Coal pollution mitigation Since air is mostly nitrogen, combustion of coal often leads to production of nitrogen oxides. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are primary causes of acid rain. For many years--before greenhouse gasses were widely understood to be a threat-- it was thought that these by-products were the only drawback to using coal. These by-products are still a problem, but they have been greatly diminished in most advanced countries due to clean air regulations. It is possible to remove most of the sulfur dioxide (SO), nitrogen oxides (NO), and particulate matter (PM) emissions from the coal-burning process. For example, various techniques are
Environmental impact of the coal industry the environment. While these substances are trace impurities, enough coal is burned that significant amounts of these substances are released. During combustion, the reaction between coal and the air produces oxides of carbon, including carbon dioxide (CO, an important greenhouse gas), oxides of sulfur (mainly sulfur dioxide, SO), and various oxides of nitrogen (NO). Because of the hydrogenous and nitrogenous components of coal, hydrides and nitrides of carbon and sulfur are also produced during the combustion of coal in air. These include hydrogen cyanide (HCN), sulfur nitrate (SNO) and other toxic substances. SO and nitrogen oxide react in the atmosphere