Cutting emissions in the energy sector: a technological and regulatory perspective

The generation of utilizable forms of energy, mainly electricity and heat, carries an environmental impact – as does any human industrial activity. In the case of the power industry based on fossil fuels, this impact is connected with the emission of technological by-products, not necessarily of a material character. It is obvious that the Polish point of view on this problem is connected with the unique degree of dependence of the national power industry on coal. Two aspects of the emission reduction problem are analyzed in this article: the technological, connected with the permanent development of flue-gas cleaning; and the administrative, connected with limiting the permissible polluter concentration in flue gases. It is shown that during the development of the power industry to date, those relations led to an effectiveness (efficiency) of flue-gas cleaning installations which seemed impossible at the moment of its implementation. The main goal of this work is to demonstrate that the regulations being introduced by the European Commission strongly disturb the present relations between technical capabilities and administrative requirements.