Coal-fired power plants are the single biggest global source of greenhouse gas emissions. Coal is the dirtiest fuel and global coal reserves represent a greater source of potential CO2 than any other fossil fuel.

The objective of this paper is to quantify important co-benefits of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation under scenarios where domestic GHG emissions are reduced by 30% across the European Union by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, rather than by the 20% considered in the proposal by the European Commission (EC).