Satellite-observed U.S. Power Plant Nox Emission Reductions and Their Impact On Air Quality

Abstract

Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions resulting from fossil fuel combustion lead to unhealthy levels of near-surface ozone (O3). One of the largest U.S. sources, electric power generation, represented about 25% of the U.S. anthropogenic NOx emissions in 1999. Here we show that space-based instruments observed declining regional NOx levels between 1999 and 2005 in response to the recent implementation of pollution controls by utility companies in the eastern U.S. Satellite-retrieved summertime nitrogen dioxide (NO2) columns and bottom-up emission estimates show larger decreases in the Ohio River Valley, where power plants dominate NOx emissions, than in the northeast U.S. urban corridor. Model simulations predict lower O3 across much of the eastern U.S. in response to these emission reductions.