Threats to human health with old coal-fired power plants
It is interesting to know that coal-fired power plants produce more than just carbon dioxide. Thus, they are effective in global warming.
When coal burns, it releases suspended particles, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury. The release of these airborne particles harms the health of many people around the world.
Uneven pollution levels
According to the latest results published in the journal Nature Sustainability, China and the United States are the largest coal energy producers. But you need to know that power plants in India have the most health losses in the world.
Central Europe, North America, and China all have modern power plants. But old power plants are still used in some parts of the world, such as Eastern Europe, Russia, and India. Unfortunately, the old power plants can not adequately purify the gas and get it out of the chimney.
These power plants can only remove some of the pollutants; they often burn low-quality coal as well.
It is interesting to know that more than half of the health problems can be found in only one-tenth of the power plants.
According to Christopher Obershelp, lead author of the article, these power plants should either be upgraded or shut down as soon as possible.
A review of quality
The global picture of coal energy production shows that the gap between the Bertro regions is closed. In fact, this gap is widening day by day.
This gap usually occurs for two reasons.
First, rich countries like Europe import high-quality coal. This type of coal has little harmful sulfur dioxide.
Poor coal-exporting countries (such as Indonesia, Colombia, and South Africa) burn low-quality coal in old power plants that do not have modern chimneys to eliminate their sulfur dioxide.
Second, power plants in Europe are also contributing to global warming, which is having a global impact.
However, health damage caused by particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide occurs mainly in Asia because coal energy is used to produce a large part of consumer products.
