Air Pollution caused due to Coal Power Plants
Fast development in coal powered thermal power generation, largely out of sight of urban
Indians, is one of the key drivers of the crisis caused due to air quality deterioration. The analysis shows
respective increase of 13% and 31% for PM2.5 and SO2 levels from 2009-2015. Earlier research on
regional trends has identified a 20% increase in NO2 levels.
Death due to air pollution increased from 1,300 in the year 2000 to 1,800 in 2013. Over this period, air
pollution levels increased drastically in India which can be attributed to various factors such as massive
fossil fuel consumption, industrial growth, and increase in number of vehicles and rapid expansion in
construction activities along with biomass burning at household level and in the agricultural fields.
The examinations conducted by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) based on the collection of
information by the National Ambient Air Quality Index concluded that majority of the cities in Northern
part of India, for example, Agra, Delhi, Faridabad, Gaya, Kanpur, Lucknow, Muzaffarpur, Patna,
Varanasi, Jaipur and Jodhpur have suffered serious air pollution. In case of air pollution, pollutants travel
over large distances hampering the air quality of neighboring areas as well. This makes solving the
problem at specific sources. In 2014-15, India produced 612 MT of coal, becoming the third largest coal
producer in the world after USA and China.
In the past ten years, combustion of fossil fuel can be considered as one of the prime reasons behind the
escalating air quality degradation in India. During the period 2005 to 2014, oil consumption has increased
by 50% and use of coal has increased by 100% i.e. doubled. As of February 2016, the total installed
generation capacity in India is 289 GW, out of which 176 GW is coal based as opposed to 68 GW in
2005. This shows a 156% increase in the coal based generation capacity. In 2014-15 India became third
largest producer of coal after USA and China, producing 612 MT.
Although there were few enhancements in emission performance of vehicles, meaning that the rate of air
pollutant emissions increased less than of total fuel use, there was little or no improvement in SO2 and
NOx emission controls used in coal-burning facilities, implying that emissions from coal-burning
increased equal to the rate of coal consumption.
Investigating further Lu et al., 2013 found that coal-based thermal power plant clusters were responsible
for more than 75% of total SO2 emissions in all 23 Indian states they analyzed, and for more than 90% in
16 Indian states.
The fossil fuel utilization in India has increased radically over the past ten years and most of this has
come from extention in the coal usage expanding from 184 Mtoe (Million Ton Oil equivalent) in 2005 to
360 Mtoe in 2014.
Analysis of satellite measurements of pollution data reveals the largest pollution sources in India and the
breakneck increase in power plant and industrial pollution that has contributed to worsening air quality
across India.
An estimated 75 - 90% of sulphates22 and 50% nitrates23 are formed from SO2 and NOx emissions
originating from the stacks of thermal power plants. Analysis of satellite based imagery done by
Greenpeace shows the SO2 and NO2 hotspots in the country and it overlaps with the high coal consuming
regions clearly proving the following:
1. SO2 and NO2 emissions are very high within the regions where coal burning is high eg:
Singrauli ( UP & MP), Korba (Chhattisgarh), Raigarh (Chhattisgarh), Angul (Odisha), Mundra
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(Gujarat), Chandrapur (Maharashtra), Bellary (Karnataka) and Chennai and Neyveli (Tamil
Nadu) regions and
2. There is a significant increase in emissions of SO2 and NO2 with the capacity addition of
thermal power in clusters like Mundra, Raigarh, Korba, Angul, SIngrauli and Bellary.
Health Impacts:
Globally, it is well known that toxic emissions from coal-based electricity generation are responsible for
significant levels of diseases and early death. Extensive studies related to health impacts caused by
particulate air pollution caused due to coal-based power plants have been carried out in the USA and parts
of Europe.
The results of this analysis show that coal is taking a heavy toll on human life across large parts of the
country:
In 2011-2012, emissions from Indian coal plants resulted in 80,000 to 115,000 premature deaths and more
than 20 million asthma cases from exposure to total PM10 pollution.
The study quantified additional health impacts such as hundreds of thousands of heart attacks, emergency
room visits, hospital admissions, and lost workdays caused by coal-based emissions.
The study estimates the monetary cost associated with these health impacts exceeds Rs.16,000 to 23,000
crores (USD $3.3 to 4.6 billion) per year.
This burden is not distributed evenly across the population. Geographically, the largest impact is felt over
the states of Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, the Indo-Gangetic plain, and
most of central India. Demographically, adverse impacts are especially severe for the elderly, children,
and those with respiratory disease. In addition, the poor, minority groups, and people who live in areas
downwind of multiple power plants are likely to be disproportionately exposed to the health risks and
costs of fine particle pollution.
Delhi:
60-90% of PM10 in Delhi is due to emissions outside the megacity, so it’s imperative to understand
pollution sources at the regional level to find solutions to the rising problem.
Industrial sources are responsible for nearly 90% of SO2, 52% of NOx and 11% of PM2.5 emissions load
in Delhi, most of these pollutants are emitted from the power plants; the sulfate and nitrate particles
formed from SO2 and NOx pollution, respectively, are key contributors to the total PM2.5 pollution. In
comparison, the most often cited emissions from vehicles, is responsible for approximately 1% of SO2,
36% of NOx and 20% of PM2.5 emissions load from the city.
There are 16 coal-fired units (2,824MW) within 50 kilometres from the center of New Delhi, and 114
units (26,874 MW) within 500km. Depending on wind direction and other atmospheric conditions, these
power plants and other large coal-burning industries can make a very significant contribution to Delhi’s
air pollution. Even more alarmingly, nine more coal-fired units (5,530MW) are under construction and 36
units (28,040MW) are in pipeline within the 500km radius of the capital. If realized, these plants could
more than double the coal-fired generating capacity and associated air pollution emissions within the
region.
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Sources:
Greenpeace India, Out Of Sight: How Coal Burning Advances India’s Air Pollution Crisis. Bangalore:
Greenpeace India, 2016.
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/Global/india/cleanairnation/Reports/Out%20of%20Sight.pdf
Greenpeace India, Urban Emissions, Coal Kills An Assessment Of Death And Disease Caused By India’s
Dirtiest Energy Source. Greenpeace India, 2013.
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/Global/india/report/Coal_Kills.pdf
Global Burden of Diseases, 2013
CPCB, 2016; NAQI STATUS OF INDIAN CITIES IN 2015-16, http://cpcb.
nic.in/upload/Latest/Latest_119_NAQI%20Status%20of%20Indian%20 Cities%20in%202015-16.pdf
Sharma and Dikshit, 2016; Comprehensive Study on Air Pollution and Green House Gases (GHGs) in
Delhi. IIT Kanpur, http://delhi.gov.in/DoIT/ Environment/PDFs/Final_Report.pdf
BP Statistical review of World’s Energy 2015, http://www.bp.com/ content/dam/bp/excel/energyeconomics/statistical-review-2015/bpstatistical-review-of-world-energy-2015-workbook.xlsx
CEA, March 2016; All India installed capacity (in MW) of power stations,
http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/monthly/installedcapacity/2016/installed_ capacity-02.pdf
Coal Controller, Ministry of Coal, 2015; Coal Directory of India 2013-2014,
http://coal.nic.in/sites/upload_files/coal/files/coalupload/coaldir13-14.pdf
http://coal.nic.in/content/production-supplies
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