In the Environmental Impact Statement prepared for the Ballymoney proposal, it was revealed that approximately 4.8 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide would be emitted by the plant each year by burning lignite (brown coal). That is the equivalent of having an extra 1.2 million cars on the roads of Northern Ireland. At a time when government targets are aiming for significant reductions in the production of CO₂, this would raise Northern Ireland's emissions by 25 per cent.

WWF Northern Ireland has also learned that despite the mining organisation's roots in Australia, very little company information is available and it has no track record of running mining operations on the scale of the proposal in Ballymoney. "Given the project's existing risks, an inexperienced operator may well compound them", said Michael Rae from WWF Australia. "It is shameful that an Australian company should be peddling the mining and burning of brown coal to the people of Northern Ireland, when clean sources of electricity, such as wind power are readily available."

He added: "Because of its stance on greenhouse pollution, Australia has the reputation of being the 'dirty man of the South Pacific'. Regrettably, AuIron risk earning Northern Ireland a similar reputation."

Malachy Campbell, Policy Officer for WWF Northern Ireland commented: "AuIron has repeatedly referred to lignite as either a 'clean' or environmentally friendly energy source. Yet scientific evidence overwhelmingly proves that lignite is an inefficient, dirty fuel. It produces more CO₂ than oil, gas or other types of coal and yet it is being marketed as something of a technological advance, when in fact it is a fuel which has no place in the 21st Century."

In addition, AuIron has also stated that it does not intend to install a major Flue Gas Desulphurisation Unit at the power plant. The high price of installing such a unit would almost certainly increase costs to the consumer. Flue Gas Desulphurisation Units significantly reduce the amount of Sulphur Dioxide (SO₂) emitted by power stations burning fossil fuels such as lignite, a gas identified as a major contributor to acid rain. Should the Ballymoney proposal receive approval, the power station would increase the amount of Sulphur Dioxide produced by Northern Ireland annually, despite calls to have emission levels reduced.