India
As per the government, the emission coming from the DG Genset is one of the major contributors to air pollution in major urban centres in India.
Updated : Feb 19, 2022, 11:11 PM IST | Edited by : Anupama Yadav
On Saturday (February 19), the Ministry for Environment has issued a draft notification for common emission norms for power generators which means that there will be one standard pollution norm for all types of power generators.
Until now there were three different emission standards for Gasoline, Diesel and Dedicated CNG, LPG & Bi-fuels gensets.
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Notably, hydrogen and green ammonia-powered generators have also been included in the notification issued by the Centre. This move will prove to be a boost to the Hydrogen fuel sector in India.
Just recently, the Centre had released green hydrogen and green ammonia policy to boost the large-scale indigenous production of green hydrogen to reduce the import of fossil and crude oil. This move will also help India achieve its target of becoming a Carbon Neutral economy by 2070 as announced by PM Modi in Glasgow.
According to the government, the emission coming from the DG genset is one of the major contributors to air pollution in major urban centres in India. Fresh regulation on emission is imperative, considering the availability of cleaner fuels ( BS-VI) and improved engine technology.
On Dec 18, 2021, the NGT had directed the Uttar Pradesh pollution control board to take action to ensure the compliance of norms set to check air & noise pollution caused by diesel generators (DG). The case pertains to a petition filed against the Management of Windsor Park residents Welfare association (WPRWA) in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
Another study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has found that DG sets significantly contributed to air pollution in urban areas. The study reveals that DG consumes 60 to 70 per cent of the Liquid fuel consumption of the studied region.
DG sets have been banned by the Central government under Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) also thrust upon retrofitting existing generators and replacing the DG sets to gas-operated generators.