Boilers in India’s factories release 182 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, which is about 7 per cent of the country’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and over a quarter of all emissions from industries, according to a new report published on Wednesday.
The report also said these boilers emit more particulate matter (PM) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) than the entire automobile sector in India, primarily due to weak emission standards.
Industries such as food processing, chemicals and textiles depend on steam produced by process boilers to operate. The findings were released at the ‘National Conclave on Greening Industrial Boilers in India’, organised by the environment think tank iFOREST, in partnership with the Central government’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the labour department of the Uttar Pradesh government.
To reduce pollution and help India meet its net zero targets, iFOREST has suggested launching a “Green Boiler Mission” to promote cleaner energy sources. There are around 45,200 process and co-generation boilers in India which produce around 1.26 billion tonnes of steam per year, said Chandra Bhushan, the CEO of iFOREST.
Eight states account for two-thirds of these boilers. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are the top five.
The average age of these boilers is 18 years and nearly 20 per cent are 25 years or older. This raises concerns about their safety and efficiency, the report said. Bhushan said that PM emissions from these boilers add up to 5.2 million tonnes, more than what comes from the transport sectory.
Steam produced by boilers is responsible for 9 per cent of industrial PM, 8 per cent of SO2 and 17 per cent of nitrogen oxide emissions. Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are the tope three polluters.