By Gwen Bristol

At best, there has been a regulatory concern over air pollution in America for just over half a century. The first federal air pollution legislation passed in 1955. Since then, the country has become increasingly aware of how human actions affect the atmosphere—and how controlling emissions can impact an energy company’s pocketbook

Although a Clean Air Act passed in 1963 and an Air Quality Act passed in 1967, the 1970 version of the Clean Air Act was the start of clean coal technology in North Dakota, folks at Basin Electric say. It led to the development of emission control equipment like scrubbers—a technology used to remove criteria pollutants like sulphur dioxide, fly ash and nitrogen oxide from the exhaust in energy facilities.

Floyd Robb, vice president of communications and marketing support at Basin Electric said the use of coal in the country has more than doubled since 1970, but the emissions of criteria pollutants have dropped more than 50 percent.

“Now we have almost 90 percent removal of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matters,” Robb said. “As a matter of fact, Basin is one of the leaders in the development of what they call dry scrubber technology that removes sulphur dioxide.”

Along with the reduced emissions (and perhaps less risk of having to buy carbon credits in the future), scrubber technologies are resulting in valuable byproducts for energy companies.

Lyndon Anderson, North Dakota communications director with Great River Energy, said the mixture coming out of a wet scrubber (which uses limestone and water to capture emissions) can be used to manufacture a synthetic gypsum for use in products like drywall.

At Basin Electric’s gasification plant, which has its own scrubber system, the process of removing emissions produces the fertilizer ammonium sulphate.

Three separate companies in the state are currently installing scrubbers at three separate power plants, Anderson said. They include Basin Electric’s Leland Olds power plant, the first unit of Minnkota Power Cooperative’s Milton R. Young power station, and the first unit of Great River Energy’s Stanton power plant.

“We are in the process of making some very significant investments right now,” said David Loer, Minnkota President and CEO. Loer said that the company is currently putting around $360 million into electrical upgrades and emission controls.

Installing the emission control technology carries a hefty price tag. In the ongoing debate concerning pollution and climate change, how new technology will impact energy businesses remains to be seen.