, Columnist
Burning Brimstone Promises Fresh Hell for Coal
New rules in South Korea to reduce particulate smog are just the start.
Scrubbers remove most sulfur dioxide emissions, but aren't cheap.
Photographer: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
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For all the disruptions ricocheting through the global oil market as its traditional sulfur dumping grounds of marine bunker fuel and Indian petcoke clean up their act, there’s a darker cloud of pollution billowing on the horizon.
Just 30 percent of global industrial sulfur dioxide emissions come from petroleum. The biggest share, at around 50 percent, comes from burning coal — and there, too, new regulations are set to disrupt markets.