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February, 2023     Editor's Note         Dear Readers, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is a public interest research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi. CSE researches, lobbies for and communicates the urgency of development that is both sustainable and equitable. Industrial Pollution team at CSE brings you its latest work in the field of industry and the environment in the form of this newsletter. In last 3 months, my colleagues have travelled extensively to different regions, engaged with multiple stakeholders, to understand and bring you the perspective from field investigations and data analysis. We bring you the stories about poor operational state of the stone crusher units, the State Pollution Control Boards’ poor performance to keep a check on pollution from industries and our coverage of the ongoing global energy dynamics. As the world continues to grapple with the energy crisis because of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, countries fall-back on fossil fuel for their energy needs and the ‘net-zero’ claims take a backseat. We also cover the happenings in COP 27 regarding the conversations around fossil fuels and more. Thankfully, the world has taken note of this increased reliance on coal despite the big claims by the developed nations. The Lutzerath protests in Germany is one such example, where climate activists from all over the world assembled to protest against the expansion of coal mine by the energy giant- RWE. Domestically, India too increases its coal production to cater to its energy and industrial demands. While the communities living near the mining regions continue to struggle with the issues of land and environment degradation. However, there is still hope as the Indian Parliament passes the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill that promises to establish a carbon market in the country. The Union Ministry of Environment has also announced financial support for setting up of biomass pellet units to support decarbonisation of coal based thermal power plants. The Commission on Air Quality Management for Delhi NCR and adjoining areas has called for a complete ban on use of coal by industries in Delhi NCR.  This transition though will not come easy for the industries as the price for ‘cleaner’ fuels has surged drastically in the past two years and the challenges of supply, cost, and monitoring queer the pitch for the transition to cleaner fuels in industries in Delhi NCR. We talk about the same in detail on our latest report “Refuelling Delhi NCR: A study on challenges faced by industries in transitioning to cleaner fuels in Alwar District We would also like to share with you that CSE has recently released its reports on the global platform on water quality management in Lake Victoria in Tanzania. We have also framed guidelines for conducting environment impact assessment for mining projects and other industries in Africa. We also recently released our work on decarbonising India’s iron and steel sector. Hope you find these reports useful. We have also included information on CSE’s training programmes for your kind perusal. I would encourage you to participate in our training programmes and invite others too. I hope you will enjoy reading the first issue of the newsletter and send your valuable feedback to us. Nivit Kumar Yadav Director, Industrial Pollution Unit   Fugitive Dust Emission from Industries   Haryana’s draft norms on stone crushers is old winein new bottle Crushers are a significant source of fugitive emissions.Haryana Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has come up with a draft notification elaborating siting criteria and pollution control measures to be adopted by stone crusher units. But the new draft makes no effort to correct the anomalies of the older guidelines. Read more     This Pune stone-crusher unit shows how to do it properly The stone-crushing industry receives a lot of negative attention for generating a huge amount of fugitive emissions that degrade air quality and the environment. However, one stone-crusher unit of 700 tonnes per hour capacity in village Mangrul in Malwal taluka of Pune district hopes to change this by providing an exemplary example of following good practices.. Read more     Telangana has shut illegal stone crusher units, fined them; but much more needs to be done The Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) has cracked the whip on illegal stone crusher units operating in Vattinagulapally, Kokapet, Gouldoddi, Gopanpally, Kollur, Kotwalguda and Osmannagar villages in Rangareddy and Sangareddy district of Telangana Read more   Environmental Governance         Chhattisgarh green board to make access to emission data more user friendly The Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB) has taken a step towards displaying Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) data on its website in a more user-friendly manner. CECB is currently displaying data of 167 industrial units in the state from 17 categories. Read more       Step towards transparency: Rajasthan pollution control board shares emission data online The Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) has taken a step towards transparency by sharing continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS) data on their website. The board also made the website more user-friendly in terms of accessing unit-wise real-time as well as historical data. Read more       Staff crunch, expanded mandate hitting pollution control board’s performance, finds report A large number of unfilled positions may be hindering the working capacity of pollution control boards, a series of papers has suggested. An expanded mandate, coupled with the staff crunch, has meant that regulatory scrutiny of polluting sources is much less than desirable. Read more   Making Manufacturing Green   ‘Green’ steel, cement for clean energy? Not yet there; says IEA; here’s why Most net-zero emission (NZE) routes for steel and cement production are not yet