“Capital Investments in Emission Control Retrofits in the U.S. Coal-Fired Generating Fleet” provides an analysis of capital expenditures by the owners of coal-fired power plants to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), mercury, and other air pollutants. The following are a few highlights from the report:
- The power sector will have invested almost $124 billion in emission control technologies at U.S. coal-fired plants by 2030. These investments cover SO2 controls (wet/dry scrubbers and dry sorbent injection), PM controls (electrostatic precipitators and baghouses), NOx controls (selective catalytic reduction and non-SCR systems), and mercury controls (activated carbon injection systems).
- The U.S. power sector reduced its NOx emissions by 86% since 2001 and its SO2 emissions by 94%.
- The coal fleet, which is a major part of the power sector, reduced its NOx emissions by 89% and its SO2 emissions by 94% over the same period.
- Since some of the emission reductions can be attributed to coal retirements, the report also compares emissions from only those coal plants that were operating in 2001 and continued to operate through 2024. Those plants achieved an 81% reduction in NOx emissions and an 87% reduction in SO2 emissions.
- The ten states with the largest capital investments (in billions of dollars) in emission controls are as follows:
- Indiana – $6.9
- North Carolina – $6.8
- West Virginia – $6.2
- Ohio – $5.7
- Kentucky – $5.6
- Georgia – $5.3
- Pennsylvania – $4.6
- Florida – $3.9
- Illinois – $3.8
- Michigan – $3.5
These multi-billion-dollar investments in emission controls do not include, for example, the costs of (1) operating and maintaining these emission control systems, (2) complying with water-related regulations, and (3) managing coal combustion residuals.