Coal Kills

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5. IN RETROSPECT To meet the growing electricity demand in India’s urban and rural regions, the expansion of the coal-fired TPPs is the most likely scenario, which also leads to an array of health impacts. There is growing evidence in the scientific community on the health impacts associated with the air pollution from the coal-fired TPPs, reviewed and published as part of the GBD assessments. The technology improvements worldwide are also showing ways to make the electricity generation cleaner and safer for the environment. Keeping that in perspective, the conclusions of this study are the following Benefits of mandating FGD for the existing and the newly commissioned coal-fired TPPs is obvious. This is not only to reduce the emission loads at the plants for SO 2 and NO x , but also to arrest the formation of the secondary sulphates and secondary nitrates at the regional level, which form due to atmospheric chemical reactions downwind of the source regions; and further add to the overall health impacts. A conservative estimate, in terms of lives saved, of operating a FGD, at all the plants through 2030 is upwards of 50%. To date, the pollution standards for SO 2 and NO x emissions exist only for ambient air quality, measured at select locations in major cities, and not for individual TPPs. The same cities also implemented interventions to reduce the SO 2 emissions, such as low-sulfur diesel and relocation of the heavy industries, which resulted in the reduction of the SO 2 ambient concentrations in the cities, as measured at the select monitoring locations. This tends to give a false impression that the SO 2 emissions and the SO 2 ambient concentrations are dropping across the country. Solution to this issue is a two step process (a) emission standards need to be regulated at the TPPs, which can lead to implementation of any form of the FGDs discussed in this report and (b) only after the standards are regulated at the plant level, can we proceed to the next steps of monitoring and enforcing, and reduce the impact of emissions from coal-fired TPPs. The environmental impact assessment procedures are archaic and need to be revised, in order to include the health and environment damages due to long-range transport of pollution from the coal-fired TPP stacks, as high as 275m. Currently, the procedure requires assessment for an area of 10km radius from the plants. Given the stack height, stack diameter, exit temperature, and exit velocity of the flue gas at most of these TPPs, these emissions tend to travel farther, more than 300km in less than 24 hours, which means that the stipulated 10km radius does not capture the true nature of the impact of the TPPs on environment and health. The newly commissioned TPPs and the proposed TPPs are expected to operate at higher performance levels, than those observed in the past, and thus reducing the coal consumption levels per MWh. The efficiency improvement of the older TPPs, irrespective of the boiler size, should become a starting point for reducing overall coal consumption and associated atmospheric emissions. 24 | <strong>Coal</strong>-fired TPPs in India
The stack emissions can be monitored relatively easily as compared to non-point sources (such as vehicles, garbage burning, domestic burning, and fugitive dust). While, the larger TPPs are now required to operate continuous stack monitors, this information is not open to public, either for analysis or for scrutiny of the emission loads. This adds to the uncertainty of similar studies. Besides strengthening standards, new policies are required for dissemination of information from the coal-fired TPPs. The Central Pollution Control Board operates and maintains website to collate and disseminate the information from the continuous monitorng stations in the cities. A similar platform or the same platform should be utilised to collate and disseminate information from the coal-fired TPPs in real time. 25 | <strong>Coal</strong>-fired TPPs in India
Page 1 and 2: Coal Kills Health Impacts of Air Po
Page 3 and 4: Coal Kills: Health Impacts of Air P
Page 5 and 6: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As the 3 rd large
Page 7 and 8: 1. BACKGROUND The direct link betwe
Page 9 and 10: the proposed coal-fired TPPs to com
Page 11 and 12: Figure 3: Summary of new emission s
Page 13 and 14: and tiles 12 . To date, percentage
Page 15 and 16: The main conclusions of 2011-12 stu
Page 17 and 18: In 2011, Prayas Energy Group (Pune,
Page 19 and 20: Table 3: Estimated energy consumpti
Page 21 and 22: What are the anticipated changes in
Page 23 and 24: While the impact of the emissions f
Page 25 and 26: 4. ROLE of FLUE GAS DESULPHURISATIO
Page 27: Table 9: Anticipated health impacts
Page 31 and 32: Highlights: Between 2014 and 2030 C

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