of mercury mass balances was obtained at a coal-fired power plant by comparing the volatile and particulate mercury in the stack gas stream to the mercury initially in the coal, corrected for the mercury adsorbed and retained by the various ashes. These data were used to determine the fate of the mercury in the combustion process and to check the accuracy of the volatile mercury sampling procedure (gold amalgamation). The bottom ash had the lowest mercury concentration of the ash samples collected, and the mercury concentration increased as one proceeded through the ash collection system from the initial mechanical ash to the electrostatic ash. The mercury recovered in the various ashes represented about 10% of the total mercury introduced in the raw coal. 

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