{"id":262627,"date":"2023-10-03T20:12:20","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T14:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=262627"},"modified":"2023-10-03T21:14:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T15:44:23","slug":"why-india-cant-live-without-dirty-coal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/why-india-cant-live-without-dirty-coal\/","title":{"rendered":"Why India can&#8217;t live without dirty coal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong> The post is based on the article \u201cWHY INDIA CAN&#8217;T LIVE WITHOUT DIRTY COAL- Despite the bad optics, India needs to keep burning coal and open up more mines\u201d published in \u201cLive Mint\u201d on 3rd October 2023.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Syllabus:<\/strong> GS3- Economy- Infrastructure (energy)<\/p>\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong> The author talks about India&#8217;s struggle to balance between using clean solar energy and dirty coal energy. Even with big solar projects, India can&#8217;t quit coal due to huge power demands, reliable energy needs, and jobs that coal industry provides.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the current scenario of energy in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Coal Energy in India:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>India maintains significant reliance on coal, with plans to escalate production from 900 million tonnes to 1.5 billion tonnes by 2030.<\/p>\n<p>Coal-based power is slated to rise, adding nearly 30GW this decade, totaling nearly 300GW by 2030.<\/p>\n<p>Despite environmental concerns, it caters to robust energy demands, like the record 240GW demand in early September.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Renewable Energy in India:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Renewable Energy:<\/strong> Targeted to reach 500GW by 2030, with current reliance on solar energy at 71GW, yet reliability during peak demand and seasonal variations restrict its sole usage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Natural Gas:<\/strong> Considered cleaner than coal, but health effects and NOx emissions, albeit minimal, still exist and it isn&#8217;t expanding in India due to factors like reduced production from the Krishna Godavari basin.<\/p>\n<p>Even though renewables will have higher installed capacity, coal remains dominant in actual electricity generation, retaining about 55% share, versus solar\u2019s 23% by 2030.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why can&#8217;t India quit coal energy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>India can&#8217;t quit coal energy because:<\/p>\n<p><strong>High Energy Demand:<\/strong> The nation&#8217;s energy demand is soaring, with per capita electricity consumption doubling from 631 units in 2005 to 1255 units in 2022, and it&#8217;s projected to grow over 40% soon.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dependable Energy:<\/strong> Unlike solar and wind energy, coal provides a steady and reliable power supply, crucial for maintaining economic growth and meeting consistently high energy demands.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Insufficient Renewable Capacity:<\/strong> Despite having a large installed capacity of renewables by 2030, the actual electricity generation from these sources will be significantly lower due to factors like weather and plant load factors.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Job Provision:<\/strong> The coal industry provides jobs to around 1.2 million people directly, which is crucial for employment in certain regions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Expansion of Thermal Power<\/strong>: India plans to enhance its coal production to meet increasing energy needs, going from 900 million tonnes to 1.5 billion tonnes by 2030, underpinning its continued reliance on coal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Economic Stability:<\/strong> Consistent coal power supports India&#8217;s rapidly growing economy, ensuring a stable energy supply even when renewables are inconsistent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: The post is based on the article \u201cWHY INDIA CAN&#8217;T LIVE WITHOUT DIRTY COAL- Despite the bad optics, India needs to keep burning coal and open up more mines\u201d published in \u201cLive Mint\u201d on 3rd October 2023. Syllabus: GS3- Economy- Infrastructure (energy) News: The author talks about India&#8217;s struggle to balance between using clean&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/why-india-cant-live-without-dirty-coal\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Why India can&#8217;t live without dirty coal<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[216,8184,10501],"class_list":["post-262627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-3","tag-indian-economy","tag-live-mint","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}