India to become world’s largest Sulphur Dioxide emitter: Study

As per study published by researchers at University of Maryland, US, India is overtaking China to become world’s largest emitter of anthropogenic Sulphur Dioxide (SO2).
SO2 is an air pollutant that causes acid rain, haze and many health-related problems. It is produced predominantly during burning of coal to generate electricity and vehicular emissions.

Key Highlights of study

Researchers had combined emissions data generated by using two different methods in order to generate an accurate profile of emissions over India and China. The first method is based on collection of estimated emission amounts from inventories of number of factories, power plants, automobiles and other contributors to SO2 emissions. The second method is based on data obtained from Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA’s Aura satellite, which detects a variety of atmospheric pollutants including sulphur dioxide.
India’s emissions of SO2 has increased by 50% since 2007 India opened its largest coal-fired power plant in 2012 and has yet to implement emission controls, while China’s fell by 75%. The rapid decrease of emissions in China far exceeds expectations and projections. It can be attributed to emission control measures undertaken by China. While, India is yet to implement emission control measures.
China and India are world’s top consumers of coal, which typically contains up to 3% sulphur. The SO2 emissions are generally product of coal-fired power plants and coal-burning factories. Beijing, China’s capital suffers severe haze problems due to coal-burning factories and power plants.
India’s increased SO2 emissions are not causing as health or haze problems as in China because largest emission sources are not in most densely populated area of India. However, with growing demand for electricity in India, impact may worsen.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2017