The latest Environment Agency's Spotlight report on environmental regulation of businesses shows that the energy sector continues to be among the top performers, with 72% of sites rated A (well managed) for complying with environmental regulation.

David Porter, Chief Executive of the Association of Electricity Producers, commented: "The report shows that the electricity industry is complying with strict environmental regulations and continuing to see improvements in performance. The reduction in SOx and NOx emissions to date are significant, and no doubt we will see even lower figures between now and 2016 as European legislation kicks in. The electricity industry is moving towards a low-carbon mix, and I am confident we will see carbon emissions also going down over the next few years as operators invest heavily in new generating plant.

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"We support the Environment Agency's move to more risk-based regulation. Attention needs to be focused where companies are blatantly flouting the rules, not where industry is doing a good job in following them."

While the report shows that greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector (made up of refineries and non-nuclear power generating sites) have increased slightly since 1998, all other indicators are on a downward trend. Therefore, releases of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides to air have been reduced by over 80% due to investment in new technology. The production of waste has also declined. The electricity industry is striving for more by-products of coal combustion, such as fly-ash, to be treated as a resource, not a waste. This would allow their use in place of virgin material, which would be more resource efficient.

(GK/JM)