Coal Oriented Thermal Power Plants in India '“ An Evaluation of Atmospheric Emissions, Pollution, and Health Impacts

Access to electricity is a basic requirement to support a growing economy. Currently coal accounts for 41% of the world's electricity generation. At approximately 210 GW, India is the 5th largest generator of electricity in the world and will increase in the future. Currently, 66% of this power generation capacity is derived from coal with the vast majority of capacity additions planned the 12th five year plan (2012-2017) includes an addition of 76GW and the 13th five year plan (2017-2022) includes 93GW. Emissions from coal-fired power are responsible for a large mortality and morbidity burden on human health and this paper assesses the health burden of emissions from India's coal-fired power plants. In2011-12, 111 coal-fired power plants with a total generation capacity of 121GW, consumed 503 million tons of coal, and generated an estimated 580 ktons of particulates with diameter less than 2.5 -µm, 2100 ktons of sulfur dioxides, 2000 ktons of nitrogen oxides, 1100 ktons of carbon monoxide, 100 ktons of volatile organic compounds and 665 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. These emissions resulted in80,000 to 115,000 premature deaths and more than20.0 million asthma cases from exposure to total PM10 pollution in 2011-2012, which cost the public and the government an estimated 16,000 to 23,000 crores of Rupees (USD 3.2 to 4.6 billion). The largest impact of the coal-fi red power plant emissions is felt over the states of Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Indo-Gangetic plain, and most of central-east India. The dispersion modelling of emissions was conducted using CAMxEulerian model coupled with plume rise functions for the point sources and meteorological data from the NCEP reanalysis dataset. The analysis shows that aggressive pollution control regulations such as mandating flue gas desulfurization, introduction and tightening of emission standards for all criteria pollutants, and updating the procedures for environment impact assessments for existing and newer plants, are imperative to reduce health impacts. Shiva Kumar Konne"Coal Oriented Thermal Power Plants in India '“ An Evaluation of Atmospheric Emissions, Pollution, and Health Impacts" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-2 | Issue-1 , December 2017, URL: http://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd7111.pdf http://www.ijtsrd.com/other-scientific-research-area/enviormental-science/7111/coal-oriented-thermal-power-plants-in-india-'“-an-evaluation-of-atmospheric-emissions-pollution-and-health-impacts/shiva-kumar-konne