Multi-Pollutant Emission Control of Electric Power Plants

In contrast to past regulations for power plant air pollutants, there is growing interest in a multi-pollutant perspective that would simultaneously address criteria pollutants, air toxics, and greenhouse gases. This paper addresses some of the key technical and economic questions needed to assess policy proposals, namely: What technical options are available to control each of these pollutants? What plant-level interactions must be considered in evaluating the feasibility and cost of alternative control measures? What advantages are there to multi-pollutant control strategies? The Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) developed for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL) is used to obtain illustrated quantitative estimates of the cost and emissions impacts of interactions among technologies for multi-pollutant controls.