Why sulphur dioxide emission controlled slipped off priority charts
New Indian ExpressNEW DELHI: India’s national capital region is back in the news for its hazardous levels of air pollution. However, a major constituent of the fine particulate matter, PM2.5, has secondary aerosols such as sulphur, nitrate and ammonia, whose main source is coal-fired thermal power plants in Delhi-NCR. A new analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air shows that thermal power plants in NCR emit 281 kilotonnes of SO2 annually—16 times more than the 17.8 kilotonnes emitted by burning 8.9 million tonnes of paddy straw. Regulatory control On December 7, 2015, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued a notification to cut air pollution by reducing the concentration of SOx, NOx and mercury emissions from TPPs. It made it mandatory for thermal power plants to install flue gas desulfurization units to curtail the emission of SO2 from the stacks so as to comply with its emission limits.