Air Toxics from Utility Plants

Toxic air pollutants arise from two sources in utility boilers, impurities in the fuel and products of incomplete combustion. The amount of the material emitted from the boiler depends on the design of the boiler and the type and efficiency of the air pollution control device.

Using the following government documents, and a little bit of engineering judgement, we were able to get an order of magnitude estimate of the air toxics released by utility plants in 1993:

  • Texas Public Utility Commission, Monthly Fuel Use Reports, Annual 1993
  • USEPA, Estimating Air Toxics from Coal and Oil Combustion Sources
We also used some data from tests overseen by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) which characterized formaldehyde emissions from natural gas fired boilers.

The total emissions of toxic pollutants range between 1.1 and 5.5 million pounds per year.

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Revised June 8, 2001
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