Response by Jindalsteel & Power to Concerns About Environmental Impacts of Coal to Liquid

Response by JindalSteel & Power to concerns about environmental impacts of Coal to Liquid project in Orissa

8 December 2011

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Jindal to respond to this item:

• “Coal to Liquid Projects Spark Row,” Business Standard India, 28 Nov 2011
  

Jindal Steel & Power sent the following response:

“Please note that we are putting up this Coal to Liquid Plant in Orissa. This isgoing to be state of the art plant with latest technology available in the world. There will be more than 30different technology suppliers in this project.

This project will adopt latest energy efficient clean coal technology with minimum carbon footprint. The various emissions like Sox, NOx, Cox and particulate matter would be well within the permissible levels as stipulated by State / Central Pollution Control Boards, MOE & F and satisfy World Bank Standards. Zero liquid discharge system would be adopted to ensure minimum water consumption. All efforts are being made to incorporate CO2 capture, storage and sequestration (CCS) in identified Geological formations & Aquifers. CO2emissions would also be used for enhanced Methane Recovery in nearby Coal Bed Methane Blocks. The project would have minimum land use ensuring adoption of Model R & R and CSR activities.

In a Coal to Liquid process,by converting coal to liquid, we are converting 98% carbon present in coal directly into effective energy utilization.

No other process ensures this much of carbon conversion. Hence the project is very much environment friendly and it is a need ofhour.

This project has some other advantages, for example, the Diesel we willproduce out of coal will have ultra low sulphuri.e. less than 10 PPM whereas the normal diesel produced by Oil refineries is ata level of 350 PPM.

You will appreciate low sulphur means low sox. Hence, the project “Coal to Liquid”should always be encouraged everywhere in the world. Some people always feel that wherever the coal is used as a Raw material there will be environment issues but it is not correct always.”