KCPL Kids - Protecting & Improving the quality of our air

Protecting and Improving the Quality of Our Air

Kansas City Power & Light's commitment to the environment extends throughout the company, as we seek to lessen the environmental effects of power production and transmission on our environment. At the beginning of our production cycle are our power production facilities, where each plant carefully monitors production to ensure we continue to meet and exceed the regulatory standards imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

In fact, KCPL helped develop a pioneering breakthrough in exhaust emission control. This breakthrough -- a wet scrubber-type system -- uses a limestone slurry to control emissions from our stacks. KCPL's wet scrubber technology is one of the first and largest efforts in the world to control both sulfur-dioxide and fly-ash emissions.

Electrostatic precipitators -- devices that remove soot and ash with a sophisticated matrix of electrically charged plates -- control particulate emissions.

KCPL's Iatan Power Plant

KCPL's long-standing commitment to clean air is evident in its response to the country's environmental concerns. KCPL voluntarily reduced sulfur dioxide emissions by switching to low-sulfur coal where possible. In the late 1970s, KCPL launched an extensive fuel diversification program as another means of controlling pollution. As a result of burning low-sulfur coal from Wyoming at all coal-fired generating plants, sulfur-dioxide emissions dropped 80 percent between 1980 and 1995.

Our commitment to clean air is furthered by the addition of continuous emission monitors at each of its power plants. These devices, mandated by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, monitor plant emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides on an hourly basis.

Our vehicles also reflect our desire to protect air quality. KCPL's fleet of vehicles includes electric vehicles and propane-fueled cars and trucks. Used appropriately and under the proper temperature and air quality conditions, these vehicles help keep the air we all breathe a little cleaner.

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