Sucheta Dalal :Fossil fuels spell huge costs for India
Sucheta Dalal

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Fossil fuels spell huge costs for India  

October 30, 2009

 

In a major fire at the Jaipur Oil Depot on 29 October 2009, 12 people were killed and 100 people were injured. The conflagration caused serious breathing problems over tens of kilometers. Around five lakh people were evacuated from nearby areas due to difficulty in breathing.
 
Burning fossil fuels costs India several billion rupees a year in health costs, mostly because of millions of patients suffering from asthma and other lung problems and premature deaths from air pollution. India burns around 550 million tonnes of coal, 160 million tonnes of crude oil and 51 billion cubic metres of gas every year.
 
All these being carbon-based fuels, emit 3.15 times their own weight of carbon dioxide (CO2) when burnt. Coal emits around 2.4 tonnes of CO2 for each tonne of coal burnt. The burning of crude generates 2.3 tonnes of CO2 for each tonne of crude oil and gas burning generates around 1.4 tonnes of CO2. Burning these fuels translates into 2,300 million tonnes of CO2, nitrogen and sulphur gases. Every kilometer of Indian land is enveloped by 1,643 kg of CO2 every day.
–Dhruv Rathi [email protected]

-- Sucheta Dalal