Duke Energy's Views
Air emissions from coal-fired power plants continue to be a high-profile public policy issue. The primary focus is on sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and mercury emissions. Duke Energy supports the emission reductions and timetables called for in recently enacted federal Clean Air Interstate Rule and Clean Air Mercury Rule. These regulations will result in further reductions in SO2, NOx and mercury emissions through the implementation of cap-and-trade programs, allowing companies to achieve the greatest level of reductions at the lowest cost – benefiting our customers.
Duke Energy invested more than $1.5 billion between 1998 and 2005 in controls to reduce our NOx emissions. We are investing about $3.5 billion more to further reduce SO2 and NOx emissions. By 2010 we project that both our SO2 and NOx emissions will be about 70 percent lower than they were in 1997. The SO2 and NOx controls (scrubbers and selective catalytic reduction) we are installing have the co-benefit of removing a significant amount of mercury. While we’re still in the process of understanding how much mercury will be removed on a consistent basis, we currently estimate that it could be between 70 percent and 80 percent.
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