The Centre has banned the import of petcoke for use as industrial fuel, days after admitting to the Supreme Court that it is highly polluting. Petcoke was also found to be 5-6 times more polluting than coal by a committee of scientists from the IIT and CPCB.
However the govt. has retained its use as feedstock by cement, calcium carbide, lime kiln and gasification industries. Petcoke was previously banned by the apex court in 2017 for use as fuel in industries in and around Delhi NCR because of its CO2 and SO2 heavy emissions.
NTPC to test gas-fired stations for peak power demand
NTPC is mulling test-firing 2.3GW of natural gas fired thermal power stations to meet (day-end) peak power demands and counter supply fluctuations from renewable power sources. Eventually 20GW of such plants may be brought online as they can be ramped up much faster than coal-fired power plants.
Coal-power capacity cancellations gathering pace, 15.7GW of stressed assets lying un-commissioned
24GW of the 94GW coal-fired capacity to be built in India over 2017-2027 has been cancelled in the last six months alone, adding to the 573GW of capacity cancelled in the country since 2010. NTPC too has walked away from nearly 9.2GW of coal power of late. 15.7GW of the 40.1GW of stressed assets also lie un-commissioned over dismal power demand at their minimum viable tariffs and poor projections of financial returns.
First new coal exploration license issued in drought hit NSW since 1993
New South Wales (Australia) will start exploring for coal reserves outside of Sydney for the first time since 1993. Coal-based operations consume significant quantities of freshwater and the announcement comes when NSW has been declared to be 100% in drought.
The situation has forced water-ravaged farming communities to sharply criticize what they see as the national govt.’s diabolical denial of climate science – which links fossil fuel emissions to climate change driven water shortages.
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