Amit Dave/Reuters The Adani Power Company thermal power plant at Mundra in the western Indian state of Gujarat.This month, the first comprehensive assessment of the health impact of pollution from India’s coal-fired power plants was published.
The findings are grim. Scientists estimate that exposure to coal-related pollution caused between 80,000 and 115,000 premature deaths and more than 20 million asthma attacks in 2011-12. The conclusion is particularly worrying, given that the World Resources Institute estimates that 455 new coal power plants are planned in India, more than four times the number that exist now.
Courtesy of Puja Jawahar Sarath Guttikunda.The study was conducted by Sarath Guttikunda and Puja Jawahar of Urban Emissions, an air pollution research firm, with support from the Conservation Action Trust, a non-profit organization that focuses on the environment. Dr. Guttikunda  founded Urban Emissions and is an affiliate associate research professor at the Desert Research Institute, the environmental research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education.
In an e-mail interview with India Ink, he explained some of the key findings from the study, and the possible implications for future regulation and expansion of India’s electricity sector.
Your study estimates that pollution from coal power plants causes up to 115,000 premature deaths in India every year, with an associated cost of $3.3 to $4.6 billion. Were you yourself surprised by these numbers
Not really. The recent Global Burden of Disease study, published in The Lancet in December 2012, quantified the trends of more than 200 causes of deaths for the period of 1990-2010 and listed outdoor air pollution among the top 10 causes of deaths for India.
For India, total premature mortality due to outdoor particulate matter (PM) pollution is estimated at 627,000 for the year 2010. What we estimated is a fraction of that from one of the major energy sectors in India. Other sources are on-road vehicle exhaust and road dust, manufacturing industries including brick kilns, and the contribution of household fuel combustion to the outdoors.
What are the major health impacts associated with exposure to particulate matter and other pollutants emitted by these plants
Exposure to the pollutants like particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides cause illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory infections, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, bronchitis and cancers of the trachea and lung, leading to premature death. The most vulnerable are children, the elderly and those with existing health issues.
How much of the problem is due to the fact that India’s power plants burn relatively low-quality coal
Part of the problem is the use of low-quality coal, with high ash content and low calorific value, which puts consumption of coal per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated higher than that in the United States and China. The other part is the lack of regulation.
The government mandates that coal used in ecologically sensitive and in populated areas be no more than 34 percent ash content. There are, however, no means to ascertain if this is indeed the case and we have no data on this.
Some of the pollution could be reduced if flue-gas desulphurizers are used. However, as per current regulations these are not mandatory and so very few plants operate them or even plan to install them in the future. Currently, there are no regulations for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions, and the standards for particulates are between 5 and 10 times higher than those in the United States, European Union and China.
How serious a problem is the lack of openly available data on individual power plants’ continuous emissions, and how did you overcome that obstacle in your study
If you look at the annual performance reports published regularly by the Central Electricity Authority, the only data available on the emissions are minimum and maximum values observed over a year for the total particulates. This is in spite of installed monitors at most of the stacks.
The data is not released in real-time for assessments, hence we have to depend on calculations based on coal consumed, coal characteristics based on where the coal is mined, and existing control technologies. The problem with the monitoring data is very similar to the ambient stations in the cities, where it is again hard to access the data in the public domain.
Is a lack of adequate nationwide emissions control standards or inadequate enforcement of existing standards the bigger problem What’s the best place for regulators to start
The lack of standards and enforcement of these are complementary issues. As we mentioned earlier - we have no standards for pollutants, except particulate matter, from power plants, which is shocking given that coal-based power accounts for about 60 percent of our electricity. Without standards, there is no incentive for power plants to reduce emissions to meet them.
As a significant “point-source†of air pollution, one would think that it is relatively easy to monitor 111 existing coal plants and regulate these “points.†It is in many ways easier to monitor and enforce this compared to non-point sources such as vehicles, domestic combustion, brick kilns, etc., that are dispersed and that, while individually smaller than power plants, in combination are major sources of pollution.
For a start, regulators need to set standards, maintain continuous monitoring systems, provide public access to these data and enforce compliance. Technologies for controlling particulates and sulfur dioxide exist. It is a matter of mandating procedures like flue-gas desulfurization, which could take care of about 30 percent of the particulate pollution from the coal-fired power plants in the form of sulfates, a secondary component of particulate pollution.
Why does India lag so far behind other developing countries, including China, in setting standards for emissions of particulate matter from power plants
The lack of political will is the main reason for our non-existent standards. The question of regulations has not been addressed in a while. With the growing number of power plants in the pipeline, according to an assessment conducted by Prayas Energy in Pune, it is about time that it is addressed.
Your study shows that pollutants from coal plants can affect people up to 100 kilometers downwind. But people in certain areas with a higher density of power plants, such as Delhi-Harayana and Jharkhand, have a higher risk of exposure. In the absence of strong national standards, are there any states and municipalities taking strong local action to regulate this pollution
Not really, only a handful of power plants have installed flue-gas treatment plants as a result of local action. One example is the power plant in Trombay, near Mumbai. According to Prayas Energy, of the 200-plus new power plants with permissions for construction through 2020-30, less than ten have planned flue-gas treatment facilities.
Many analysts argue that India will depend primarily on coal for electricity generation for decades to come. To achieve deep reductions in the adverse health impacts associated with coal-burning pollution, will tightening controls of what comes out of those plant stacks be sufficient Or will shifting to cleaner power sources like solar and wind on a much wider scale ultimately be required
This study looked at the impacts of 111 coal plants, and as you mention, a tripling of the number of coal plants will have a much larger impact on health of India’s population. The scale of new projects is so large that merely tightening controls will likely be insufficient to negate the health impacts of these plants - and a shift to cleaner alternatives will be necessary. Especially given that the negative impacts of coal go beyond just air pollution and include impacts on water, land-resources, social justice, etc., that are beyond the scope of our study.
That said, we believe that tightening controls and enforcing them is a start for immediate relief.
How do you think this study might change the public conversation about the costs and benefits of India’s dependence on coal as it continues to expand its power infrastructure to meet rapidly rising demand
From epidemiological studies and the recent Global Burden of Disease assessments, it is evident that outdoor air pollution is one of the key sources of disease and death in India.
In order for the public to demand action on controlling the air pollution, we feel that the information is the key element. We need to know the status of air pollution and contributions from various sources like transport, power plants, industries, household fuels, and others.
We feel that this study is important on two fronts. First, it presents data on emissions, concentrations and health impacts of the coal power sector. While this may seem basic, it is unfortunate that this sort of information has not been published previously and we hope that it presents policy makers with evidence as to air pollution and health impacts of the sector. Second, it shows that despite the air pollution it causes, there are minimal regulations in place to address the air pollution impacts.
If the study convinces policy makers of the need to put in place stringent standards and enforce them - then it may be a start to a broader conversation on our energy needs and the environmental and health costs of supplying them.
(Click here to view animations of the seasonal changes in concentration of particulate matter from coal plants across India.)
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