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Rampal plant needs clean tech

Star Business Report
The government should employ clean technologies and ensure best practices at the coal-based power plant in Rampal to keep potential environment damage in check, experts said yesterday.
"There will not be much of an impact on the environment if the plant is run efficiently," said Ijaz Hossain, a professor of chemical engineering at Bangladesh University ofEngineering andTechnology.
Most debates on coal-based plants centre the technologies China had used 30 to 50 years ago, headded.
"But this is 2014, and there are modern technologies. Despite using the most polluting technologies to generate power from coal, China has not been destroyed."
How much monitoring authority the Department of Environment (DoE) will enjoy also remains to be seen, Hossain said. "We also need to look at the agencies that will run the plant."
Khondkar Saleque Sufi, adviser to the mines and petroleum ministry in Afghanistan, said Bangladesh would have to produce electricity
from coal to continue the pace of power generation, as gas the reserves are depleting fast with no major discoveries insight.
Technologies are also available globally that can address the environmental and safety concerns, he said. "We also need to use low sulphur coal from the very beginning."
They spoke at a seminar styled 'Coal Power Generation in Bangladesh: World's Best Practices', organised by the Power Division, at Bidyut Bhaban in Dhaka.
The clean coal technology with the highly efficient super-critical boiler is a proven technology used worldwide to generate power with minimal disruption to the environment and water quality, said Anjuman Islam Kankon, who teaches biochemical and environmental engineering at University of Maryland.
"With proper monitoring of the effluent parameters and maintenance of the power plant, there will be no major environmental concern," she said.
The amount of fly-ash the plant will be producing would also not be a big concern as it can be used to
make bricks, the non-resident Bangladeshi added.
Potential sources of pollution include coal transportation, gas emissions, coal combustion products and storage and handling of the combustible products, she said.
"Technology involved in transportation and handling is widely available, while carbon capturing is still expensive and in the test phase. We can ensure good air quality by ensuring proper maintenance while generating electricity from coal."
She said despite environmental and safety concerns, power generation from coal has not gone down; rather it has gone up tremendously.
Abu Naser Khan, chairman ofSave the Environment Movement, said there is no doubt that Bangladesh needs to produce electricity from coal to develop the country. "At the same time, we need to take care of the ecosystem of the Sundarbans and the local community."
Things should not end with the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), said AR Khan, chairman of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission. "There should be regular monitoring on whether the EIA is being followed."
Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, said the government would address all environmental and safety concerns, adopt world class technologies and ensure standard compliance.
The new government will fast-track the 1,320-megawatt coalbased Rampal Power Plant, said Energy Adviser Tawfiq-E-Elahi Chowdhury.
"Technologies are available in the world to address environmental and other concerns about the coal-based plant. We will employ them, and the plant will be completed quickly."
Rafiq Ahammed, a director of DoE, said the capacity ofthe people who will run and manage the plant would have to be developed.
Power Secretary Monowar Islam said the government would set up a monitoring system outside the plant for people to see what is going on inside and the emissions level.
Mollah Amzad Hossain, editor of Energy & Power, said Bangladesh would not go far in meeting its rising demand for electricity if it cannot exploit its domestic coal.
Power Cell Director General