Lok Sabha Question No. 601 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-07-23
Subject: Pollution from Thermal Power Plants
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: JAY PRAKASH NARAYAN YADAV

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.601 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2015

## POLLUTION FROM THERMAL POWER PLANTS

†601.  SHRI JAI PRAKASH NARAYAN YADAV:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

(a) whether it is a fact that the thermal power plants in the country are polluting environment  due  to  excessive  emission  of  gases  and  are  also  consuming  large quantity of water; and

(b) if so, the details thereof and the steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY

( SHRI  PIYUSH GOYAL )

(a) : CO2 emissions  from  Indian  power  sector  as  monitored  by  Central Electricity Authority  during last five years is as under:

| Year    |   Total CO 2 Emission in Million Tonnes |   Specific CO 2 emission in Kg/kWh |
|---------|-----------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| 2009-10 |                                   580.0 |                               1.07 |
| 2010-11 |                                   597.7 |                               1.06 |
| 2011-12 |                                   637.3 |                               1.05 |
| 2012-13 |                                   696.3 |                               1.04 |
| 2013-14 |                                   727.4 |                               1.03 |

Though  the  total  CO 2   emissions  are  increasing  due  to  large  capacity additions of coal based plants in the country, however, the specific CO 2  emissions from these plants are showing a decreasing trend.

Coal  based  thermal  power  stations  in  India  require  relatively  higher quantity of consumptive water because of high ash content of Indian coals and high ambient temperature conditions.  Plant consumptive water requirement is governed by  a  number  of  factors  such  as  quality  of  raw  water,  type  of  condenser  cooling system,  quality  of  coal,  ash  utilization,  type  of  ash  disposal  system,  waste  water management aspects etc.

...........2.

(b) : The  Government  of  India  has  taken  following  steps  to  reduce  CO 2 emission and water consumption from coal based thermal power plants:

- (i) Adoption  of  more  efficient  Supercritical  Technology  for  Thermal  Power generation  resulting  in  less  specific  coal  consumption  (Kg/Kwh)  and thereby reducing CO 2   emissions and water consumption.
- (ii) Phased retirement of inefficient and old thermal power generation units is being taken up.  A capacity of about 3100 MW has already been retired.
- (iii) Government  has  planned  a capacity addition of 1,75,000  MW  from renewable sources by 2022.
- (iv) Perform  Achieve  and  Trade  (PAT)  Scheme  under  National  Mission  on Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE) is under implementation by Bureau of Energy  Efficiency  (BEE).  In  this  scheme,  individual  target  for  improving energy efficiency has been assigned to 144 thermal power stations in the country.  The  incremental  efficiency  of  these  thermal  power  stations  will lead  to  reduction  in  fossil  fuel  consumption  and  thereby  reducing  CO 2 emissions.
- (v) Measures like zero liquid discharge stipulations by MOE&F, use of washed coal  with  lower  ash  content,  better  O&M  practices  etc.  have  led  to  the specific water consumption for coal based plants gradually coming down from  a  high  of  5-7  m 3 /h  per  MW  in  the  past  to  about  3  m 3 /h  per  MW presently.

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