commercially available, according to a new report. This is despite a few companies in the automotive sector committing themselves to use ‘green steel’ — manufacturing of steel with technologies that limit emissions — from 2025. Read more     Make steel future-ready Decarbonising India’s iron and steel sector. My colleagues at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) say it is possible to bring down carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions drastically by 2030 while tripling India’s output of steel; we can emit even less than what we do today. But it will need planning, technology and funds. Read more   Decarbonising Coal Thermal Power Plants   Paddy straw pellets: How environment ministry’s cost estimates are way off mark The central government recently announced Rs 50 crore financial support to set up units that can convert paddy straw into pellets that can be further used by the power plants and industries in Delhi and the National Capital Region. However, these funds are grossly insufficient to meet the current requirements of the pellet manufacturing industry. Read more     India’s renewable shift: Why re-training the coal-dependent society is key Coal's dominance in India's energy sector is here to stay even as the country makes great strides towards switching to renewable energy. The fossil fuel makes up for over half the installed energy capacity in the country and is expected to touch around 266 gigawatts by 2029-2030, according to the projections by Climate Action Tracker. Read more       Can carbon capture be new hope for mitigating CO2 emissions? The largest power plant in the country has moved towards industrial decarbonisation by implementing carbon capture technology.NTPC Vindhyachal in Madhya Pradesh has an installed capacity of 4.67 gigawatts and is the largest greenhouse gas emitter of energy production. Read more   Shifting Dynamics of Power in India         Indian thermal power plants got 7.62 lakh crore in loans in 17 years: Report Thermal power projects were given loans of Rs7.62 lakh crore from 2005-2022 by 84 domestic and international lenders, according to a new report. The loans to 122 projects were from the public and private sector, found New Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA). Read more       Climate goals at stake: State support for fossil fuels almost doubled in 2021 Major economies drastically increased support for the production and consumption of fossil fuels as the Ukraine war triggered an unprecedented energy crisis, according to a new analysis.Governments of 51 countries worldwide offered double the overall economic support to the fossil fuel sector in 2021compared to the previous year. Read more     India coal power capacity static for 6 months: Report India has neither added nor retired any new capacity of coal-derived power for two successive fiscal quarters this year from April to September, according to the latest quarterly report by non-profit public policy think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). Read more   Net Zero by 2070: India still has 99 coal projects in the pipeline India is developing 99 new coal mines despite the Union government’s international pledge to achieve net zero emissions by 2070, according to new research.The upcoming projects put 165 villages and 87,630 families at risk of displacement. And 41,508 of these families belong to scheduled tribes, noted the research by the Global Energy Monitor (GEM) published October 13, 2022. Read more   Global Energy & Emissions Scenario   Lutzerath protests: Climate activism watershed or Germany’s ticket to energy security? Thousands of climate activists came together in the Lutzerath village in western Germany to protest against the expansion of a lignite mine by RWE, a major global energy company. The company controls all lignite extraction and power plants in the western part of Germany. The village sits at the edge of the open-cast lignite coal mine, Garzweiler II, and an expansion into the village will give RWE access to 280 million tonnes of coal apart from the existing reserves. Read more     Ukraine: 213 attacks on power infrastructure by Russia spark disaster fears As many as 213 incidents of military actions on energy infrastructure such as thermal power plants, nuclear power plants and electricity substations were reported in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022, a new study found. Read more     US emissions up 1.3% in 2022 despite coal displacement by gas and renewables: Report The Rhodium Group, a research organisation, published an estimate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the United States in 2022. It shows that emissions for the US rose by 1.3 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021. This is when the need of the hour is for emissions to progressively decline. Read more       Climate Hypocrisy? Germany’s coal fuelled power sector more polluting than India, China currently The carbon intensity of Germany’s electricity generation has exceeded 700 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt hour (gCO₂eq/kWh) as of November 29, 2022, and is going as high as 765 gm, due to a higher infusion of coal in the power mix. Read more     Fly Ash Conundrum         New MoEFCC notification on fly ash includes solar, wind power plants for reclamation The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) clarified the compliance dates for the complete utilisation of fly ash for thermal power plants (TPP) in a new notification. Areas where fly ash is stored can also be reclaimed by setting up solar and wind power plants, along with plantations, the notice said. Read more     Pitch for Cleaner Fuels in Industries         Delhi-NCR coal ban: Industrial units complain of soaring gas prices, difficulty to meet emission standards The ban on the use of coal and other unapproved fuels in the Delhi-National Capital Region completely came into force from January 1, 2023. But the implementation was not without challenges. The ban was announced by the central government’s Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) June 