. India’s changing goal posts over coal

 . India’s changing goal posts over coal

• The carbon-intensive nature of coal and India’s excessive reliance on coal power have raised concerns about the Indian power sector’s contribution to global warming and climate change which have been described as reasons for the increasing frequency and intensity of natural calamities.
  • The power sector in India accounts for 49% of total carbon dioxide emissions, compared with the global average of 41%.

Type of power	Installed capacity (as % of total capacity)
Coal-based	51.5%
Natural gas-based	6.3%
Renewal energy 27% India’s transition away from coal as a fuel has been gaining traction over the last few years with natural gas and renewable energy being held as alternatives for coal power. Coal emits nearly twice as much carbon dioxide as natural gas on a kilogram-to-kilogram comparison. Also, unlike coal, natural gas does not leave behind any solid residue upon combustion. Challenges to transition away from coal: Despite plans to phase out coal-based power plants, India continues to remain dependent on coal-based power. According to the IEA’s Coal Report 2021, India’s coal consumption will increase at an average annual rate of 3.9% to 1.18 billion tonnes in 2024. Increasing cost of natural gas: Natural gas has been dubbed as the transition fuel in India’s plans to move away from coal. The Russia-Ukraine war has resulted in an increase in the cost of natural gas. This has made it a financially unviable fuel to replace coal. Of the 25,000 MW of gas-based power plants, about 14,000 MW remains stranded, or idle, because they are financially unviable. India’s transition away from coal as a fuel has been gaining traction over the last few years with natural gas and renewable energy being held as alternatives for coal power. Coal emits nearly twice as much carbon dioxide as natural gas on a kilogram-to-kilogram comparison. Also, unlike coal, natural gas does not leave behind any solid residue upon combustion. Challenges to transition away from coal: Despite plans to phase out coal-based power plants, India continues to remain dependent on coal-based power. According to the IEA’s Coal Report 2021, India’s coal consumption will increase at an average annual rate of 3.9% to 1.18 billion tonnes in 2024. Increasing cost of natural gas: Natural gas has been dubbed as the transition fuel in India’s plans to move away from coal. The Russia-Ukraine war has resulted in an increase in the cost of natural gas. This has made it a financially unviable fuel to replace coal. Of the 25,000 MW of gas-based power plants, about 14,000 MW remains stranded, or idle, because they are financially unviable. The increased demand for power and the inability of domestic suppliers to meet the increased demand for coal has given rise to a coal availability crisis in India. This raises concerns about the power outage crisis in India. The domestic supply of coal is expected to be 154.7 MT, compared with the projected requirement of 197.3 MT. The Power Ministry has urged States to step up coal imports. The Union government is also trying to establish government-to-government channels for coal procurement. Nut Graf