{"id":45393,"date":"2020-10-08T06:36:41","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T04:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=45393"},"modified":"2021-06-10T04:38:35","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T02:38:35","slug":"so2-emissions-fall-in-india-as-coal-use-slows-greenpeace-global-ranking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/press-release\/45393\/so2-emissions-fall-in-india-as-coal-use-slows-greenpeace-global-ranking\/","title":{"rendered":"SO2 emissions fall in India as coal use slows &#8211; Greenpeace global ranking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Delhi, India &#8211; India\u2019s toxic sulfur dioxide (SO<sub>2<\/sub>) emissions fell in 2019 for the first time in four years as coal use decreased, reveals <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2020\/10\/fa64275b-so2report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">a new analysis<\/a> of NASA satellite data by Greenpeace India and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). In 2019, human-made SO<sub>2<\/sub> emissions fell in all three of the world\u2019s top SO<sub>2 <\/sub>emitter countries &#8211; India, Russia and China &#8211; the report shows.<br><br>\u201cIn India we\u2019re getting a glimpse of what reduced coal use means for air quality and health. In 2019, renewable energy capacity expanded, coal generation decreased, and we saw a corresponding improvement in air quality. But our air is still far, far from safe. We must speed up the energy transition away from coal and toward renewables, for our health and the economy,\u201d said Avinash Chanchal, campaigner at Greenpeace India.<\/p>\n\n<p>The report ranks the world\u2019s biggest emitters of sulfur dioxide, a poisonous air pollutant that increases risk of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and premature death. [1] [2]<br><br>Key findings, based on analysis of NASA satellite data:<br><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In 2019, India emitted 21% of global anthropogenic (human-made) SO<sub>2<\/sub> emissions, nearly twice that of second ranked global emitter, Russia.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Anthropogenic SO<sub>2<\/sub> emissions fell by approximately 6% worldwide in 2019. For only the second time on record, anthropogenic SO<sub>2<\/sub> emissions decreased in all of the top three emitter countries: India, Russia and China.&nbsp;<\/li><li>In 2019, China\u2019s anthropogenic SO<sub>2<\/sub> emissions fell by 5%, the slowest rate of decrease in the past decade. While China was once the world\u2019s biggest emitter of SO<sub>2<\/sub>, its emissions have plummeted by 87% since 2011, in large part due to strengthened emissions standards and the use of scrubbers at power plants.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>South Africa saw a sharp decrease in SO<sub>2<\/sub> emissions in 2019, bringing the country\u2019s emissions to their lowest level on record. The fall resulted in large part from a temporary reduction in coal-fired power generation, which led to rolling blackouts.<\/li><li>Anthropogenic SO<sub>2<\/sub> emissions rose 14% in Turkey in 2019, marking the fourth consecutive year of increase. Between 2015 and 2019, Turkey\u2019s share of coal-based electricity production increased by nearly 10%. During this period SO<sub>2<\/sub> emissions doubled.&nbsp;<\/li><li>In Mexico anthropogenic SO<sub>2 <\/sub>emissions rebounded by 4% in 2019 after a rapid three-year decline. Oil and gas combustion, responsible for 90% of Mexico\u2019s anthropogenic SO<sub>2<\/sub> emissions, increased in 2019.<\/li><li>In 2019, the Norilsk smelter site in Russia was the biggest source of anthropogenic SO<sub>2<\/sub> &nbsp;emissions in the world. The Rabigh region, an oil and gas-based SO<sub>2<\/sub> emission hotspot in Saudi Arabia, ranked No. 2.<\/li><li>The Suralaya coal cluster in Banten, Indonesia was the largest SO<sub>2<\/sub> hotspot in Southeast Asia in 2019, followed closely by Singapore\u2019s oil and gas refineries.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<p>\u201cThese emissions tracked by satellites are affecting the health of millions of people, many who have had their lives cut short or their health compromised, showing the urgency of implementing stronger emissions regulations and transitioning to clean energy sources. Unfortunately, in some countries topping the list, like India, Mexico and South Africa, governments have continued to delay or weaken the implementation of emissions norms, even as the COVID-19 pandemic should have driven home the importance of respiratory health,\u201d said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).&nbsp;<br><br>Governments must immediately halt investment in fossil fuels and shift to safer energy sources, such as wind and solar. At the same time, they must strengthen emissions standards and require the application of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-018-20404-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">flue gas pollution control technology<\/a> at power plants, smelters and other industrial SO<sub>2 <\/sub>emitters.<br><br><strong>ENDS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>Report available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2020\/10\/fa64275b-so2report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>An interactive map of SO<sub>2 <\/sub>hotspots is available <a href=\"https:\/\/energyandcleanair.github.io\/202008_hotspots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>Figure 1.<strong> <\/strong><em>(below)<\/em> The world\u2019s 12 largest emitters of toxic SO<sub>2<\/sub> in 2019<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2021\/06\/360981b7-so2-macros-280920-2019-chart-1024x1024.png\" title=\"The world\u2019s 12 largest emitters of toxic SO2 in 2019. \u00a9 Greenpeace\" alt=\"The world\u2019s 12 largest emitters of toxic SO2 in 2019\" class=\"wp-image-48331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2021\/06\/360981b7-so2-macros-280920-2019-chart-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2021\/06\/360981b7-so2-macros-280920-2019-chart-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2021\/06\/360981b7-so2-macros-280920-2019-chart-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2021\/06\/360981b7-so2-macros-280920-2019-chart-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2021\/06\/360981b7-so2-macros-280920-2019-chart-340x340.png 340w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2021\/06\/360981b7-so2-macros-280920-2019-chart.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>The world\u2019s 12 largest emitters of toxic SO2 in 2019 based on Greenpeace India\/CREA&#8217;s SO2 report <div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p><em>Follow&nbsp;<\/em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/greenpeacepress\" target=\"_blank\"><em>@greenpeacepress<\/em><\/a><em>&nbsp;on twitter for our latest international press releases<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2019, human-made SO2 emissions fell in all three of the world\u2019s top SO2 emitter countries &#8211; India, Russia and China &#8211; the new Greenpeace report shows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":45394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[91],"p4-page-type":[98],"class_list":["post-45393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-and-economic-systems","tag-health","p4-page-type-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45393"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48333,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45393\/revisions\/48333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45393"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=45393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}