The smoke rises from a coal steel plant in Hehal’s village near Ranchi. File | Photo credit: AP
The Ministry of Environment of the Union must reverse its 2015 policy that requires all 537 coal plants in India to install a equipment class called LEGHURIZATION OF COMBUSTION GASES (FGD) to reduce Surnur dioxide emissions (SO2). On the other hand, it should only be applied to those plants that use imported coal or coal of Surnur Alto (> 0.5%), a study commissioned by the Office of the main scientific advisor, and executed by the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, Bengaluru, Bengaluru.
Although coal plants should have installed FGD for 2018, only 8% of the plants have installed the equipment after the Ministry of Environment extended the deadlines. From now on, compliance has been taken to 2027, 2028 and 2029, respectively, depending on the category of the thermal energy plant.
Currently, 230 thermal energy plants are found in several FGD installation internships, and 260 have not placed an order. It is estimated, according to the central electricity authority, which FGD costs ₹ 1.2 million rupees per MW to install. India has an installed coal capacity of 218,000 MW, which is expected to increase to 283,000 GW by 2032.
The justification underlying the child analysis is that 92%of the coal used in Indian plants has a low Sulthur content (0.3%-0.5%). The norms ordered by the Central Board of Control of Contamination that require that the heights of the battery (exhaust columns) in thermal plants are a minimum of 220 meters, together with “Indian climatic conditions”, said that SO2 emissions had no quality. A study by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) -Delhi in 2024, which the references of the NIA study found that the ‘acid rain’, the most visible concession of high SO2 emissions, “was not an important problem” in India.
Moreover, the installation of FGD in all plants would increase energy consumption, as well as fresh water consumption in plants, which resulted in an addition of 69 million tons of CO2 (2025-30), while reducing SO2 emissions by 17 million tons. The study argues that SO2 emissions, citing an intergovernmental panel on Shange’s climate evaluation, have a “masked” global warming “at 0.5C since 2010-2019 in relation to 1850-1900. “Therefore, add more long -life CO2 emissions while eliminating short -life SO2 emissions installing FGD indiscriminately in all TPP in India despite the low sulfur content of Indian coal will improve global warming. The report was written by R. Srikanth, Av Krishnan and Dizna James, in the child.
The study recommends that, instead of SO2, efforts are made to address the participating pollution of matter (PM) that result from these plants, partly due to the high ash content of Indian coal. The installation of electrostatic precipitators developed by Bharat Heavy Electrics Limited, a public sector company, would cost only ₹ 25 Lakh per MW, compared to the ₹ 1.2 million FGD, and reduce PM contamination by 99%, says the study. “Control TPP PM emissions [thermal power plants] The batteries at this level will have the maximum impact on the air pollution of the TPP even without FGD, “said the study.
“The policy of the Ministry of Environment on the FGD was a mistake, but now there is enough evidence to support it. It is time for the policy to go back,” said Dr. Srikanth. The Hindu.
The study results were shared with the office of the main scientific advisor in November 2024, Dr. Ir. Srikanth said. The Hindu He contacted the office of the main scientific advisor to comment, but did not receive a response until he went to press.
Published – April 17, 2025 9:13 PM IST
