New Delhi: India faces a potential energy crisis and the blame rests largely with its overdependence on coal. India’s coal reserves — which have shaped its energy policies — have been grossly overestimated. This compromises India’s argument for depending on indigenous coal for energy security reasons. But worse than the imminent shortage of domestic coal, are the severe social and environmental impacts inherent to India’s coal sector — not least of which is the mounting problem of climate change.
According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) World Energy Outlook’s business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, India and China presently account for 45 percent of world coal use and will be responsible for over three-quarters of the increase by 2030. India is projected to need over 400 GW by 2030 – the current installed energy capacity of Japan, South Korea and Australia combined.
As a result, India will become the world’s third-largest CO2 emitter by 2015 in terms of cumulative emissions. Two thirds of India’s CO2 emissions come from coal used in power generation, which will increase slightly to 69 percent by 2030. (It must be noted that India’s per-capita emissions in 2030 will still be well below those in OECD today.) Coal-use on this scale, however, is simply not sustainable in India and threatens to disrupt the very lives that it is seeking to uplift through improved access to energy.
Global warming is one of the most urgent challenges facing mankind — and if unaddressed, the potentially calamitous effects will change the world as we know it. The average global temperature is now 0.74°C higher than it was in 1850 ,the point at which reliable temperature records became available. According to United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) data, eleven of the last twelve years (from 1995 to 2006) are among the twelve warmest years on record. Scientists attribute the planet’s rising temperatures to excessive amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG)–in particular carbon dioxide (CO2) – emitted largely by fossil fuels, and which remain trapped in the atmosphere for long periods.
“The science is clear on the urgency for rigorous pursuit of alternative solutions such as energy efficiency, natural gas, and renewable energy options to ensure a climate neutral and economically viable growth prospect for India” said Shruti Shukla, Climate and Energy Policy Coordinator of WWF and co-author of the report.
According to the report, for coal to play a role in India’s energy future, the following measures are an absolute imperative to protecting local communities and the environment :
• The true costs of coal (externalities) in India arising from its social and environmental impacts, must be internalized so that the necessary funds are made available for further research, development and deployment of low-emissions coal technology.
• Government policies must be strengthened–particularly the Environmental Impact
Assessments (EIA),that involve civil society in decision-making processes and protect local communities from coal’s negative impacts.
• Low-emissions coal technology – such as Supercritical, Ultra-supercritical, Integrated
Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) – needs to be rapidly and widely deployed with adequate regulatory support .
These actions can be supported through existing clean technology funds and carbon markets based mechanisms such as CDM of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
For more information, please contact:
Shruti Shukla, Climate and Energy Policy Coordinator
WWF-India
E-mail: sshukla@wwfindia.net , +91-11-4150 4794
Moses Pereira, Director – Communications
WWF-India
E-mail: mpereira@wwfindia.net , +91-11-4351 – 6250
According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) World Energy Outlook’s business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, India and China presently account for 45 percent of world coal use and will be responsible for over three-quarters of the increase by 2030. India is projected to need over 400 GW by 2030 – the current installed energy capacity of Japan, South Korea and Australia combined.
As a result, India will become the world’s third-largest CO2 emitter by 2015 in terms of cumulative emissions. Two thirds of India’s CO2 emissions come from coal used in power generation, which will increase slightly to 69 percent by 2030. (It must be noted that India’s per-capita emissions in 2030 will still be well below those in OECD today.) Coal-use on this scale, however, is simply not sustainable in India and threatens to disrupt the very lives that it is seeking to uplift through improved access to energy.
Global warming is one of the most urgent challenges facing mankind — and if unaddressed, the potentially calamitous effects will change the world as we know it. The average global temperature is now 0.74°C higher than it was in 1850 ,the point at which reliable temperature records became available. According to United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) data, eleven of the last twelve years (from 1995 to 2006) are among the twelve warmest years on record. Scientists attribute the planet’s rising temperatures to excessive amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG)–in particular carbon dioxide (CO2) – emitted largely by fossil fuels, and which remain trapped in the atmosphere for long periods.
“The science is clear on the urgency for rigorous pursuit of alternative solutions such as energy efficiency, natural gas, and renewable energy options to ensure a climate neutral and economically viable growth prospect for India” said Shruti Shukla, Climate and Energy Policy Coordinator of WWF and co-author of the report.
According to the report, for coal to play a role in India’s energy future, the following measures are an absolute imperative to protecting local communities and the environment :
• The true costs of coal (externalities) in India arising from its social and environmental impacts, must be internalized so that the necessary funds are made available for further research, development and deployment of low-emissions coal technology.
• Government policies must be strengthened–particularly the Environmental Impact
Assessments (EIA),that involve civil society in decision-making processes and protect local communities from coal’s negative impacts.
• Low-emissions coal technology – such as Supercritical, Ultra-supercritical, Integrated
Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) – needs to be rapidly and widely deployed with adequate regulatory support .
These actions can be supported through existing clean technology funds and carbon markets based mechanisms such as CDM of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
For more information, please contact:
Shruti Shukla, Climate and Energy Policy Coordinator
WWF-India
E-mail: sshukla@wwfindia.net , +91-11-4150 4794
Moses Pereira, Director – Communications
WWF-India
E-mail: mpereira@wwfindia.net , +91-11-4351 – 6250
