Residential Accounts - Pollution Calculator - Maine Green Power Connection

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"Conventional" electricity generation creates harmful emissions. This calculator estimates the pollution generated by your electricity use. It will also help you consider ways to reduce, eliminate or offset those emissions.

Step 1. Electricity Supply

Your monthly bill¹: $

To start, look at the emissions generated by your usage, when your electricity is supplied by the Standard Offer supplier.

Your supplier:

You are responsible for these emissions (based on your annual demand of kWh)
Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) - "probably the most important climate forcing agent"²	lbs.
Nitrogen Oxide (NO_x) - "smog-forming chemical... an ingredient of acid rain"³	lbs.
Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂) - "may cause permanent damage to lungs"³	lbs.
Carbon Monoxide (CO) - "reduces ability of blood to bring oxygen to body cells"³	lbs.
Mercury (Hg) - "can affect brain development" ⁴	mg
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) - "can cause serious health problems such as cancer" ³	oz
10 micron Particulate Matter (PM10) - "nose and throat irritation, lung damage, bronchitis, early death" ³	oz

"Clean" electricity uses low- or zero-emissions generation sources to generate the electricity you use. To see what difference it would make to buy your electricity from a provider of Green Supply from renewable resources, select a different supplier from the box above.

Keep in mind that Green Supply products may still generate emissions - visit the Maine Green Power Menu to examine the mix of generation sources in these products.

Step 2. Clean Electricity through .

Notes

1. Electricity bill: Enter your total bill, not just the delivery or the supply portion. We can figure out how many kilowatt hours you consume per year based on how much you pay per month.
If your utility is not listed, use the non-residential version of the calculator (which requires that you know how many kilowatt hours you use per month).
Both versions of our calculator use the same pollution data, but the residential version calculates kWh usage from the dollar amount of your monthly bill, whereas the non-residential version asks for your kWh usage directly.
2. Carbon Dioxide: Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions, Committe on the Science of Climate Change, Division on Earth and Life Studies, National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, DC. 2001. Page 13. Available online from the EPA web site.
3. Nitrogen Oxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Volatile Organic Compounds, Particulate Matter: The Plain English Guide To The Clean Air Act, United States Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/peg_caa/pegcaa11.html, May 13, 2002.
4. Mercury: Mercury and Health, North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. http://www.p2pays.org/mercury/health.asp, June 23, 2004.

Additional Sources for Pollution Statistics

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