Cleaning up or replacing coal-fired power plants that lack sulfur pollution controls could help Texans breathe cleaner, healthier air, according to researchers at Rice University.
Cleaning up or replacing coal-fired power plants that lack sulfur pollution controls could help Texans breathe cleaner, healthier air, according to researchers at Rice University.
A study led by environmental engineer Daniel Cohan analyzed models that measure the effects of emissions from 13 coal plants in Texas. Along with their conclusions on the modeling systems themselves, they found residents downwind of coal plants would be far better off today had the state focused on cutting particle-forming sulfur dioxide emissions in addition to those that cause ozone.
“Texas has more unscrubbed coal plants than anywhere in the country and it’s causing a substantial amount of air pollution damage and impacts on our health,” Cohan said. “What I found eye-opening in this study is that most of the health damage is coming from particulate matter, but most of Texas’ focus on air pollution has been on ozone smog. It’s a real dichotomy where the standard we violate is ground-level ozone, but the biggest cause of damage is particulate matter.”
The study appears in the Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.
Read more at Rice University
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