Mercury coals burned in Canada

As the mercury content in coals burned varies widely across Canada, so do the mercury emissions. Canadian utilities use medium and low sulphur sub‑bituminous, high‑ and medium‑sulphur bituminous coals, and lignite. The low sulphur sub-bituminous and lignite coals used frequently in Alberta and Saskatchewan respectively tend to produce emissions high in elemental mercury, which are difficult to control. There are more options available for the management of emissions where coals producing higher ionic mercury emissions are used.