Coal power air pollution in Europe

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Türkiye, Ukraine and Western Balkan countries compete for top spot in coal power air pollution in Europe.

25 May 2021

9 Minutes Read

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Ufuk Alparslan
Regional Lead
Ember

Executive summary

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Coal power air pollution statistics highlight contributions from a small number of countries in Europe. Ukraine, Turkey and Western Balkan countries ranked highly across all pollutant types, while EU countries like Germany and Poland are also among the worst for NOx pollution. When coal is burned for generating electricity, pollutants are released into the air which pose a threat to human health, and are responsible for high numbers of premature deaths. With pollutants sometimes travelling thousands of kilometres, air pollution from coal power is a problem for the whole of Europe no matter the source.

Executive summary

Key findings

Coal power air pollution statistics highlight contributions from a small number of countries in Europe [1]. Turkey and Ukraine rank within the top three polluting countries across all types of air pollution. Western Balkan countries follow them despite their relatively small sizes. EU countries like Germany and Poland are also among the worst for NOx pollution.
SO2 emissions of the plants in the top ten account for 44% of total SO2 emissions from coal power in Europe. The top ten ranking for SO2 consists of three coal plants each from Turkey and Serbia, two from Bosnia & Herzegovina, and one each from Ukraine and North Macedonia.
The majority of PM10 pollution from coal power generation originates from plants in Ukraine, which has eight plants in the top ten most polluting plants for PM10.
A breakdown of NOx pollution highlights Poland and Germany from the EU. Polish Bełchatów is on the top of the list, accompanied by four German plants in the top ten.
Almost all of the dirty coal power plants in the top thirty are older than 30 years. The only exception is Turkey, which has plants less than ten years old amongst the top 30 polluters.
Most Energy Community countries did not comply with the national pollutant emissions ceilings in 2019. Ukraine, as being on the top of all polluter lists, interestingly met all emission ceilings for all three pollutants by a large margin.
Turkey, Ukraine and Western Balkan Countries subsidize their dirty coal power plants directly or implicitly by neglecting emission standards; however, this incentive should be channeled into their abundant renewable energy potential which would replace coal power easily.