23, 2022, when the commission put out a standard list of approved fuels for various applications across NCR. Read more       Surge in fuel coal prices may hurt Delhi’s air pollution fight Deteriorating air quality is synonymous with Delhi winters. Though there are several reasons for poor air quality in the national capital region (NCR), industries — one of the primary air pollution contributors — are finding it difficult to switch to cleaner fuels due to price hikes. Read more       Millions of labourers to be affected by brick producers’ strike over hike in GST, coal rates A staggering hike in the Goods and Service Tax on bricks has agitated brick kiln owners across the country. A section of brick manufacturers in Uttar Pradesh have threatened to shut shops from October 1, 2022, to September 2023, which is expected to affect millions of labourers across the country. Read more     CSE's Coverage on Coal, Fossil Fuels from COP27   COP 27: Cover decision text makes no mention of fossil fuels; India dispensed India expressed displeasure over coal being singled out in the cover decision draft text released by the Presidency of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) November 18, 2022. Read more       COP27 Diary (November 17): Details on loss and damage facility, phasing out coal missing from ‘Cover Decision’ draft The COP 27 Presidency produced a non-paper to develop text for a Cover Decision November 17. The non-paper has references to equity and the phase-down of unabated coal power. It, however, does not have extensive details on the loss and damage facility demanded by the Group of 77 or the need to phase out fossil fuel use. Read more       Equity, unabataed coal phasedown in fist draft of COP27 ‘Cover Decision’; other elements missing The Presidency of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) produced a ‘non-paper’ on the morning of November 17, 2022. It did so by compiling inputs from various countries, with the intent of producing a cover decision. Read more     US, Japan & others to fund Indonesia’s transition to clean energy Most of the ‘developed’ western countries and Japan have come together to wean Indonesia away from polluting coal as a power source. The Just Energy Transition Partnership is co-led by the United States and Japan and was developed during the Group of Twenty (G20) summit. Read more     Reports   Refuelling Delhi NCR: A study on challenges faced by industries in transitioning to cleaner fuels in Alwar District February, 2022 Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) released an order for industries of Delhi NCR in June 2022 to shift towards cleaner fuels like Piped Natural Gas (PNG), biomass etc., banning polluting fuels like coal and coke. Read more     Lake Victoria: Roadmap for water quality management in Mwanza, Tanzania January, 2023 Lake Victoria is a world-renowned ecologically unique waterbody sharedby three countries—Tanzania (51 per cent), Uganda (44 per cent) and Kenya (5per cent) and supportive of socioeconomic activities and aquatic species. Read more       Terms of Reference for Environmental Impact Assessment of Industries January, 2023 Development of these Terms of Reference (ToRs) would not have been possible without the commitment of and contributions from different individuals and institutions. A special note of thanks must go to Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India for the technical support and guidance provided for developing this important tool. Read more       Terms of reference for Environment Impact Assessment of Mining Projects January, 2023 India implemented an automated pollution monitoring system in the last decade in order to improve compliance and enforcement of pollution norms in industries. Read more       Decarbonizing India’s Iron and Steel Sector report October, 2022 The iron and steel sector is a hard-to-abate sector in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, but it is an equally critical contributor to the economic development of the country. India is the second largest producer of crude steel in the world and plans to almost triple its production by 2030. Read more       CEMS: Continuous Emission Monitoring System A Technical Guidance Manual September, 2022 Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the New Delhi-based environment research and advocacy group, brings to you the first and only detailed technical guidance manual on CEMS in India, seeking to empower stakeholders with the knowledge of the best practices adopted around the world. Read more       Development of Environmental Management Strategy Towards Sustaining Ecological Integrity of Lake Victoria July, 2022 Lake Victoria, despite being a source of livelihood for 45 million people, is on the verge of degradation. It has come under severe pressure from a variety of unsustainable human activities over the past five decades. Read more       Environmental Impact Assessment Evaluation of Legislations in Countries of Africa and South Asia July, 2022 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a decision-making support tool to assess the impacts of various projects on the environment. This reports examines five significant indicators whose integration ensures a robust EIA system is in place. Read more       Norms in Name Alone February, 2022 Brief of the report – A task-force committee led by the Central Pollution Control Board issued revised deadlines for power plants last December. Read more       Implementation Challenges of Environmental Guidelines in the Stone Crusher Industry February, 2022 Fugitive emissions, though a substantial contributor to air pollution of the area, have always been overlooked while preparing action plans to combat air pollution. Stone crushers are identified as one such sector with high potential for fugitive dust emissions. Read more     Upcoming Training   Date: February 28, 2023 Register Now!           To share your feedback, please contact           Anubha Aggarwal Programme Officer Industrial Pollution Unit, CSE Email: Anubha.aggarwal@cseindia.org