Reclamation of Flyash Landfill Areas Through Planting Nitrogen Fixing Tree Species

Flyash is a solid waste product constituting about 70% of the total amount of residue generated in coal fired thermal power plants equipped with electrostatic precipitators or bay filters. It consists of mineral constituents of coal and coal particles, which are not fully burnt. In India, thermal power plants account for about 65% of electricity installed capacity and 70% of electricity generation. There are around 75 thermal power plants in the country which currently produce about 60 MT of fly-ash per annum. Considering the growth in thermal power sector, the annual fly-ash generation is expected to be around 100 MT by the year 2000. The deteriorating quality of coal would aggravate the situation further if clean coal technologies are not adopted on a large scale.