The ASH TRACK App would be managing 200 million tonnes of fly ash by tracking coal based power plants situated within 100 km and 300 km from given location and availability of fly ash, along with prospective users within the same radius. The App gives plant-wise, utility-wise and State-wise ash utilization status in the country, Reports Amitabh Kumar in Governance Democracy & Politics (GDP) Magazine’s, February Issue
Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, R.K Singh, launched a Web based monitoring System and a Fly Ash mobile application named Ash Track. These platforms will enable better management of the ash produced by thermal power plants by providing an interface between fly ash producers (Thermal Power Plants) and potential ash users such as – road contractors, cement plants etc.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister said that proper management of fly ash is important for not only the environment but for us also as the ash produced by the power plants occupies a lot of land space. He explained that at present, 63 per cent of the fly ash is being utilised and target is for 100 per cent utilisation of the fly ash. For this the Minister emphasized the need for education and awareness generation. He said that road contractors and construction engineers need to know the benefits of using fly ash in construction. The Minister asked the officials to work out the per kilometer construction costs of roads using fly ash, and said if it is found to be expensive, then measures need to be taken to reduce the cost by way of tax structure, subsidies and transportation services. Similarly, Shri Singh stressed upon the need to come out with a policy to encourage fly ash use in cement plant.
Analysing the data, Singh said that in spite of increasing use of renewable energy, coal will remain the mainstay of Power sector in India. In fact the consumption of coal is going to increase as our economy grows. Speaking on the occasion, Secretary for Power Ajay Kumar Bhalla said that quality-wise Indian coal has much more ash content than other countries. Hence, he stressed upon the need for diverse approaches for the fly ash management. He suggested that there is a need to prevent the ash from coming to the power plant by washing the coal at its place of origin. Further, the Power Secretary talked about promoting R&D for increasing efficiency of power plants and reducing the ash generation. He said that our mantra should be ‘The least ash generated and maximum ash utilized.’ He also thanked Niti Aayog for providing full support to this project.
The ASH TRACK App would be managing 200 million tonnes of fly ash by tracking coal based power plants situated within 100 km and 300 km from given location and availability of fly ash, along with prospective users within the same radius. The App gives plant-wise, utility-wise and State-wise ash utilization status in the country.
The thermal plants would regularly update fly ash generation, utilization and stock on the web portal and the app. This would allow effective monitoring and reviewing for increasing ash utilization. This would also help in protecting environment in terms of reduction in fugitive emissions, saving of precious top soil and conservation of land for sustainable development.
Fly ash, the end product of combustion during the process of power generation in the coal based thermal power plants, is a proven resource material for many applications of construction industries and currently is being utilized in manufacturing of Portland Cement, bricks/blocks/tiles manufacturing, road embankment construction and low lying area development, etc.
