Coal plants in the Balkans cause immense pollution

Polluting coal plants in the South of Europe are actually killing thousands

Balkan power stations seen impacting air quality and causing premature deaths in the thousands

Eighteen coal plants located in Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia were deemed to have caused the death of thousands, according to a joint report by Bankwatch Network and CREA, a research institute. The eighteen power plants produced more than twice the levels of Sulfur Dioxide emissions emitted by all two hundred and twenty coal plants located in the EU. The plants were seen breaching legally permitted Sulfur Dioxide levels by a factor of six. Premature deaths were estimated at 600 in Italy, 600 in Serbia, and hundreds more premature deaths were reported in Hungary, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece. Respiratory diseases such as asthma have been on the rise in urban centres.

The report authors recommend the slapping of tariffs

With the EU importing about 8% of its electricity from the region, the report authors recommend imposing tariffs to force better compliance with the EU's legal emission recommendations.

Such reports underline the importance and urgency of phasing out coal power plants

The WHO estimates that 3.2 million people die prematurely each year from exposure to smoke from dirty cookstoves and fuels. WHO data shows that 99% of the world's population breathe air that exceeds WHO's guideline limits, and since urbanisation has been accelerating more exposure should be expected, while the global environment is under constant threat from human activity.

Keywords: coal, coal plants, power plants, pollution, sulfur dioxide, premature deaths, respiratory diseases,  urbanisation, environment, smoke, cookstoves, fuel, human activity, WHO, emission recommendations, health recommendations