Air pollution is a public health emergency. Besides suspended air particles, Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) is a major pollutant contributing to deaths from air pollution worldwide. Power plants burning coal and oil along with refineries are responsible for two-thirds of anthropogenic SO2 emissions. With about 90 % of India’s power generated coming from coal based plants (comprising about 55 % of the country’s installed capacity) and dependence on coal power expected to continue at least for a few more decades, SO2 emission from these power plants is an actual concern. Keeping this in focus, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, came out with new environmental norms for reducing emissions from the coal-fired power plants in Dec.2015.
