TABLE 7 RESOURCE SAVINGS AND LAND AND AIR POLLUTION AVOIDED USING ENERGY GENERATED BY 2S SPS'S OVER A 10-YEAR OPERATING PERIOD would result from cement production and cement use. SO2 would also be released during cement production and the production of steel and copper. CO would be released during the propulsion phase of booster flight and in the production of coke for steel and of thermal control coatings based on the use of carbon black. Hydrocarbons would be released in the production of coke, carbon black and the combustion of rocket propellants during launch to LEO. Nitrogen oxides would be produced during cement production and ammonia during the coke production process. Other pollutants would be released during the production of materials and during combustion processes. But the air releases of all those pollutants would be 0.405 mt/MWe-y which is insignificant compared to those of coal-fired steam plants, which range from 5.5 to 110 mt/MW-y of operation. Therefore, the effects on public health of SPS air pollutants are projected to be minimal. Table 7 shows the resource saving and environmental effects avoided when energy is produced by 25 10 GW SPSs over a 10-year operating period as compared with the equivalent energy produced by coal- fired generating plants (23). 8.2.4. Solid wastes (28). No solid wastes would be produced during the generation of electric power by the SPS. Solid wastes would only be formed during the manufacture and construction of the SPS, the receiving antenna and launch sites and the space transportation system. They would amount to about 0.1 mt/MW-y, primarily attributable to aluminum, steel and silicon production. The amounts are negligible compared to the 890 to 2100 mt/MW-y from a coal-fired steam electrical plant.
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