Power Generation Technologies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 2

Electricity Generation and the Environment

Abstract

The power industry has a major impact on the global environment and awareness of this has grown steadily since the middle of the 20th century. Since then, the effects of acid rain, nuclear accidents, and, more recently, global carbon dioxide emissions on the environment have prompted major changes within the industry. While the industry can adapt to mitigate these effects, power generation is such a large operation that it will always have an impact on environmental conditions. This is inevitable if the world is to have electricity and it is impossible to imagine the global population deciding to do without the advances it has made possible. The best we can do is to find the optimum ...