17-Nov-2017: SC for nationwide ban on furnace oil, pet coke
The Supreme Court has requested all States and Union Territories to move forward towards a nationwide ban on the use of pet coke and furnace oil to power up industries, in a bid to fight pollution.
The Environment Bench of the Supreme Court had already ordered a ban on the industrial use of pet coke and furnace oil in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan on October 24. This ban specifically came after an Environment Pollution Control Authority Report recommended the ban on sale, distribution and use of furnace oil and pet coke in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Automobile fuel — petrol and diesel — has 50 parts per million (PPM) of the highly dangerous sulphur. Comparatively, furnace oil has 15,000- 23,000 ppm sulphur and pet coke 69,000-74,000 ppm sulphur. They emit sulphur oxide and nitrogen oxide, which form particulate matter, tiny particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs.
Although the DPCC had declared them as “unacceptable fuel” way back in 1996, but they are not banned outside Delhi borders and are being increasingly used by industries in the NCR, aggravating the pollution problem. Furnace oil being the last grade produced by refineries is extremely polluting and pet coke is even more polluting.
24-Oct-2017: SC bans dirty pet-coke, furnace oil in Haryana, Rajasthan & UP
Supreme Court banned the use of dirty furnace oil and pet-coke in Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh from November 1, 2017. This ban is already in place in Delhi. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) lauds this directive as a big win for Delhi and NCR as well as the rest of the country fighting a tough battle against toxic pollution.
The order comes in response to the recommendations of the Environment Protection (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) that has found very high sulphur levels more than 20,000 PPM to 74,000 PPM as opposed to only 50 PPM sulphur in BSIV(Bharat Stage-IV) transport fuels.
It has further directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MOEFCC) to notify the standards for nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulphur oxides (SOx) for the industry sector and the industry has to comply with the standards by December 31, 2017. MOEFCC will have to pay a fine of Rs 200,000 to the Supreme Court delaying the process of setting and notifying emissions standards.
It eliminates dirtiest industrial fuels in Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and mandates first ever stringent NOx and SOx standards for the industry sector nationwide It has enormous pollution reduction potential from the industrial sector. Order will have nationwide impact as the entire industrial sector will have to comply with the new standards for SOx and NOx that are not regulated currently in India.