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SCANA is committed to conducting business in an environmentally sensitive and responsible manner. While we are committed to meeting all local, state and federal environmental requirements, we take environmental stewardship a step further with innovative approaches. We have spent millions of dollars over the past two decades improving air quality issues involving our power plants. New technologies have allowed us to reduce emissions at our older plants dramatically and incorporate these technologies in the building of newer plants. Investment in clean air technologies and in greenhouse gas reduction has been a priority, and will continue to be a priority into the future.
Clean Air Technologies
To reduce the emission of the oxides of nitrogen that can cause ozone, the sulfur dioxide that can cause acid rain, as well as particulates, SCE&G has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in state-of-the-art air pollution control technology. This includes dry scrubbers, selective catalytic reduction units and baghouses for our coal-burning plants.
These technologies work to clean emissions before they leave the stack and go into the atmosphere. In the case of our baghouses, the ash recovered from them is recycled into useful products like cement. SCE&G recently retrofitted a coal-burning plant that was built in the 1950s with combined cycle turbines, allowing the plant to replace coal with clean-burning natural gas. The company's most recent addition to its generating capacity is a combined cycle plant specifically designed and built with significant environmental controls.
Greenhouse Gas Reduction
In 1997, SCE&G entered into an agreement with the United States Department of Energy to reduce greenhouse gases by 2,000,000 tons from its projected emissions by 2000. SCE&G exceeded this goal by over 60,000 tons in the first year of the program. The reductions are the result of several efforts, including carbon sequestration projects, ash recycling, energy efficiency improvements and demand-side management programs.
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