Thermal power plants produce half of Turkey’s wastewater

ANKARA

The total greenhouse gas emissions in 2012 of a CO2 equivalent was calculated as 439.9 million tons, up 133.4 percent from 1990.

A fresh report by the state’s statistical institute TÜİK has revealed that some 52.3 percent of the wastewater discharged into nature in 2012 came from coal power plants, a leading energy source for energy-hungry Turkey, surpassing public water waste at 34 percent.

In 2012, municipalities, villages, manufacturing industry establishments, thermal power plants, industrial zones, and mining firms discharged 12 billion cubic meters of wastewater into the environment, said the report, which was released yesterday to mark World Environment Day.

The country produced some 4.1 million tons of dangerous waste over the year, adding to the 982 million tons of non-hazardous waste. Some 947 tons of the total waste came from mines, with some 3.2 million tons being hazardous.

Most of the discharged wastewater, some 77.1 percent, was poured into the sea, while 18.6 percent was mixed with rivers.

In 2012, a total amount of 14.3 billion cubic meters of water was abstracted from the environment in order to be distributed via water supply networks by municipalities and villages and used in the manufacturing industry, thermal plants, industrial zones and mining facilities.

Out of the total amount, 52.1 percent was abstracted from the sea, 18 percent from dams, 15 percent from wells, 11.9 percent from springs and 3 percent from other sources.

The total greenhouse gas emissions in 2012 of a CO2 (carbon dioxide) equivalent was calculated as 439.9 million tons, up 133.4 percent from 1990. The CO2 equivalent emissions per capita was calculated at 5.9 tons, while the emission intensity was calculated at a 0.31 kg CO2 equivalent per GDP in Turkish Liras.