Emissions of air pollutants from primary crop residue burning in India and their mitigation strategies for cleaner emissions

Abstract

Population growth will lead to an increase in food demand, which will exert pressure on crop production and likely increase the agricultural crop residue. The present study estimates atmospheric emissions of various pollutants from crop residue burning using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines. In India 488 Mt of total crop residue was generated during 2017, and about 24% of it was burnt in agricultural fields. This resulted in emissions of 824 Gg of Particulate Matter (PM2.5), 58 Gg of Elemental Carbon (EC) and 239 Gg of Organic Carbon (OC). Additionally, 211 Tg of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) were also added to the atmosphere. However, crop residue can also be used for energy production in biomass power plants and has the potential of 120 TWh of electricity generation. This accounts for 10% of the total energy production of India. Trend analysis in a Business As Usual (BAU) model shows that crop residue burning emissions will increase by 45% in 2050 having 2017 as the base year. The study also examines the various sustainable approaches and proposes an integrated crop residue management model to minimize the adverse impact of agricultural waste burning on human health and the environment.