The Government of India has made a major improvement in relation to flu gas de-sulfurization (FGD) system in coal-based power plants. This new decision taken by the government is not being seen as a balanced policy change based on data and ground reality, not as internationally, but not as a retreat from the environment.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has clarified that now the FGD system will be mandatory only in the power plants that are located in densely populated cities or highly affected areas of pollution. After this decision, about 80% of the country’s coal -based power plants, based on low -sulfur domestic coal, will be free from this rule.
This change has been made on the basis of reports of many Indian research institutes. The report found that the level of sulfur dioxide is also within national standards in areas where FGDs are not installed. At the same time, if FGD is implemented in all plants, there will be about 70 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide emissions in the next five years. This was caused by more energy consumption in running more limestone mines and systems.
Electricity cost will be reduced
Another important aspect of this amendment is that this will reduce the cost of power generation from ₹ 0.25 to ₹ 0.30 per unit. This will directly benefit the common consumers and will also provide relief to the power distribution companies facing the economic crisis. Experts have described the move as “reality-based regulation”, which takes into account both environmental balance and consumer interest.
Other big countries of the world are also thinking in this direction. America, Europe and China, who once adopted FGD technology on a large scale, are now making rules according to regional requirements. China implemented a broad FGD between 2004 and 2012, but is now focusing more on microscopic PM 2.5 polluting particles and more focus on the efficiency of the entire system.
This improvement will be an example for other countries
Some critics believe that such changes can slow down the speed of clean air goals. But the government says that the new policy focuses on areas where pollution is really serious, and the rest of the resources can be applied in more effective measures, such as electric dust management, real -time monitoring and reinforcing the renewable energy grid. India’s model can become an inspiration for other coal-dependent developing countries where policies are solid, cost-effective and every decision is based on solid data.
