Technological Options for the Reduction of Russian Acid Rain and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Abstract

The first part of this paper consists of a summary of previous studies on Russian emissions of oxides of sulphur (SO x) and nitrogen (NO x), followed by a summary of reports of Russian carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This range of estimates is then compared with reports of emissions from other major industrial Western countries, in order to provide information on the comparative magnitudes of acid rain and greenhouse gas emissions from the former Soviet region. The next section of the paper provides information on technological options for the reduction of acid rain and CO2 emissions within a framework of available fuels and combustion processes utilised in power generation within the former USSR, paying particular attention to those technologies which are applicable to the reduction of acid rain or greenhouse gases either separately or simultaneously. I conclude the paper with a discussion of the Russian economic, political, and commercial factors which will influence the practical implementation of those technologies in that region, paying particular attention to the potentials for the development of indigenous Russian technologies and the assimilation of Western know-how.