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Washington PostBy Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 15, 2007; Page A16
China, South Africa and India host the world's five dirtiest utility companies in terms of global warming pollution, according to the first-ever worldwide database of power plants' carbon dioxide emissions, while a single Southern Co. plant in Juliette, Ga., emits more annually than Brazil's entire power sector.
The analysis, released yesterday by the Washington-based think tank Center for Global Development, a nonprofit that focuses on how the actions of rich countries affect developing nations, provides a detailed inventory of power plants' greenhouse gas emissions by countries and regions within countries. The database shows the United States as the world's biggest carbon dioxide (CO2) emitter and how quickly it will be outpaced by rapidly-industrializing nations.
While the United States still produces the most carbon dioxide from electricity generation, releasing 2.8 billion tons of CO2each year, China is close to overtaking it, with its 2.7 billion tons. Moreover, China plans to build or expand 199 coal-fired facilities in the next decade, compared with the United States' 83.
Power plants account for 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and 25 percent of the world's.
Frank O'Donnell, who heads the advocacy group Clean Air Watch, called the new analysis "pretty shocking." "If we're serious about dealing with global warming, we are going to have to get a handle on coal-burning electric power in this country," he said.,,,
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