Gas plant on the left and coal plant on the right / Illustration: Getty – Canva.
Emissions from US power plants are expected to decline during 2022, due to the switch from highly polluting coal to natural gas, according to Reuters. How much truth is there in this ad?
According to this information, monitored by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), emissions from US power plants (excluding those in Alaska and Hawaii) would have decreased in 2022, despite a 2% increase in production.
According to a report published on February 24, 2023 by the APE, this breakthrough would be the result of a gradual replacement of the use of coal by natural gas. A replacement that would be explained by economic and environmental considerations, citing the depletion and high cost of coal. Noting that shipments of coal to the power plants in question have fallen by more than half (53%), between 2010 and 2021, as production of this fuel has decreased in the country. Thus, these plants would have swallowed 449 million tonnes of coal in 2021, against 957 million tonnes in 2010.
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The report indicates that the emissions that make up smog (nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide) have decreased by 4% in 2021 and by 10% in 2022. Smog is a mixture of gases and particles, observable in the air under form of haze, affecting health and the environment. The two main pollutants that make up smog are ground-level ozone and particulate matter. This report also indicates that the emissions of mercury from these plants, a neurotoxin which can accumulate in the environment and make the frequent consumption of certain fish dangerous, have decreased by 3%.
Still on the podium of the biggest polluters in the world
The EPA does not, however, mention emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas from the natural gas industry, which is known to be a source of emissions against which environmentalists are protesting. guard. It should be remembered that the United States is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, with 81.2 million tonnes of LNG exported in 2022.
Despite this slight drop, the United States still ranks third in the world in terms of coal use for power generation, after China and India, with nearly 1,000 megawatt hours (MWh) in 2022. of Uncle Sam’s country one of the biggest polluters on the planet. In 2021, total greenhouse gas emissions there were estimated at 5.1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent. That is 16 tonnes per inhabitant per year, which is equivalent to 12.6% of global emissions, estimated at 40.6 billion tonnes. Carbon dioxide, which is produced primarily from fossil fuels, makes up the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, accounting for 80.1% of total emissions.
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It should be noted that electricity production in the United States is dominated by fossil fuels, with 60.1% in 2021, including 21.6% for coal and 38.1% for gas. The share of nuclear is 18.7%, and that of renewable energies, 20.9% (hydroelectricity: 6.2%, wind: 9.1%, solar: 4.0%, etc.). This dependence on fossil fuels is explained by the strong demand for electricity, knowing that an American citizen consumes four times the world average each year.
Finally, the country is making efforts to do without coal, for example by considering closing 11 power plants in Illinois by 2025, in addition to the one in Louisiana, which has already been shut down since 2021. These will be replaced by solar farms combined with storage batteries, media sources report. But all this remains insufficient.
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