The use of diesel in gensets has a serious health implication, too. A WHO report released recently certified diesel fumes as a carcinogen. “The toxicity of diesel fumes has been confirmed beyond doubt after this report. It has been established now that diesel fumes cause cancer, especially lung cancer,” says CSE’s Roychowdhury. There have been no large-scale studies on how much the fumes generated by DG sets contribute to air pollution but a recent Bangalore-based study by TERI has found such sets to be the largest source of toxic gases after the transport segment. “The study reveals that in Bangalore, diesel gensets have been the biggest source of nitrogen dioxide emissions after vehicles,” says Sharma.