24. Is Hydro Really Dirtier than Coal?
Is Hydro Really Dirtier than Coal? Once again, when it comes to energy choices and the environment, it is not sufficient to say something is good or bad, right or wrong. There are no absolutes here. If we hope to arrive at sensible policy to save our atmosphere, we need to pay attention to quantitative comparisons. The Numbers may set us free! Jonathan Carter of the Forest Ecology Network recently wrote that Hydropower is dirtier than coal (Franklin Journal 3/12/21). Is it? Let’s investigate. We know coal plants are dirty in a number of ways, emitting an array of polluting gases, particulates and traces of toxins such as mercury and arsenic, as well as producing huge amounts of solid waste (see our last column). Obviously, they emit a significant amount of CO2 and nitrogen oxides--and hydropower is worse? Yikes! Here we want to address the quantity of greenhouse gases (GHG) generated in the process of producing hydro-electricity. We’ll use “gra...