Air pollution from coal-fired power plants: Act II. Compliance with effective limit values on emissions from coal-fired power plants and improved environmental performances from these plants could save up to 20,000 lives a year in Europe, according to a new report published on Tuesday 11 October by a collective of NGOs.
This report, Lifting Europe’s Dark Cloud, was drafted by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), in collaboration with Climate Action Network Europe (CAN EUROPE), the WWF, Sandbag and the European Environment Bureau (EEB). It says that, by introducing and ensuring implementation of limit values in line with the best, tired and tested techniques available, the number of premature death would be reduced from 22,900 a year to 2,600.
Last July, a report from the same collective revealed that coal plants were responsible for deaths and illnesses throughout the EU (see EUROPE 11587).
Revising environmental performance standards of these power plants through the use of the best available techniques (review of the BREF document for large-scale power plants) planned for end end of the year, would, according to the report, provide an opportunity that should be seized by both the EU and the member states. These NGOs point out that it is important for the standards to be applied.
Julia Gogolewska said in a HEAL press release that "the new regulation ultimately demands the polluters assume some of the costs that are currently borne by society in the form of diseases, health services and shorter lives”. The delay of more than two and a half years in this review process has cost more than €15.6 billion, explains the report.
According to the NGOs, current legislation will not allow for the health target it is pursuing to be met because more than half of all coal-powered plants in Europe are allowed to continue polluting beyond what is authorised under the European directive (2010/75/EU) on industrial emissions.
The report is available online at: http://env-health.org/IMG/pdf/_lifting_europe_s_dark_cloud_-_final_report.pdf (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)