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Pollution from Coal Burning: IEACCC
Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment
- The story: A study by the International Energy Agency’s Clean Coal Centre (IEACCC) has stated that coal burning is responsible for heavy air pollution in India. A Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has also discussed the measures to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) footprints of India’s coal-based power sector and cautioned the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) against extending the deadline of meeting emission norms for coal-based thermal power plants in the country.
- Findings:
- Pollution from Coal-Based Thermal Power Stations - Coal-based thermal power stations contribute over half sulphur dioxide (SO2), 30% oxides of nitrogen (NOx), about 20% particulate matter (PM), etc. Persistent burning of coal in thermal power stations and a delay in implementation of latest carbon capture storage technology are among major reasons of air pollution in India.
- Pollution from other sectors - Transport and other industrial sectors stand second to coal-based thermal power stations as a contributor to air pollution.
- Suggestions:
- Retirement of old fleet of power stations - To limit pollution and improve the fleet efficiency by adopting clean coal technology.
- Investment in cleaner and advanced technology - The most new advanced technology plants in India - such as Mundra and Sassan in Gujarat are struggling financially, causing stakeholders to lose confidence in investing in cleaner and advanced technology.
- Launch more ambitious schemes - The current energy efficiency schemes, including performance and achieve trade scheme, efficiency standards scheme and carbon pricing schemes, are not ambitious enough to drive significant improvement.
- Adopting Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) - It is equally important to reduce emissions. It suggested India to include it as a part of its climate commitment. CCUS is the process of capturing waste CO2, transporting it to a storage site and depositing it where it will not enter the atmosphere.
- Coal Burning and Pollution:
- Coal formation - Formed deep underground over thousands of years of heat and pressure, coal is a carbon-rich black rock that releases energy when burned.
- Air Pollution - When coal is burned, it releases a number of airborne toxins and pollutants. They include mercury, lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates, and various other heavy metals. Health impacts can range from asthma and breathing difficulties, to brain damage, heart problems, cancer, neurological disorders, and premature death.
- Water Pollution - The coal-fired power plants produce more than 100 million tons of coal ash every year. More than half of that waste ends up in ponds, lakes, landfills, and other sites where, over time, it can contaminate waterways and drinking water supplies. Other water impacts include acid rock drainage from coal mines, the destruction of mountain streams and valleys by mountaintop removal mining, and the energy-water collisions that occur when coal plants rely too heavily on local water supplies.
- Climate Change - Coal is a large contributor to Global Warming.
- Initiatives to Control Emissions from Power Plants:
- Exploring CCUS - India is exploring its potential, as a plant at the industrial port of Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin has begun capturing CO2 from its own coal-powered boiler and using it to make baking soda.
- Emission Standards - India has issued orders for thermal power plants to comply with emissions standards for installing Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) units that cut emissions of toxic sulphur dioxide.
- Graded Action Plan - The Ministry of Power has proposed a "graded action plan," whereby areas where plants are located would be graded according to the severity of pollution, with Region 1 referring to critically polluted areas, and Region 5 being the least polluted.
- International Energy Agency’s Clean Coal Centre: It is a technology collaboration programme, organised under the International Energy Agency. It has 17 members, made up of contracting parties and sponsoring organisations. India's Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is a sponsoring organisation. Based in London with a team of engineers, scientists and other experts. It is supported financially by national governments (contracting parties) and by corporate industrial organisations. Its missions is to provide independent information and analysis on how coal can become a cleaner source of energy, compatible with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It wanst to address the role of coal in the energy trilemma and the need to balance security of supply, affordability and environmental issues. It wants to focus on reducing emissions of CO2 and other pollutants from coal use through High Efficiency, Low Emissions (HELE) technologies.
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