Flue gas desulfurisation to 2020

A new report from GlobalData says that the flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) market will witness a varying level of growth over the coming years, increasing from US$ 2.8 billion in 2012 to a peak of US$ 4.3 billion by 2016, before reaching US$ 3.7 billion by 2020.

Driving the market
The report expects the increase in the FGD market value to be driven by high coal dependency, increasing awareness of air pollution and stringent emissions regulations, which will boost the number of FGD system installations over the coming years.

China and the US are pegged as the main contributors towards the FGD market growth, with China in particular representing 65.5% of global installations between 2013 and 2020, almost double the rest of the world’s installations, at 34.5%.

Comments on the report
‘The low quality and high sulfur content of the coal found in China has made the country’s sulfur emissions very high; however, with emissions regulations in place, FGD system installations have received a favourable push in the country, and china is now one of the largest markets for this equipment in the world,’ said Swati Singh, Analyst at Global Data.

‘Meanwhile, as the level of sulfur emissions from power plants in the US reached around 15.73 million t in 1990, policies and regulations were formed to reduce not only these emissions, but also other pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, particulates and mercury. As with China, the US FGD systems market has greatly benefited from the resulting surge in demand for equipment use in reducing air pollution,’ Singh continued.

However, a number of barriers will prevent a more steady increase in FGD market value over the coming years. These include the high cost of FGD systems, along with the impact of alternative sources of energy.

‘Developed and developing countries are increasingly in alternative fuels, such as wind, solar, hydro, biomass and nuclear, in order to meet the rising demands for electricity,’ the analyst continued.

Singh concluded, ‘we expect these energy sources to pose a significant threat to the FGD market in the long term, as reductions in the share of fossil fuels for electricity generation will result directly in fewer sales of the FGD equipment needed to control emissions from fossil fuel power plants.’

Adapted from press release by Claira Lloyd

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/22112013/flue_gas_to_2020/