The main power plant in the southeast Italian city of Brindisi made the list of the 30 power plants which create the most pollution in Europe, drawn up by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
The list was complied based on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) the plants product and the ratio this to kilowatts produced. CO2 is one of the main causes of the green house effect which is blamed for global warming.
In 2006, WWF said, the 'Dirty 30' produced 393 tonnes of CO2, equal to 10% of the gas created in the European Union.
The state-operated Agios Dimitrios plant in Greece topped the list of the 'Dirty 30', followed by five power plants in Germany, four of which belong to the RWE group.
The plant in Brindisi was ranked 25th on the WWF list but was 9th for the amount of CO2 produced last year, 22.8 million tonnes.
"CO2 is recognised as one of the principle causes of global warning and the EU must achieve its goal of reducing this by 30% by 2020," observed Gianfranco Bologna, the WWF Italy scientific chief.
Drastic cuts in CO2 emissions are needed in order to do this, he added. "and it makes no sense and it is not economical to replace the old coal plants with new ones which sue the same fuel".
According to Bologna, EU countries must focus on renewable energy sources and boost energy efficiency in order to reduce CO2 emissions.
