Electric energy and the environment

An analysis was made of the emission of air pollutants by the Argentine public utilities, taking into account the historical evolution from 1970 to 1989. This has shown the impact which the substitution policies implemented in the electrical sector have had on the emission of pollutants and on the 'greenhouse effect'. On the one hand, these policies consisted of the substitution of conventional thermal energy by hydroelectric and nuclear energy and, on the other hand, substitution of fuel oil, diesel oil and coal by natural gas. Since the conventional thermal power stations require additional investments in order to avoid air pollution, the investment savings originated in this respect by the abovementioned substitution policies have also been calculated. Although the environmental impacts caused by hydroelectric, nuclear and natural gas production installations are also important and are located geographically in other areas, there is no doubt that the substitution policies carried out in the Argentine electrical sector signify both an ecological and an economic benefit. (Author)