The Government of India has made it mandatory for thermal power plants in three categories to use a five per cent blend of biomass pellets and coal. The policy will come into effect in October 2022, with a requirement to increase the blend to seven per cent within two years for two categories of plants. The co-firing policy will be in effect for 25 years or till the useful life of the thermal power plant, whichever is earlier. India’s economy is on the path to recovery since the second wave of the pandemic. The first half of October saw a 4.9 per cent increase in electricity consumption compared to September.

 An analysis of data from the Union earth science’s forecasting body System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) determined that the share of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 is highest between October 29 and November 15. The data shows that the highest proportion of farm-fire emissions in Delhi’s PM2.5 level on a single day was 58% in 2018, 44% in 2019 and 42% in 2020. During the peak season, the single-day contribution varies between 20% and 30%.

Rain has delayed spraying of the Pusa decomposer in Delhi, and left fields wet and waterlogged in some places, even as the capital recorded two instances of stubble burning this month. The decomposer solution, meant to help with decomposition of crop residue after the kharif harvest, was to be sprayed on around 4,000 acres out of 14,000 acres of paddy field in Delhi. Around 30% to 35% of this figure has been covered, according to A P Saini, Joint Director, Agriculture. Rainfall, particularly the wet spell on October 18, left some fields waterlogged and others too moist to run a tractor over, even as wheat sowing season is near, officials in the north and ...