Community boilers for clusters of small-scale enterprises way forward in curbing industrial pollution

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recently posted the draft of ‘Guidelines for Promoting Community Boiler for Cluster of Small-Scale Industries’ on its website, inviting public comments and suggestions. 

There are about 10.5 million small-scale industries, in which there are about four million boilers installed with a capacity range of 2-15 tonnes per hour, according to the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). 

The main purpose of these boilers (also known as “baby boilers” or “small boilers”) is to cater to the steam requirement of the industry or for heating purposes.

The guidelines are the way forward to control the air pollution in the industrial clusters. Its genesis can be traced back to June 2020, when a Delhi-based think tank, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), conducted a study and published a report titled Assessment of Industrial Air Pollution in Delhi-NCR.

It was the time when coal was extensively used in industries in Delhi-NCR without any restriction (Delhi being the exception).

CSE’s report highlighted the issues with the small boilers. These included: 

• Lenient emission standards, which the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change recently revised from 1,200 milligrams per normal cubic metre (mg / Nm3) to 500 mg / Nm3 for boilers of capacity lower than 2 tonnes per hour. 
• Batch operations
• Unavailability of air pollution control devices (APCD)
• Lack of proper monitoring mechanism
• Lack of feasibility to instal Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS)

It was recommended to replace such inefficient and polluting boilers with efficient and less polluting systems. 

Following this, CSE did a feasibility assessment Replacement of Small Boilers with Common Steam Boilers in Industrial Areas in July 2020. Common boilers or community boilers are centralised systems that cater to the demand of steam generation of member industrial units by establishing a steam pipeline network within an industrial area. 

Till the time CSE advocated the possibility of introducing community boilers in the industrial areas, there was very little discussion on this concept. Gujarat has been the front-runner in terms of having about three community boiler facilities catering to 90 industrial units in Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation areas of Ankleshwar, Vapi and Sachin till the year 2020. 

Advocacy drives in different industrial clusters of Delhi-NCR and online seminars conducted on the subject reinforced the idea among the stakeholder. At present, a community boiler facility has been proposed each in Panipat, Haryana and Tarapur, Maharashtra.

The Government of Uttar Pradesh has conducted a feasibility study for community boilers to be set up in several industrial areas in the Greater Noida and Lucknow regions, the Directorate of Environment, Uttar Pradesh informed CSE’s industrial pollution control team recently.

The installation of community boilers in any industrial area is subject to the feasibility assessment as the area needs to be finalised and steam demand needs to be calculated. Pipeline networks for the required industries need to be laid to deliver steam at their doorstep. 

Laying the pipeline network constitutes a major part of the installation cost of common boilers.

With the CPCB guidelines coming up, there will be more states wanting to explore the potential of setting up community boilers in their industrial areas. The latest example being Rajasthan where the state pollution control board is planning to conduct a feasibility study in its identified clusters.

The CPCB draft guidelines also mentions the need for community boilers in the country, as it will exempt industries from installing boilers and associated equipment like fans and APCDs. Also, it will reduce the burden of state pollution control boards of monitoring a large number of small boilers installed in the industries.

Installation of community boilers will have the following benefits for the industries located in clusters and other stakeholders: 

• Reduce multiple emission points to one, enabling better monitoring
• Remove operation and management cost for industries as there will be no boiler within the premises
• Make available more space and provide potential to increase productivity
• Ensure continuous supply of steam to industries 
• Reduce air pollution with better pollution control measures installed in the community boiler 

One standby boiler can be installed to address shutdown periods or emergency situations.

The guidelines mandate the community boilers to be included in the development plan of the new or upcoming industrial clusters. Whereas, for the existing clusters, a feasibility study needs to be carried out. 

Availability of land, capacity and number of boilers, number of industries, among others, are the factors to be looked into in the feasibility assessment.

“Overall a good initiative by CPCB and more such common environmental infrastructures need to be added through changes in the industrial policy,” said Nivit Kumar Yadav, Director, Industrial pollution unit, CSE, welcoming the move. 

Such interventions will not only prevent environmental degradation in and around the industrial area but will also be a factor for the increased productivity of the industries, he assured.

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