Emissions from Thar coal mines, power plants to affect 100,000 people!

hazards as well as unfavorable economic conditions due to the availability of more affordable and cleaner renewable energy sources, it becomes hard to understand why Pakistan still needs to develop the proposed coal infrastructure. With an already existing wide understanding around Coal-based electricity not being economically sustainable compared to renewable energy, in the current report we look at how the operational and under-construction coal cluster in Thar will add to the already hazardous air pollution levels. The study will also estimate the health impacts of additional coal capacity in the region in terms of premature deaths and disabilities caused due to pollutants emitted from the operation of coal-based power plants and mines in the Thar region.
Results
Emissions
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports were available for the Block II, Thar Energy Limited (TEL) and Block VI power stations. As these projects encompass the two different technologies planned to be used in the cluster, Circulating Fluidized Bed and sub-critical pulverized coal boilers, and all of them reported similar targeted emissions control performance, emissions data from these EIAs was generalized to the other projects.
Annual emissions were calculated from the emissions rates in grams per second, given in the EIAs. For plants for which EIAs were not available, emissions rates were estimated based on the most similar plant with an EIA, scaled by plant capacity. In both scenarios, all plants were assumed to run at 7,000 full-load hours per year, the low end of the assumptions used in the EIAs – operating rates up to 7,400 hours were assumed but were deemed unrealistic. Stack height and other properties affecting plume rise were generalized from values given in the three EIAs. The emissions estimates assume that the plants fully and properly operate their emissions controls. If there are gaps in operation & maintenance or enforcement, the emissions and impacts could be considerably higher. Dust emissions from the mines were calculated using emission factors developed by the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) for lignite mining. Annual lignite production at each mine was projected based on estimated coal consumption of plants using coal from the mine – these values are generally lower than the production volumes assumed in the mine EIAs, but the intention was to model the impacts of coal mining associated with the studied power plants.
Multiple issues were found with the emission data provided in the EIAs.
● The mercury (Hg) emissions for block VI are massively under-reported – actual emissions should be about 200 times higher. Apparently the consultant that prepared the EIA is not aware that only a tiny fraction of mercury in the plant flue gas is bound to fly ash and hence assumes that mercury will be almost fully captured by the fly ash controls. In reality, the emission control technologies the plant will incorporate capture 20% of the mercury, at most (UNEP 2017). The other EIAs fail to provide any information whatsoever about mercury emissions into the air, one of the key environmental and public health impacts of coal-fired power plants.
● The TEL EIA shows that air pollution levels in the area violate both the Sindh standards and the IFC guidelines (not to mention the WHO guideline) for PM10. This means that the IFC emission limits for degraded airshed should be applied. Yet both the Block VI and TEL EIAs give the reader the impression that the projects intend to follow IFC guidelines.
● However, the air quality data provided in the EIAs themselves make it clear that the air quality in the project area is in violation of the Sindh Ambient Air Quality Standard, the IFC guideline and the World Health Organization guideline for annual average PM10 concentrations. This means that if the projects intend to follow the IFC guidelines, they should adopt the values for degraded airshed, which are significantly stricter than the applied values. Hence the EIAs mislead the public about the emission control technology they intend to adopt.
● All of the EIAs neglect to model the combined air quality impacts of the lignite mines and the power plants that they are fueling. The Block II power station EIA in fact acknowledges that the air quality impact of the mine dominates in the vicinity of the block but states that the impact is excluded, with no justification given.
The existence of such elementary errors and omissions in the cornerstone data used in the EIAs makes it appear that the reports have not been independently reviewed by the regulator, raising serious questions about the level of regulatory oversight.
Four photos of concentrations
Toxic deposition
The Thar power plant and mining cluster would emit approximately 1400 kg of mercury and 5,000 tonnes of heavy metal-containing particulate matter (coal dust and fly ash) per year. Approximately one fifth (22%) of the mercury emitted by the plants is estimated to be deposited into land and freshwater ecosystems in the region, amounting to approximately 320 kg per year. Mercury deposition rates as low as 125 mg/ha/year can lead to accumulation of unsafe levels of mercury in fish (Swain et al 1992). The plants are estimated to cause mercury deposition above 125mg/ha/yr in an area of 1,300 km2 to the northeast of the plants, with a population of approximately 100,000 people (Figure 4). While actual mercury uptake and biomagnification depends very strongly on local chemistry, hydrology and biology, the predicted mercury deposition rates are a cause for serious concern and an assessment of the impacts and of measures to reduce mercury emissions is needed urgently.
The study has made following recommendations
● Stringent emission standards should be developed and enforced to control PM, SO2 , NO2 and Hg pollution emission as well as to reduce the usage of water by operational coal-based power plants, similar to other countries such as those in force in the EU and China, and being implemented in India.
● It is essential to fully assess and take into account the cost of air pollution and other external impacts when making decisions about future power generation. Meeting growth in electricity demand by renewable energy development would greatly reduce these costs.
● The planned addition of a large amount of coal-fired capacity would worsen Pakistan’s already hazardous air quality, while adding to the indebtedness of the power sector and increasing capacity charges for untitled power from these coal-based plants. In order to reduce such negative impacts on public health and the economy, the coal-based plants in early stages of development should be canceled and currently, operational plants should be used at optimal capacity to be able to meet electricity demand more economically