The emissions limits, which are currently harder to meet than a few years ago, foster energy sector entrepreneurs to consider the possibilities of economically efficient emissions-reductions at their power plants. Within this paper the, main methods of sulphur dioxide reduction will be described. The second problem considered in this paper is related to the economic aspect of emissions reduction. The choice of the method is often based on the comparison of costs associated with the appropriate methods. Therefore, for the technologies described, the average reduction costs will be presented and the most efficient way will be highlighted. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.