Environment Ministry Proposes Common Emission Norms for Gensets

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has notified draft revised norms for emissions from generator that would be common for all fuels and even upcoming fuels. This would be effective from July 2023.

Currently, there are three different emission standards for the generator sets based on different fuel gasoline, diesel and dedicated CNG, dedicated LPG, dual fuels & Bi-fuels. “The revised standards are a single standard covering all available fuels and upcoming fuels viz producer gas, hydrogen gas etc,” the proposal has said.

The draft notification was issued late on Friday night.

The India Genset Emission Standards-IV+ given for gen sets in two categories mentions the limits NO (Oxides of Nitrogen); HC (Hydrocarbon); CO (Carbon Monoxide); PM (Particulate Matter) and also for CI (Compression Ignition) and PI (Positive Ignition).

“We had an experts’ group formed to study this and then we also had the findings peer reviewed and only then issued this draft notification,” said a senior scientist from the Ministry.

Air pollution is an increasing menace across India and amongst the point sources of emissions, generators using different fuels are a prominent source. The Centre has also taken a number of regulatory measures for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution in the country. With availability of cleaner fuels such as BS VI, the regulation on emission from DG sets is required to be improvised, the Ministry’s draft notification said.

There would be certifications based on types of engines and there would be authorized agencies for certifications.

The emission limits for new engines up to 800 kW used for power generating set shall come into force from July 1, 2023 with the draft also mentioning the transition provisions for Gensets and Genset Engines manufactured as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB-II) norms.