FLY ASH DRAFT NOTIFICATION FAILS TO ADDRESS CONCERNS

HE Union Government recently issued a draft amendment notification regarding the eco-friendly utilisation of ash (fly ash and bottom ash), which are byproducts of coal and lignite thermal power plants (TPPs).

- JITENDRA CHOUBEY @ NEW DELHI

The draft mandates 100% utilisation of fly ash and promotes sustainable practices while conserving topsoil. Fly ash, which makes up about 80% of the total ash generated, consists of fine, powdery particles that are carried away with flue gases. Bottom ash, accounting for approximately 20% of the total ash in a TPP, is a coarse, gravel-like residue that settles at the bottom of a coal furnace.

A 2020 report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhi-based nonprofit environmental policy think tank, found that only about 50-60% of the total fly ash generated by the power sector is currently utilised.

Various media reports and experts associated with TPPs have noted that the usage of ash is quite uneven. Some TPPs manage to utilise as much as 98% of their fly ash, while the majority utilise around 50%. Less than adequate utilisation of fly ash is prevalent in clustered TPP areas, where multiple power plants exist in districts such as Korba, Talcher and Nagpur In these clusters, the utilisation level is often below 40%. One of the significant challenges in using ash is its transportation.

Fly ash is now being primarily used in industries such as cement, brick, ready-mix concrete, and for constructing roads and flyover embankments. While the industry sees profitable opportunities for fly ash in industrial applications, they find it uneconomical for use in abandoned mining fill sites.

Health and environmental concerns