The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has begun a process that could see emissions data stored on thousands of fossil fuel power plants in North America, with the ultimate aim of reducing pollution across the continent.

The CEC has released a new report, entitled 'North American Power Plant Air Emissions', which is being seen as a first step towards a shared emissions inventory, recording levels of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury and carbon dioxide emissions.

Already, preliminary findings from more than 1,000 sites in Mexico, Canada and the US show that power plant emissions are proving problematic.

William Kennedy, executive director of the CEC, said the report showed how, "site by site, coal-fired power plants are the dominant source of harmful air emissions from the electricity sector in North America".

Indeed, the report points to a relatively small collection of plants as being responsible for a large proportion of total emissions.

Coal combustion is said to account for 86 per cent of total sulphur dioxide emissions
from electricity and 90 per cent of nitrogen oxides in North America.

Now, the report's authors and related lobby groups are urging the power firms to tackle the emissions and introduce modern pollution control equipment across the board.

Platinum group metals are key to helping tackle power plant emissions, with the precious metals typically being used to counter nitrogen oxides.