The table below shows the average mass of various pollutants released by a municipal combined heat and power (CHP) plant when burning conventional pulverised coal compared to burning compressed wood biomass pellets.
| Pollutant | Emission rate in g\text{g}g per MJ\text{MJ}MJ of energy generated | |
|---|---|---|
| Pulverised Coal | Wood Biomass Pellets | |
| Carbon dioxide (net) | 94.0 | 8.5 |
| Carbon monoxide | 0.05 | 0.08 |
| Nitrogen oxides | 0.15 | 0.22 |
| Particulates | 0.012 | 0.019 |
| Sulfur dioxide | 0.420 | 0.015 |
Explain, using information from the table, one way in which burning wood biomass pellets is less damaging to the environment than burning pulverised coal.
130 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE Chemistry 9.1 Fuels, covering 9.1.1 Hydrocarbons and crude oil, 9.1.2 Fractional distillation of crude oil and its fractions, 9.1.3 The alkanes as a homologous series, 9.1.4 Complete and incomplete combustion, 9.1.5 Pollutants from burning fuels, 9.1.6 Hydrogen as a fuel and non-renewable fossil fuels, and 9.1.7 Cracking of larger alkanes. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.