Post #15310

PASSAGE: (O'zilardan ko'rilar) The big question is not how we can make coal clean, which is impossible, but how to make it cleaner. In the USA, the Clean Air Act was a law that was introduced to reduce the emission of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from factories and power plants. The consequent reductions have been dramatic, showing that laws like this can and do make a difference. Unfortunately, less progress has been made with carbon dioxide regulations. Last year 34.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide were emitted from fossil fuels, the highest amount on record, with coal contributing the most. Cheap natural gas has recently reduced the demand for coal in the USA, but elsewhere demand is rising. Over the next twenty years several hundred million people worldwide will gain access to electricity for the first time, and it is likely that most of them will use power produced by coal.