By Shawahiq Siddiqui
21 Sep 2010
Contrary to popular assumptions that there is 'zero' environmental impact of solar energy development in the country, there are serious potential environmental risks associated with National Solar Mission that can not be ignored.
Solar energy production could have adverse environmental impact
India’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) is considered to be the most important Mission to reduce GHG emissions phenomenally without compromising the country’s increasing high economic growth rate. No wonder, it is one of the core national missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The JNNSM aims to generate 22 GW by 2022 ( by the end of 11th Five Year Plan), by harnessing about 5,000 trillion kWh solar energy potential in a phase wise manner with the use of appropriate technology and by developing substantial solar manufacturing capacity within the country.
Amongst the three identified important phases under the JNNSM, Phase-I (2009-2012) aims at producing solar generation capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 MW (a quantum leap from the current installed capacity) and is considered to be the most important phase as it aims to achieve various objectives including rapid scaling up of domestic solar equipment manufacturing, consolidation and expansion of ongoing projects for various applications and promotion of local manufacturing capacity and establishment of solar technology parks or Solar Ultra Mega Power Plants (UMPP). The total area to be covered with solar panels is 40 million m2 excluding the land required for setting up solar manufacturing units for scaling up domestic manufacturing of equipments in the country.
On environmental aspect, the Mission envisages that there is “zero” environmental impact of solar energy development in the country. While it is correct that there is no environmental impact of harnessing energy from the Sun and there are no environmentally harmful end products due to generation of electricity or heat from the solar panels, the JNNSM undermines environmental implications related with land requirement for solar installation, environmental impacts of manufacturing solar photovoltaic and solar thermal cells and establishment of solar manufacturing plants that should have been equally considered and may have serious environmental ramifications due to the involvement of hazardous waste and processes in the manufacturing of solar equipments and cells.
Solar power being one of the most land intensive electricity generation options requiring 5-10 acres/MW, there could be huge pressure on land which could give rise to increase in conflicts for land. There are also possibilities of developers acquiring more than required area for developing solar SEZ and so forth. Currently there is no land use plan envisaged under the JNNSM. Further, there are no standards in place for land acquisition required for solar manufacturing plants and power stations. Mandatory Land leasing for utility power scale plants is one of the options to provide equitable solutions to the original land owners. There is a need for programmatic Land Use Plan for all solar projects and manufacturing units.
Due to solar thermal power plants, there would be huge pressure on water resources, especially in dry and arid areas that already face scarcity of water. Solar Thermal requires large volume of water for cooling down the steam. Water being a contested resource in dry and arid areas there is a need for revisiting the scheme for installation of solar thermal plants in sun rich but water scarce states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat. So far there has been no attempt to understand the implications of solar thermal plants on the water resources in dry areas. Water is also required in huge quantities for washing solar panels as dust accumulated on the panels would reduce the efficiency of solar panels in trapping sun rays. There is a need for laying down normative water use standards for solar power plants.
For manufacturing solar modules and wafers, the current SPV technologies in India use certain hazardous chemicals such as silicon compounds, cadmium compounds, germane and polyvinyl fluoride. Other substances that will be used in manufacturing solar cells, modules and panels include argon, cadmium compounds, selenide gas, EVA (ethyl vinyl acetate), germane, polyvinyl fluoride (Tedlar), silane, and silicon compounds. The use of these chemicals in large quantities releases hazardous substances as effluents and release of toxic gases. Given the scale at which solar manufacturing is anticipated in India there is going to be enormous release of hazardous chemicals and gaseous substances in the environment. Needless to say the regulators have not thought about it.
The workers in the solar manufacturing units will be exposed to hazardous substances and toxic gases. The raw material used in solar manufacturing poses various kinds of health risks such as possibility of silicosis due to use and handling of silicon in large quantities. Cadmium used in manufacture of solar modules can cause cancer. Besides the fumes emitted during the process can cause various respiratory and skin diseases. In case of accident the chemicals stored in the SPV unit can cause immeasurable damage to the health and environment.
Ignoring the above concerns, the Mission document doesn’t see the role of regulatory bodies enforcing environmental norms in the country. Accordingly, a number of regulatory instruments that can be used for sustainable expansion of solar energy industry have been ignored. The crucial being the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2009 which does not include solar industry as an activity requiring Environmental Clearance. Currently, EIA can be conveniently done away with by the developers as under the current EIA Notification activities under a threshold financial limits and size do not require EIA. Further, it is also unclear whether CSP projects would be included as Thermal Power Plants under activity 1(d) of the EIA Notification, 2009.
Also, the Hazardous Chemical Rules 1989 do not include a number of notable toxic and hazardous chemicals that are being used in the present solar technologies.
More @http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1375
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