{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T02:01:02Z","timestamp":1791597662400,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,21]],"date-time":"2020-05-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1590019200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation","award":["EXPERT, 14PFE\/17.10.2018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EXPERT, 14PFE\/17.10.2018"]}]},{"name":"European Social Fund - Human Resources Development Operational Programme 2014\u20132020","award":["ANTREPRENORDOC, 36355\/23.05.2019 HRD OP \/380\/6\/13\u2014SMIS Code: 123847"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ANTREPRENORDOC, 36355\/23.05.2019 HRD OP \/380\/6\/13\u2014SMIS Code: 123847"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The aim of this paper is to investigate the evolution of SO2 and NOx emissions of ten very large combustion plants (LCPs &gt;500 MW) located in the European Union (EU) during 2005\u20132015. The evolution of NOx and SO2 emissions were analyzed against the EU Directives in force during 2005\u20132015. The investigation was performed using space-borne observations and estimated emissions collected from the EEA (European Environment Agency) inventory of air pollutant emissions. The power plants were chosen according to their capacity and emissions, located in various parts of Europe, to give an overall picture of atmospheric pollution with NOx and SO2 associated with the activity of very large LCPs in Europe. Satellite observations from OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) are compared with calculated emissions in order to assess whether satellite observations can be used to monitor air quality, as a standard procedure, by governmental or nongovernmental institutions. Our results show that both space observations and estimated emissions of NOx and SO2 atmospheric content have a descending trend until 2010, complying with the EU Directives. The financial and economic crisis during 2007\u20132009 played an important role in reducing emissions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17103630","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,21]],"date-time":"2020-05-21T11:31:18Z","timestamp":1590060678000},"page":"3630","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["Evolution of SO2 and NOx Emissions from Several Large Combustion Plants in Europe during 2005\u20132015"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9380-497X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel-Eduard","family":"Constantin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Sciences and Environment, European Centre of Excellence for the Environment, \u201cDunarea de Jos\u201d University of Galati, Domneasca Street, no. 111, 800201 Galati, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Corina","family":"Boc\u0103neala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Sciences and Environment, European Centre of Excellence for the Environment, \u201cDunarea de Jos\u201d University of Galati, Domneasca Street, no. 111, 800201 Galati, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1864-3878","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mirela","family":"Voiculescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Sciences and Environment, European Centre of Excellence for the Environment, \u201cDunarea de Jos\u201d University of Galati, Domneasca Street, no. 111, 800201 Galati, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adrian","family":"Ro\u015fu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Sciences and Environment, European Centre of Excellence for the Environment, \u201cDunarea de Jos\u201d University of Galati, Domneasca Street, no. 111, 800201 Galati, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexis","family":"Merlaud","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Ringlaan-3-Avenue Circulaire, B-1180 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michel Van","family":"Roozendael","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Ringlaan-3-Avenue Circulaire, B-1180 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Puiu Lucian","family":"Georgescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Sciences and Environment, European Centre of Excellence for the Environment, \u201cDunarea de Jos\u201d University of Galati, Domneasca Street, no. 111, 800201 Galati, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"European Environment Agency (2015). 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