Page 22 - Respond 2018 Magazine

20

US exports of tar sands

waste are fuelling Delhi’s

air pollution crisis

By Aditi Roy Ghatak and Karl Mathiesen

India has emerged as the world’s largest importer of petroleum coke, an oil byproduct
that is now a major cause of pollution in the capital

Come winter and the Indian capital, New Delhi, is preparing environmental agency (EPCA) says petcoke being burned
to once again struggle beneath the noxious fumes that have around the capital contains sulphur up to 72,000ppm.
become a perennial crisis. Petcoke emissions also contain significant amounts of toxic
heavy metals – particularly vanadium, nickel and iron.
Eight Delhiites die each day from the city’s bad air. In
response, the regional government has made efforts to Petcoke’s primary use in India is in cement-making plants,
tackle pollution from coal plants and tailpipe exhaust. But where the process limits pollution. But when it is used in the
any benefits these policies might produce are threatened coal power stations, the pollutants emerge unadulterated.
by skyrocketing imports of a fuel more polluting than coal
or diesel. In February, India’s Supreme Court released a finding that
called the sulphur content in petcoke “extremely high”
Petroleum coke – known as petcoke – is a high-carbon and said the fuel was a “major cause of pollution in Delhi”.
residue produced during the refinement of heavy oils. In The court directed the national government to either
its raw form, the high-carbon fuel can be used as a cheap ban petcoke’s use in power generation outright or place
substitute for coal. restrictions on the sulphur content, which would be a de
facto ban.
Delhi’s environmental authorities say petcoke, cut into coal
power station feeds around the capital, is now one of the So far, no action has been taken. The ministry of
major sources of smog in the city. environment has asked for more time. The court has given
the government a final deadline of 24 October to come up
In many parts of the world, petcoke is restricted because with a plan.
of its toxicity. In India however, the fuel is unregulated
and burned freely. In this regulatory void, demand has This is a problem that begins, in part, in the tar pits of
soared, rising 23% a year for the last five years. The country Alberta and the refineries of the US Gulf coast. India
imported 20 times more petcoke in 2016 than it did in 2011. produces its own petcoke. But local refineries can’t keep up
with demand and the country has emerged from nowhere to
Delhi is in a race against time. The Supreme Court has become the largest importer of petcoke on earth.
ordered the use of petcoke to end but the government has
failed to ban or regulate the fuel. Activists and public health In 2016, 87% of India’s overseas petcoke came from the
officials are desperate to convince politicians to act before US, the world’s largest producer. Its use in US power
winter’s still, stagnant weather conditions begin to pool generation has plummeted due to heavy restrictions. As a
smog above the capital. result, US refiners and traders are looking to markets with
looser regulation and, say environmental campaigners
When burned, petcoke emits 5-10% more climate change- at both ends of the supply chain, fuelling India’s airborne
causing CO2 than coal. But its true filthiness is revealed public health crisis.
in the toxic smog it creates. The key air pollution-causing
contaminant is sulphur, which creates oxide gases and Until 2014, China was the biggest buyer of US petcoke. But
particles, both of which are harmful to human health. Asia’s largest economy has been on a political journey with air
pollution. Sulphur restrictions, brought in in 2016, economic
In Delhi, a (relatively lax) regulation limits sulphur in coal downturn and local bans on new power plants combined
to 4,000 parts per million. The National Capital Territory’s to stifle US petcoke’s access to the far east powerhouse.