Waste pond near brown coal power plant
Spremberg, Germany

The Union Of Concerned Scientists website asserts:
“Waste created by a typical 500-megawatt coal plant includes more than 125,000 tons of ash
and 193,000 tons of sludge from the smokestack scrubber each year.
Toxic substances in the waste- including arsenic, mercury, chromium, and cadmium --
can contaminate drinking water supplies and damage vital human organs and the nervous system.”

2015 Releases European Environmental Agency
Carbon dioxide (CO2)       12,300,000 t
Arsenic (as As)       26.2 kg
Cadmium (as Cd)       18.1 kg
Chromium (as Cr)       141 kg
Copper (as Cu)       148 kg
Mercury (as Hg)       339 kg
Nickel (as Ni)       263 kg
Particulate matter (PM10)       58.7 t
Nitrogen oxides (NOx/NO2)       5810 t
Sulphur oxides (SOx/SO2)       9240 t
Chlorine (as HCl)       167 t
Nitrous oxide (N2O)       133 t
Carbon monoxide (CO)       1,350 t