ABSTRACT
The management of a significant volume of ash, encompassing fly ash, bottom ash, and pond ash, emanating from coal-fired power plants poses a substantial environmental challenge. Particularly in developing nations like India, the annual ash production from coal-based power plants has surged from 40 million tons in 1993–1994 to exceeding 200 million tons in 2017–2018, with a projected increase to 275 million tons per year by 2032. This ash commonly contains minerals, trace elements, and unburned carbon, posing potential environmental risks. Due to these considerations, it is important to effectively manage this huge quantity of by-products produced mainly from thermal power plants (TPPs). To overcome this problem in India, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) released a fly ash notification on September 14, 1999. This notification mandates the utilization of fly ash in the production of civil construction materials including cement, concrete blocks, bricks, panels, or any other application. In addition, it directs the use of fly ash in constructions such as roads, embankments, dams, etc., that should be within a 300-km radius of the TPPs. Further, the notification mandates the use of fly ash in either the backfilling of mines or stowing of mines up to a distance of 50 km. Considering this background, the aim of this chapter is to discuss various policies that have been adopted by various countries to deal with the fly-ash problem. Additionally, in this chapter, the discussion is elaborated with a focus on India as a case study with regard to policies for fly-ash management and utilization.
