US power plants total 2.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2011
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) national greenhouse gas inventory showed that power plants generated 2.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2011.
Power plants represent roughly 33% of total carbon dioxide emissions in the US.
The EPA report actually shows a reduction of over 4% in emission from 2010, largely due to the shift from coal-fired to natural gas-burning facilities.
The discovery of vast deposits of natural gas underground have produced some of the cheapest natural gas prices in the world.
According to MarketWatch.com, natural gas in the US is currently valued at around $3.40 per thousand cubic feet, compared with $10 in Europe and $15 in Asia.
Coal-fired plants can be easily converted to combust this cheap natural gas, which also produces significantly less carbon dioxide emissions.
(2/7/13)