Is there a way to handle the stubble better? Better alternatives, lesser burning and a more sustainable destiny
Well, it is not easy for anyone during the winters around Delhi, to ignore the smog. Noticing the same is easier, as it becomes difficult to breathe in toxic air. We, Indians, wait for it to appear every year like a festival or a season to visit us. This does not happen all of a sudden and is a chaos built of ground action by multiple factors like spiraling-in western disturbances, air pollution through bursting crackers, burning crop residue (parali) etc. in tandem. Consequently, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) touches beyond 400, becoming worse than ever, posing a severe category threat to anyone who takes in the toxic air. An analysis made by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has stated city’s vehicular emissions to contribute significantly in NCR’s PM 2.5 levels under domestic reasons. However, paddy burning from the neighboring states and nearly 500 million tonnes burnt in the entire country every year, still remains a major reason for the capital’s air soaked in poison. If we are to believe the data from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) aided System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR-India), farm fires in the region reached its peak. On a certain day in November, there were 5,430 instances of willful fires which is higher than even the last year’s peak i.e., 4,500. Stubble Burning: The best of all ways? One can never consider a farmer to hurt the very surroundings he/she works in unless he/she is ignorant, which can definitely not be a reason now because of regressive awareness measures. Or they willingly turn negligent and insensitive towards the environmental issues. Farmers are supposed to prepare their lands for upcoming crop in November, which is generally wheat, after harvesting rice in late October. Due to lesser time gap to prepare the lands to yield another staple crop and pressured availability of mechanistic harvesters, burning is ostensibly the most economical, easy and fast method to achieve the above. This high cost and time involved with the straw management in paddy fields, provide enough room for unsustainable methods to creep in. India’s traditional dependence on Biomass and a way out: This country has a history of deriving its energy needs from biomass like wood, gobar dung cakes, straws etc. Can that benefit be appreciated now? As per an Energy expert: “Biomass has a good scope considering India has a target of net-zero emissions by 2070.” While the traditional stoves could yield some calorific value when provided with these abundantly unused inputs, the modern compact biomass power plants achieve the same though in a controlled environment. Here the steam turbines are run to offer power in return but with utmost care and this becomes one of its limitations for greater adoption. The storage and operation is difficult because of the inputs’ high silica content and alkaline nature that without check, may culminate in incomplete combustion and thereby, damage the equipment. Alongside providing the energy security, this spurs local employment and the real trickle-down effect of technology within grassroots but the sector is battling with its own challenges. These include the high running costs, incessant feed requirement, inadequate investment and promotion that it loses to solar and wind which have become comparatively cheaper to produce.