Nobel prize winning Mexican scientist calls for complete ban on fuel oil writes David Alire Garcia, for an article published in Reuters.
Won Nobel Prize in chemistry
Molina is a co-recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry. He revealed threats to the planet’s protective ozone layer from freons, commonly found in spray cans and refrigerants.
Complete ban on fuel oil?
Mexican scientist Mario Molina said that the dirty fuel oil used to generate electricity in Mexico should completely be banned.
He cited its high sulfur content danger to both human health and the earth’s atmosphere.
Serious contamination problems
The oil, a byproduct of the refining process, is especially prevalent in Mexico due to the inability of its aging refineries to efficiently process the country’s heavy crude.
Molina in an interview said, “Fuel oil should be banned.” He added fuel oil causes serious problems related to air contamination.
Violation of sulphur limits
According to a Reuters investigation, one of Mexico’s largest power plants, operated by state-owned electricity company Comision Federal de Electricidad, or CFE, almost exclusively burned fuel oil from 2016-2019 in violation of maximum sulfur limits set by law.
Molina said it was “very worrying” that the plant’s emissions can reach the sprawling capital of more than 20 million inhabitants.
Going backwards
Molina said, “Mexico is going backwards, back to the previous century or the one before, at a time when all the experts on the planet are in total agreement that we’re in a climate crisis.”
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Source: Reuters
