The impact of Greek electricity generation sector on the national air pollution problem.

Since the early sixties, the Greek electricity production sector has been based on local lignite and heavy-oil, being gradually replaced by imported natural gas only quite recently. Therefore, the electricity generation process - beyond the economic and macroeconomic cost - is assumed to be responsible for significant air pollution. In this context, an extensive and thorough analysis is carried out concerning the quantities of air pollutants that have resulted from the electricity sector during the 1995 divided by 2002 period. For this purpose, all obtainable data are initially considered and analysed, followed by an integrated numerical model developed from basic-principles, in order to estimate the air pollutants created from electricity generation. The results presented are based on official data, analysing the SO2, NOx and CO2 gasses produced on the basis of the fuel utilized. Among the most interesting results of the present survey emerges the continuous increase of air pollutants with time, mainly attributable to the electricity demand amplification and the state policy of using Northern Greece lignite and imported natural gas in the mainland and diesel-oil in the Aegean Sea territories. This strategy practically leads to remarkable air pollution rise during the next decade, a fact that is also validated by the application of the analytical model developed.