A think-tank in Washington, US - Center for Global Development - has produced the first on-line database - called Carbon Action for Monitoring - of the most polluting power stations throughout the world. To quote their press release "The on-line database ... lays out exactly where the CO2 emitters are and how much of the greenhouse gas they are casting into the atmosphere. It also shows which companies own the plants".

Fossil-fuelled power stations contribute about 1/4 of greenhouse gas emissions, so this is an important new resource for campaigners, policy makers, and anyone living down the road from a power station.

The database shows that the U.S. and China both produce about 1/4 of all power station emissions (each with about 2700 million tons of CO2 per year), with Russia and India next (661 and 583 million tons respectively). Australia had the worst per-capita power station emissions at 11 tons per person, followed by the U.S. at 9 tons per person. These figures are roughly double those of most European countries - representing high energy use, but also realtively inefficient power stations in the U.S. and Australia.

Here's an image from that database showing the most polluting power stations in the US - the colour of the dot show how much Carbon Dioxide the power station produces per unit (MWh) of electricity produced - red dots show the least efficient power stations.

Carbon Intensity of US Power Stations

Image by CARMA