Environmental protection - Greenhouse gas emissions from electricity production in Poland

The analysis of greenhouse gas emissions from the production of electricity in the so-called conventional coal based thermal power plant was carried out. The aim of the paper is to prove the legitimacy of using electricity in transport in the context of environmental protection, especially against greenhouse gas emissions. Emission factors were calculated on the basis of current and original data from the national generation plant. These indices, calculated per 1 Mg of extracted and transported raw material and 1 kWh of produced electricity, are related to net production of electricity and heat and direct emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the assumed life cycle of the product (energy). The life cycle includes direct and indirect emissions related to the demand for various forms of energy and materials during: hard coal mining, coal enrichment processes, transport of coal by rail from the mine to the power plant, preparation of raw material for the technological process, as well as the basic process of burning raw material and obtaining electricity. The emission of greenhouse gases during the production of 1 kWh of electricity from hard coal amounts 0.9379 kg CO₂.