Howe would Power plants stop Polluting Mercury??

Question

Because our fish are contaminated with mercury. How would power plant prevent this from happening?

Answer 1

I'm gonna talk my own book here, because I'm actually invested in a company that reduces emmissions from power plants.  The company is Fuel Tech - FTEK.  They make several different chemical systems that, when injected into a coal or oil fired boiler, greatly reduce several pollutants.  Some of the emmissions that are reduced are sulfur trioxide, ammonium bisulfate, particulate matter, carbon dioxide, NOx, and I believe mercury as well.  

The other option for the longer term would be to start phasing out coal and oil fired power plants.  Coal especially is an extremely dirty technology that can be replaced by so many better things.  Even just mining for coal is extremely devistating to the environment.  The less coal we use, the better off the planet will be, and the less mercury will be emmitted.

Answer 2

Power plants today are much cleaner than they were 30 years ago. Not much mercury escapes because it is filtered out using things like scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators.