This story is from October 9, 2020

Ramagundam, Vizag among worst SO2 emitters in world

Two thermal power stations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh figures among the worst emitters of sulfur dioxide (SO2) globally in 2019, Greenpeace India and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said on Thursday, even as India continued to occupy the top emitter’s position for the fifth consecutive year.
Ramagundam, Vizag among worst SO2 emitters in world
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HYDERABAD: Two thermal power stations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh figures among the worst emitters of sulfur dioxide (SO2) globally in 2019, Greenpeace India and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said on Thursday, even as India continued to occupy the top emitter’s position for the fifth consecutive year.
While Ramagundam in Telangana was ranked 31 among the top 50 global hotspots for coal-based SO2 emissions, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh was the 11th worst emitter.

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In 2019, India emitted 21% of global anthropogenic (human-made) SO2 emissions, nearly double that of the secondranked global emitter, Russia. China occupies the third position.
In a silver lining, however, the country recorded 6% less SO2 emissions in 2019 compared to 2018, the steepest dip in four years, the report said. As per the latest report, the biggest emission hotspots, are thermal power stations (or clusters of power stations).
At the Ramagundam hotspot, emissions of 102-kilo tonnes (Kt) SO2 a year was observed in 2019 as opposed to 130 kt a year in 2018, a decline by 21.1%.
In Visakhapatnam, 172 kt/ year of SO2 was emitted in 2019 as opposed to 155 kt/yr in 2018, an increase of +10.8%.

Incidentally, in rankings that covered all SO2 emissions including from other sources, not just coal, Vizag figured 27th on the list of 50 global SO2 emitters. The worst hotspot in India remained at Singrauli (MP).
“SO2 is an acidic gas which can corrode substances. Power plants can emit SO2 upto a height of 1.5km, an altitude at which such pollutants can travel 500km a day,” said Sagar Dhara, coconvener, South Asian People’s Action on Climate Crisis.
Citing wind patterns and impact on the ecology, Dhara said SO2 can be deposited all along the way even up to the western ghats.
“Combined with the already acidic soil of the area, we will start seeing forest die in a decade. This could be accompanied by loss of vegetation and detrimental effects on human health wherever the gasses are deposited,” he added.
The report says concerns still remains from the consistent support given to coal-based energy generation.
“We are seeing a reduction in SO2 emissions in the top three emitter countries. In India, we’re getting a glimpse of how a reduction in coal usage can impact air quality and health. In 2019, renewable energy capacity expanded, coal dependency decreased and we saw a corresponding improvement in air quality. But our air is still far from safe,” says Avinash Chanchal, climate campaigner, Greenpeace India.
The report said efforts are overshadowed by the fact that most of the power plants in India lack flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) units which are critical in the process of reducing emissions. “SO2 emissions are affecting the health of millions of people directly and worse through converting to PM2.5. The most efficient and easiest way to reduce PM2.5 levels is to install FGD and reduce SO2 emissions from power plants,” says Sunil Dahiya, analyst, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
For the report, researchers used satellite data and a global catalogue of SO2 emission sources from US National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA).
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