Energy Storage Will Soon Replace Simple Cycle Combustion Turbine Peaker Plants. Power grids need extra generating capacity to work properly. For example, about 20 percent of New York Stateâs generation fleet runs less than 250 hours a year. Because they donât run much, âpeaker plantsâ are by design the cheapest and least efficient fossil generators.
The largest source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are currently  from electric generation through the combustion of fossil fuels.  Particularly the burning of coal is mos â¦ t pollutive, as compared to  oil or natural gas generation.
Human emissions of carbon dioxide are small compared to those of natural carbon sources. In 2008, fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions contributed about 8.7 billions tons of carbon to the atmosphere per year, and this number continues to rise. Land use change was responsible for estimated net emissions of 1.5 billion tons of carbon per year over the last 15 years.