State of the Environment Bulgaria 2003
What is being done to make the energy more environment-friendly
How does the energy influence environment
Impact on air
The energy sector and especially thermo-electric power stations using hard fuels and black oil continue to be the main source of sulphur oxides pollution of ambient air, producing 88 % of the total amount emitted in the country. The largest quantities of carbon dioxide (over 95 %), which is the main greenhouse-effect gas, are also emitted by the thermo-electric power stations.
In 2001 all thermo-electric power stations (excluding Block 7 of the Maritza Iztok-2 thermo-electric power stations) still operated with no sulphur-extracting installations. The construction of the installation for Block 8 of “Maritza Iztok 2” TPP is at its final stage.
The quantities of the main pollutants emitted by the thermo-electric power stations and thermal stations according to the type of fuels burned are shown on table 4. Emissions by own-need fuel installations as well as those by oil refineries and installations operating in coal, oil and gas producing plants etc. have been excluded.
Emissions of harmful substances depending on electric power production by thermo-electric power stations, expressed through the gram per kWh coefficient are as follows: table 5
In 2001 the emissions of the main pollutants remained almost the same with regard to quantity irrespective of the larger production as compared to 2000, though a slight reduction of the gram per kWh coefficients was observed.
The grams of SO2 per kWh produced index showed some trend towards reduction compared to previous years only for the bigger power stations, as seen on the table 6
Impact on water
The energy sector is polluting water to a considerably lower extent as compared to other economic sectors. The energy sector produces about 9 % of the total wastewater quantity generated by the national economy sector.
An enormous quantity of water is used by water power stations in the process of electric power generation and by nuclear power stations mainly for cooling. Water baffling for water power stations and nuclear power stations does not raise serious practical issues in comparison to the above mentioned environmental impacts.
In 2001 around 52 414 thousand m3 of wastewater were disposed by enterprises in the energy sector, and the major part, representing some 30 264 thousand m3 were not treated. 36 637 thousand m3 of the total wastewater quantity were discharged into surface water bodies.
Impact on Biodiversity
There is direct impact through the destruction of habitats, due to coal quarrying for the purposes of the thermo-electric power stations and claiming of land for thermal power stations waste dumps.
The construction of large water storage bodies and chains of cascades is disturbing the natural habitats of terrestrial ecosystems, at the same time creating conditions for the development of aquatic and water-loving species.
In certain cases the use of cooling water leads to the warming of water bodies having a positive effect on wintering waterfowl.
Last update on March 2003