What a gas! City to get green fuel

What a gas! City to get green fuel
Bengaluru,


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:CNG PIPELINE TO FUEL HOUSEHOLDS, COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS Bengaluru could soon be a cleaner, greener city, with the government making moves to bring in compressed natural gas for use in households, commercial establishments and vehicles, find Amit S. Upadhye and Madhumitha B.

: Ben galuru’s hopes of going the Delhi way in fighting air pollution have been given a boost with the government moving to bring in compressed natural gas (CNG) for use in the city.
CNG can not only be used by the mass transport system of Bengaluru, but also by lakhs of households, which can have clean fuel or gas running right into their kitchens, and commercial establishments such as hotels and caterers.

New Delhi is the best example to show how air pollution can be successfully fought once harmful fuels are phased out from the mass transport system, says Dr Sharath Chandra, chairman of the Karntaka State Pollution Control Board.

“The air quality in Bengaluru is deteriorating, with residential, hospital and commercial zones suffering from an excess of suspended particulate matter. The use of CNG will help improve the city’s air quality and also improve sky visibility in the evenings,” he says.

Urban planner H. Sudhira feels the government must make it mandatory for all autorickshaws to use CNG and phase petrol-run autorickshaws out in the next five years from the central city areas on the lines of many other Indian cities.

“Although 80 per cent of the BMTC fleet runs on biodiesel mixed fuel, its supply is limited. And its easy for buses to convert to CNG if its supply is ensured,” Mr Sudhira points out.

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board estimates that in 2005-06, about 2.24 million tonnes of carbon was emitted into Bengaluru’s environment by diesel vehicles alone, contributing up to 1.4 million tonnes of carbon emission.

As if this is not alarming enough, the suspended particulate matter count well over permissible limits around most of the hospitals in the city due to vehicular emissions.

The city’s average estimated demand for gas is about 2.5 million to three million standard cubic metres (MMSCD) a day.

The government hopes to get initially a supply of 16 MMSCD under the natural gas pipeline project and eventually as much as 30 MMSCD. It hopes to be able to meet the power needs of the state by adding 5000 MW to the grid.

“Consumption points across the state will be iden tified based on their requirement.

The supply will be accommodated depending on the demand,” assures chief secretary Sudhakar Rao, adding, “It will be easier for industries to switch from coal to gas through this project.”