Representative photo of a factory in North India: Anirudh/Unsplash
- The Commission for Air Quality Management has directed industries in the NCR to switch to natural gas and biomass pellets.
- It has set a compliance deadline of September 2022, and threatened to shut units that fail to comply by then.
- The CAQM issued a similar directive three months ago, to no avail, which could say something about why the new order may not succeed either.
Kochi: ‘Switch to clean fuel, or close down’ – that’s the latest directive of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to industrial units in the National Capital Region (NCR). As per the directive, released on February 9, factories in the NCR of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have to switch to cleaner fuels – either piped natural gas or biomass – instead of continuing with polluting fossil fuels such as coal.
Industry has to comply by September 30 this year. Noncompliance, despite availability of these cleaner fuels, can result in a drastic measure: being shut down.
This move by the CAQM, set up by the Centre to identify, resolve and address problems surrounding air quality in the NCR and adjoining areas, aims to limit air pollution in the NCR in two ways. It pushes for the use of clean energy, and it aims to decrease air pollution by converting standing crop residue – which would otherwise be burnt – to biomass pellets.
But this seemingly efficient solution may not be so straightforward to implement.
The CAQM has also issued such directives before – and industry hasn’t complied.
Air pollution
Air pollution is a serious concern in the NCR. Cities here, including Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Delhi and Faridabad, figure among the most polluted cities in the world based on levels of PM2.5, according to IQAir, an online air-quality tracker.
Sources of pollution include vehicular emissions, which contribute the most to Delhi’s PM2.5 levels locally. Emissions from industries, including coal-fired power plants, operating in the NCR are a concern as well. Add to this seasonal emissions from stubble burning, which have contributed to 20-70% of Delhi’s air pollution in October and November; in 2020, that figure reportedly stood at 80%.
All of these impact air quality. Even as recently as February 7, air quality in New Delhi was in the “severe” category. The CAQM’s latest directive to shut industrial units that haven’t switched to cleaner energy sources by September 2022 aims to address these issues.
Using natural gas and biomass pellets will lower carbon emissions from industries. One 2019 study found that Uttar Pradesh can produce 71 million tonnes of surplus biomass every year, equivalent to 7,298 MW of power. If this biomass replaces fossil fuels such as coal in the state, it can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change, energy researchers from Jawaharlal Nehru University, IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay, among others, found.
According to the press release announcing the directive, the CAQM took its decision based on inputs from several organisations, associations, individuals and state governments. And until units transition to cleaner fuel, they can only use fuels approved by the respective state governments for their operations.
Aid for transition
The intent of the directive is “good”, but the use of biomass requires a lot of preparatory ground work, said Disha Agarwal, a programme lead at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a Delhi-based nonprofit. In particular, industries will require more governmental aid for a successful transition.
For example, while large-scale industries may have the expertise, e.g. to standardise the quality of biomass pellets, and financial capabilities to make this transition, small and medium industries will not. In this case, it will help industrial clusters to procure biomass pellets collaboratively, Agarwal said.
Retrofitting – adding new technology or features to existing machinery – to accommodate biomass pellets will be crucial as well, she added. For example, industrial units can’t use the same machinery if they need to shift from a liquid fuel such as diesel to biomass, which is solid.
“There is a need for a supporting framework where small industries can access subsidised loans for retrofitting,” according to Agarwal. “Otherwise we can’t [impose] harsh conditions. Some kind of funding or financial mechanism by the state or Centre will also go a long way.”
Moreover, the types of industries in the region are very varied as are their requirements. Demonstration projects that show how pellets can be used will also instil confidence in stakeholders that there will be no adverse impacts on their production, she said.
Stubble burning could continue
According to the press release, promoting the use of biomass as fuel in industrial operations in the NCR is “primarily focused on controlling the issue of biomass burning”.
However, many pellet plants she has visited manufacture pellets from groundnut husk, sugarcane bagasse and other kinds of agricultural and forestry residues, Agarwal said.
Few suppliers provide pellets made of 100% paddy residue – which is the “main culprit behind stubble burning.” This could be because there are few plants that craft paddy pellets barring a couple in Punjab. So she expressed doubts whether the move could really help control pollution caused by stubble burning in the NCR.
Similar CAQM directives don’t appear to have yielded results in the past. In December 2021, for example, the body ordered “immediate closure” of all industries that had not switched over to cleaner fuels despite their availability. Those facilities continue to operate.