This is a list of least carbon efficient power stations in selected countries. Lists were created by the WWF and lists the most polluting

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

s in terms of the level of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...

produced per unit of electricity generated. In general

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

burning

coal-fired power station A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide, there are about 8,500 coal-fired power stations totaling over 2,000 gigawatts Nameplate capacity, capacity. They ...

s with subcritical

boilers A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central ...

(in which bubbles form in contrast to the newer supercritical steam generator) emit the most. The

Chinese national carbon trading scheme The Chinese national carbon trading scheme is an intensity-based trading system for carbon dioxide emissions by China, which started operating in 2021. This emission trading scheme (ETS) creates a carbon market where emitters can buy and sell emi ...

may follow the

European Union Emission Trading Scheme The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is a "cap and trade" scheme where a limit is placed on the right to emit specified pollutants over an area and companies can trade emission rights within that area. It covers around 45% of th ...

in making such power stations uneconomic to run. However some companies such as

NLC India Limited NLC India Limited (NLC) (formerly Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited) is a central public sector undertaking under the administrative control of the Ministry of Coal, Government of India. It annually produces about 30 million tonnes of Lig ...

and

Electricity Generation Company (Turkey) The Electricity Generation Company ( tr, Elektrik Üretim A.Ş.; EÜAŞ) is the largest electric power company in Turkey. Owned by the government, it produces and trades electricity throughout the country. History EÜAŞ was founded by the gov ...

generate in countries without a

carbon price Carbon pricing (or pricing), also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS), is a method for nations to reduce global warming. The cost is applied to greenhouse gas emissions in order to encourage polluters to reduce the co ...

. Lignite power stations built or retrofitted before 1995 often also emit local

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

. In early 2021 the EU carbon price rose above 50 euros per tonne, causing many of the European plants listed below to become unprofitable, and close down. However, because many countries outside Europe and the USA do not publish plant level emissions data it was difficult to make up to date lists. Public information from

space-based measurements of carbon dioxide Space-based measurements of carbon dioxide () are used to help answer questions about Earth's carbon cycle. There are a variety of active and planned instruments for measuring carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere from space. The first satellite ...

Climate Trace Climate TRACE (Tracking Real-Time Atmospheric Carbon Emissions) is an independent group which monitors and publishes greenhouse gas emissions within weeks. It launched in 2021 before COP26, and improves monitoring, reporting and verification (MR ...

is expected to quantify from individual large plants before the

2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The ...

, thus enabling large polluters to be identified.

2015 report - companies

In 2015 the Stranded Assets Programme at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment published Stranded Assets and Subcritical Coal report analyzing inter alia carbon intensity of

subcritical In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fissi ...

coal-fired power stations of 100 largest companies having these power stations.

2005 report - power station from 30 industrialised countries

2007 list - Europe

2018 - largest emitters

The table lists the largest emitters, regardless of their carbon efficiency.

Other

At over 1.34 tCO2-e/MWh

Yallourn Yallourn, Victoria was a company town in Victoria, Australia built between the 1920s and 1950s to house employees of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, who operated the nearby Yallourn Power Station complex. However, expansion of the ...

is the most carbon intense in Australia. In the very unlikely event of being built, the proposed Afşin-Elbistan C power station would become the least carbon efficient coal-fired power station.

External links

Europe Beyond Coal

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Least carbon efficient power stations Lists of power stations

Power stations A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many po ...

Pollution Economy-related lists of superlatives Lists of coal-fired power stations