Most Important Concern:
Today’s most important concern for our country is power generation. The Government of Bangladesh is sourcing for every possible solution to meet the power crisis. In recent years coal-fired power plant is being heavily discussed. Like other Asian countries Bangladesh also wants to find a way to Energy solvency through Coal-fired Power Plants, Nuclear Power Plants and Renewable Energy Sources.
Bangladesh Government Plan:
The Bangladesh Government planned for a 1320 megawatt coal-fired power station at Rampal Upazila of Bagerhat District in Khulna. This work is proposed as a joint partnership between India's state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation and Bangladesh Power Development Board. The joint venture company is known as Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (BIFPC). The proposed project, on an area of over 1834 acres of land, is situated 14 kilometers north of the world's largest mangrove forest ‘Sundarbans’ which is a UNESCO world heritage site. It will be the country's largest power plant.
Coal-fired Rampal power plant planning is considered to be one of the most controversial decisions as this project has environmental issues. However the government of Bangladesh rejected allegations that the coal-based power plant would adversely affect the world’s largest mangrove forest. The energy advisor of the prime minister said that the controversy over the power plant and its impact on the Sundarbans was “not based on facts”. He also said that the plant will not negatively affect the mangrove forest because the emission of greenhouse gas will be kept at a minimum level. The government also affirmed they will import high quality coal, build a 275 meter high chimney and employ state-of-the-art technology to keep its impact on the Sundarbans at a negligible level.
The crucial discussion about environmental security of Sundarbans is not satisfied yet. Regarding this we tried to find out the natural capability of Sundarbans to face environmental changes after having the plant established for operation. We tried to figure out the approximate carbon emission of that power plant and calculated the tolerance level of Sundarbans by itself. Beside this we discussed about technologies which may actually secure Sundarbans from being destroyed.
How much Carbon Sundarbans will face daily:
Generally no power plant runs at their full capacity. Carbon emission depends on the amount of generation. To simplify our calculation we took an arbitrary generation profile for a typical day. Emissions also depend on quality of coal. There are several types of coal available in the international market which is popularly used in coal fired power plants. Below table shows the information of such categories of coal and their properties. We calculated on Bituminous which releases least carbon.
Reference: [The source of this information is according to the Independent Statistics and analysis: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Last Updated: 17April2014, www.eia.gov]
Fuel
CO2 emissions factor
(Lbs of CO2 per Million Btu)
Heat Rate
(Btu per kWh)
Lbs CO2 per kWh
(CO2 emissions factor×Heat Rate)/1000000
Bituminous
205.3
10,107
2.08
Sub-bituminous
212.7
10,107
2.16
Lignite
215.4
10,107
2.18
We can calculate the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced per kilo-watt-hour (kWh) for specific fuels and specific types of generators by multiplying the CO2 emissions factor (in pounds of CO2 per million Btu) by the heat rate of a generator (in Btu per kWh), and dividing the result by 1,000,000. Considering heatrate and carbon emission ratio bituminous can be an environmentally efficient choice as the primary fuel.
CO2 Emission in Million Kg = [(Output in MWh) × 1000 × {(CO2 emissions factor × Heat Rate) ÷1000000} × 0.453592] ÷ 1000000
