Pulsed discharge plasmas have been used to treat exhaust gases. Since pulse duration and the rise time of applied voltage to the discharge electrode has a strong influence on the energy efficiency of pollutant removal, the development of a short-pulse generator is of paramount importance for practical applications. In this work, it is demonstrated that the non thermal plasma produced by the 2 ns pulsed discharge has a higher energy efficiency than the 5 ns pulsed discharge plasma for NO removal and ozone generation. Typically, the NO removal efficiency was 1.0 mol kW(-1) h(-1) for 70% NO removal (initial NO concentration = 200 ppm, gas flow = 10 L/min). Meanwhile, the ozone yield was 500 g kW(-1) h(-1) for 20 g/m(3) ozone concentration in the case of oxygen feeding. These energy efficiencies are the highest in the literature. (C) 2011 The Japan Society of Applied Physics