Soot in the air

As if emissions of hazardous gases and particles from vehicles and industries were not enough to poison the air we breathe, our state plans to load it with more pollutants by installing coal-fired power stations that will burn 36 million tonnes of coal a year. Air quality data collected by provincial Environmental Protection Agencies suggests that the millions of people living in our cities are already inhaling air with higher levels of particulate matter and sulphur dioxide than the limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

To make matters worse, the Punjab government plans to set up at least six coal-fired power stations in the province. Work is underway on a 1,320-megawatt plant in Sahiwal, while others are in the planning stage. All the proposed coal-based plants in Pakistan will use imported coal from the abroad, which will be transported via train from the ports in Sindh to south and central Punjab, sprinkling coal dust in agricultural fields and small towns along the way.

Carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide are the two major by-products of burning coal to generate power that pollute air. Another by-product is toxic mercury, which leeches into the surface and ground water. According to Japanese climate expert Kimiko Hirata, the international director of the Kiko Network, even the most efficient coal-fired power stations emit a lot of CO2.

Coal-fired power stations generate a large quantity of toxic coal ash, which contains more than 20 different kinds of heavy metals and chemical compounds. Dumping the ash in disposal sites causes the contamination of surface water and deeper well water, making them unfit for drinking. Breathing in sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter released to the air from burning coal, increases a person’s risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including heart attacks and lung cancer.

Although feasibility studies of such projects contain pollution-mitigation measures, mostly just to get clearance from environment departments, they are often not implemented in the absence of a strict enforcement mechanism. Evidence from other countries such as China and India, which are more advanced than us and have stronger institutions, shows that all such proposed mitigation steps are grossly inadequate even when implemented.

The Chinese experience can give us a clue of the environmental implications of coal power plants. Owing to these plants, China’s capital Beijing suffers severe pollution in the winter, triggering the second-highest alert levels, in which highways are closed, construction is halted or suspended and residents are warned to stay indoors. According to Sophie Lu, a Beijing-based analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the burning of one million tonnes of coal in power stations produces 2.2 million tonnes of carbon emissions in China.

A small coal plant producing up to 200 megawatts of electricity, especially if it’s using outmoded sub-critical combustion technology, is considered the worst polluter of air. During the last two years, China has closed down 2,000 such plants, according to Bloomberg. Unfortunately, now Pakistan plans to import the discarded equipment of those plants from China.

Four of the proposed power stations in Punjab are smaller ones, which will use sub-critical combustion technology, with capacities of 150 megawatts. The provincial government, with assistance from China, plans to set up these stations near large cities including Lahore, Sialkot, Multan and Faisalabad. The air in these cities is already effected by emissions from industries, vehicles and the burning of solid waste.

In Pakistan, dust storms constitute a major source of non-point air pollution, especially in the areas situated close to deserts. The Punjab government is installing a 650-megawatt coal-fired power station at Mehmood Kot in Muzaffargarh, adjacent to desert area. What lies in store for this city can be guessed from a 2011 Greenpeace report: ‘The True Cost of Coal: Coal Dust Storms’. The report cites research from scholars in China, which shows that frequent dust storms in the country carry high amounts of potential toxins found in coal ash – such as arsenic, lead, and sulphur compounds.

It is unfortunate that the government has decided to install coal-fired plants at a time when air pollution is already reaching alarming proportions in our country. Owing to dirty air, heavy fog envelops swathes of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and upper Sindh from November to February. None of our cities has met the official air quality standards, according to the statistics of provincial Environment Protection Agencies collected until 2011 with the assistance of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). For the last five years, all the laboratories in the country that monitor air quality are either non-functional or partially working. It is not believable that a state that does not have the capacity to monitor ambient air quality can make coal-fired plants observe pollution-mitigating measures.

Now that the availability of natural gas in the country has substantially increased after a liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal with Qatar, it makes little sense to use coal for power generation. The infrastructure to carry natural gas already exists, while the transportation of coal will require massive investment in the ramshackle railway network. Natural gas is a much cleaner fuel, as it has half the carbon footprint of coal at the point of combustion. Since work on all the proposed coal plants, except for one in Sahiwal, is yet to be initiated, it is time the government reviews its policy and re-designs these projects for natural gas. Furthermore, Punjab has over 317 low hydropower sites, most of which have the capacity to generate up to 50 megawatts with a cumulative potential of over 600 megawatts on canals and barrages. This cheaper and cleaner energy potential is yet to be exploited.

The growing deterioration in air quality demands that the government take bold policy decisions to switch the transport system and industries to cleaner fuels and smarter technologies. Measures are also needed to prevent the burning of solid waste and sugarcane fields. If the public sector goes ahead with the burning of coal on a mass scale, what moral justification will the state have to enforce environmental regulations on the private sector?

Email: adnanadilzaidi@gmail.com