Coal emissions cause yield loss for wheat and rice in India: Study
Stanford researchers estimated crop losses linked to emissions of nitrogen dioxide from coal-fired power stations across India. The study found that coal emissions adversely impact crop yields up to 100 km away from the power plants.
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New research has revealed that air pollution from coal-fired power stations significantly reduces grain yields in India, leading to economic losses exceeding $800 million annually. Researchers at Stanford University's Doerr School of Sustainability found that nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution from coal-based power stations dragged down annual wheat and rice yields by 10% or more in many parts of the country, posing a direct threat to India’s food security.
Coal-fired power stations, which supply over 70% of India's electricity, are a major contributor to the country's poor air quality. While the adverse effects of air pollution on human health have been extensively studied, this new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, quantifies rice and wheat yield losses associated with emissions of nitrogen dioxide from coal power stations.
The researchers used a statistical model that combined daily records of wind direction and electricity generation at 144 power stations in India with satellite-measured nitrogen dioxide levels over cropland and crop productivity. The study found that coal emissions adversely impact crop yields up to 100 km away from the power plants.
“Crop productivity is incredibly important to India’s food security and economic prospects,” said David Lobell, senior study author and Professor in the Doerr School of Sustainability’s Earth System Science Department. “We’ve known that improved air quality could help agriculture, but this study is the first to measure the specific benefits of reducing emissions from coal power plants,” he stated.
Eliminating coal emissions from all farmland within this range during key growing seasons (January-February and September-October) could boost the value of rice output across India by approximately $420 million per year and of wheat output by $400 million per year, according to the study.
“We wanted to understand the impact of India’s coal electricity emissions on its agriculture because there might be real trade-offs between meeting growing electricity demand with coal generation and maintaining food security,” said Kirat Singh, a PhD researcher at Stanford University and lead author of the study.
The impact varies by region. In Chhattisgarh, where coal-fired electricity generation is high, coal emissions contribute 13-19% of regional NO2 pollution, depending on the season. In Uttar Pradesh, coal emissions contribute only about 3-5% of NO2 pollution. Other sources of NO2 pollution include vehicle pollution and industrial activities.
The study further highlights that in heavily exposed states like West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, annual yield losses exceed 10%—equivalent to nearly six years’ worth of average annual yield growth in both rice and wheat in India between 2011 and 2020.
The study highlights “the importance of considering crop losses alongside health impacts when regulating coal electricity emissions in India.” Improved crop productivity is an important cobenefit of reducing coal pollution in India.
