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The Supreme Court banned the use of petroleum coke, a dirtier alternative to coal, in and around New Delhi in a bid to clean the air in one of the world’s most polluted cities. The court, which recently banned the sale of firecrackers in the New Delhi area, also ordered a ban on the sale and use of furnace oil another dirty refinery by-product in and around the capital and ordered implementation of strict emission norms by the end of December. The order comes after the EPCA (Environment Protection Authority), a government-appointed body, in April recommended to the court that it ban the fuels due to high sulphur levels. India is the world’s biggest consumer of petroleum coke, a dark solid composed mainly of carbon, which emits 11 percent more greenhouse gases than coal, according to the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. Burning it also emits several times more sulphur dioxide, which causes lung diseases and acid rain.