Petroleum coke, also called pet coke or petcoke, is a solid carbon material that resembles coal.
Petroleum coke is a by-product of the oil refining process.
As refineries worldwide seek to operate more efficiently and extract more gasoline and other high value fuels from each barrel of crude oil, a solid carbon material known as petcoke is produced.
Petroleum coke or Pet Coke is used by industries as fuel and contains various dangerous chemicals and heavy metals such as Chromium, Vanadium, etc
Pet coke also has high Sulphur contents which on burning releases large amounts of Sulphates into the atmosphere
These harmful chemicals cause air pollution and lead to various health risks
Why in news? The Supreme Court directed the prohibition of industrial use of pet coke and furnace oil in NCR regions from November 1, 2017.