Serbian coal-fired power plants “Nikola Tesla” are among the 10 biggest polluters in the world

A report published by the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research CREA and Greenpeace states that coal-fired power plants are the primary source of sulfur dioxide emissions in India, China, South Africa, Turkey, the United States, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Australia, Russia, Serbia and Bulgaria.

This report by CREA and the Greenpeace organization shows that the “Nikola Tesla” thermal power plants are on the ninth place on the list of the biggest sulfur dioxide pollutants in the world, while Serbia is on the 18th place overall.

Not a single country of the European Union is above Serbia, and among the 25 countries that are marked as the largest emitters of sulfur dioxide in the air, of the EU member states, only Bulgaria is found.

Major polluters are found only in South Africa, India and Turkey.

Pollution as a result of non-compliance with regulations

Mirko Popović from the Regulatory Institute for Renewable Energy and the Environment (RERI) says that such results are not surprising.

“‘Nikola Tesla’ emits several times more sulfur dioxide than it is allowed. It is an old plant that does not have devices for desulphurization of flue gases, which are obligatory in the EU and of course it is one of the biggest polluters “, says Popović for Nova.rs.

The fact that TPP “Kostolac” is in 44th place, far behind “Nikola Tesla” is explained by the fact that “Kostolac” has less capacity, not active filters for desulphurization.

He reminds that the EU has had a Directive on large combustion plants since 2001, with which it introduced the obligation to reduce sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and powdery substances, and in 2010 it adopted the Directive on Industrial Emissions, which introduced even stricter rules for these emissions.

“So, the EU managed to reduce emissions, primarily from thermal power plants, with a legal directive. “Among the countries that are worse off than Serbia, there is no one to which the EU Directive refers”, says the director of RERI.

He reiterates that Serbia has also committed itself to respecting the mentioned EU regulations, but that in our country “there is no rule of law and that EPS does not respect the laws.”

Sulfur dioxide – an invisible killer

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a colorless air pollutant invisible to the human eye, widespread and harmful to human health.

Inhalation of sulfur dioxide increases health risks, which are related to heart disease, asthma, lung cancer and premature death, it is stated in the report published by CREA and “Greenpeace”.

Source: nova.rs

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