"Paul M. Eldridge" wrote:

On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:09:29 -0400, Marissa Payton
wrote:

What a crazy idea, producing electricity from plants that release Mercury!!
Mercury from thermometers, CFLs, old thermostat switches, etc. goes into the
environment in the form of landfill leachate or incinerator releases. That's
assuming the bulbs are not broken first, including dropped on your kitchen floor.

Hi Marissa,

I'm not sure how to interpret what you've just said. Are you
suggesting coal-fired generating plants do not release mercury into
the atmosphere, or are you saying that it's foolish for us to be
burning coal to generate electricity because of these emissions? Can
you clarify this for me?

Ideally it would make sense to follow the lead of countries such as France, who make
almost all of their electricity without burning any fossil fuels. But the US has
reversed its (temporary) earlier leadership in this area and continues to depend more
and more on fossil fuels, including coal.

Burning coal isn't optimal, but newer technologies can at least remove major
pollutants, including mercury. Unfortuanately a lot of plants are old and emit a lot
more mercury than newer technology plants. Public policy that permits these emissions
and does not discourage them to phase out is bad public policy. Unfortunately US
energy policy has been bad public policy for decades and no relief is in sight during
my lifetime.