CEE Oct-Dec 2002

.. . ... _.. POLLUTION (:ONTROL ,. ' . I> -. ,: ... • GENERATING CONTROVERSY Nidhi Jamwo/ In a move that smack s 0 f col!us ive manoeuvring by poltcymakers and the industrv diesel-engine driven agricultur~t~ pump sets have been exempted from the air emission standards notified by the Union Ministry of ~nvironm ent and Forests (MoEF) 111 May 2002 . Known as th e Environment (Protection) Second Amendment Rules, 2002, the final set "f regulations for off-road diesel engines up to 800 kilowatts (kW) capacity ha'S little in common with the ~echnical committee's (TC) recommendations. These sma ll-s ized diesel engines, widely used for runnin~ pump sets , are also capable of operating gensets, ·· In fact, they are akin to the Peter engine introduced ·1 broad 50 years back. Units that make these engines are located in cities, such as Agra and Rajkot. !-laving undergone no design tmprovement in the past five decades. such machines are obsolete and highly polluting,'' In April 2002. to break the deadlock the J'vloEF told the Central Poll uti on Control Board (CPCB) to take a final decision. It was then that the Board sugges ted the withdrawal of an entire set of em iss ion sta ndards for diesel– engine driven agricu ltural pump sets. and also toned down norms for gensets up to 50 kW capacity. There is one marked difference between th e standards that have been l~nally notified for diesel engines up to a capacity of800 kW and those that were recommended originally - the absence of standards t'or agricultural pump sets. Apart from this, some changes have been made in the em ission standards for diesel engines fo r gensets too: • The norms were expected to be enforced from January 1, 2003, onwards. But manufacturers have got time till Ju ly 1, 2003, to comply with the rules • Whereas the not ification mainta in s the recommended standards for oxides of nitrogen (NOJ and hydrocarbons (HC), those for carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) have been changed . As per the suggested standards, d iesel engines with a capac ity up to 19 kW had an emiss ion limit of3.5 grams per kilowatt hour (g/kWh) for CO and 0.5 g/kWh for PM. But in the final notification, the emiss ion standards are 5.0 g/ kWh and 0.6g/kWh, respectively. In the end it boils down to the fact that the MoEF has let certain segments of the industry get away scot-free, most of the regulations arc at variance with the experts' suggestions and a strong political llavour in the dec ision -mak ing process has imparted a bad aftertaste to the episode. Smal l– sized diesel engine manufacturers - especially those that make agricultural pump sets _ stand appeased. but at the cost of publi c health. And the MoEF has a whole lot of probing posers to answer. What remains to be seen is whether it will field the questions or, as is its wont. sid estep them. Courtesy: Down To Earth Aug. 15, 2002 Pp42-43, Fax.· <J/-1 1-6085 879 E-mail: cse(t~cseindia. org Web: www. cseindia.org 49 INDIA SHOULD GO DIRECTLY TO EURO-IV NORMS:TERI The Hindu Business L 111 e, (j October 2002 Commenring on the Mashclkar Committee Report on the National Auto ·Fuel Policy, which recommends enforcing Euro- 111 emission norms by 2005 and Euro– l V norms by 2010 to reduce veh icular pollution, TER I has advocated that India should move on directly to Euro-1 V norms bv 2005. 'We recommend a faste-r approach, as going from Euro-11 to Euro-11 I and then Euro-1 V is a waste of resources and time.· Dr. R.K.Pachauri, Director-General of TERI and Chairman of IPCC ( Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), said. With Europe targeting to reach Euro-1 V norms by 2005 and Asia1~ countries targeti ng for 2006/07, it makes sense for India to advance the date, too. Further, Indian refi neries tl·om time to time need to export transportation fuels and will therefore have to ma tch specifications withi n the same time– frame to remain competitive. Also. it would logically appear more cost– effective to upgrad e from Euro- 11 to Eu ro-IV directly at least in refineries having catalytic reformer or a hydrocracker instead of followi ng a two-step approach of upgrading hom Euro-11 to Euro-111 and then to Euro-I Vas considerab-le sav ings in cost and time can be achieved, he said. In certain cities early phas ing in or Euro-1 V fuel quality will yie ld signiticant resu lts even without match ing Euro-1 V vehicle technology. Dr. Pachauri. said. 'The Euro-IV vehicle tech nology can be brought in as and