India can't do without coal, but can reduce emissions using tech, biomass

India must cut emissions from coal power with efficiency upgrades, biomass co-firing, and policy reforms while scaling up clean energy

What do we do with coal and the electricity it generates? This is the zillion-dollar question amid the twin challenges of climate change and the urgent need for energy across vast parts of the developing world. The world is fast running out of the carbon budget to keep temperature rise below 1.5°C — a guardrail against out and out devastation. We need solutions that can and must work in the interests of all. This is where the coal question becomes complicated. It is easy to say “keep it in the ground” — do not use coal for generating electricity because it is responsible for the bulk of the greenhouse-gas emission, which has filled our atmosphere. But how will that work in an energy-insecure world? 

It is also a fact that the sermonising world has for generations used coal for electricity — the emission is still in the atmosphere, including those of carbon dioxide  (CO2) — and is now mostly switching to another fossil fuel, the only somewhat cleaner natural gas, which still adds to greenhouse-gas emission. The European Union (EU) has signed with the United States (US) what it bills as a historic trade deal, under which it promises to import energy products — natural gas, crude oil, and coal — amounting to a massive $250 billion annually for three years. This may be a castle-in-the-sky promise, but it does imply that the EU has agreed to remain wedded to fossil fuels, countering its green-energy plans. 

What then should countries like India do when confronted with the hard reality of energy poverty and the desperate need for affordable development? Should we give up coal dependence, or should we find ways to balance old and new energy sources, even as we move towards cleaner growth? I have always argued that the Indian government’s plan for energy transition, which is based on displacing but not replacing coal, is the way forward for us. The fact is our energy demand will double by 2030, and this increase will come from clean energy sources, primarily wind and solar. By 2030, coal, instead of meeting 70-75 per cent of electricity demand, would cater to only 50 per cent. 

We must discuss what this means and what can be done to reduce greenhouse-gas emission from the coal-based power sector. I know this is a taboo subject, as it is better to believe that coal will soon be relegated to the dustbin of history. But let’s get real. We need to reduce emission at all costs and across all sectors. We need to do this for local air-quality benefits, to reduce toxic pollutants, which contribute to health challenges. We also need to do this for global climate benefits. If we can find strategies that can work for both, it will be a win-win. 

This is what my colleagues have done in the report “Decarbonising the Coal-based Thermal Power Sector in India: A Roadmap”. Our analysis shows that if the country adopts a strategy for decarbonising thermal-power plants, it could lead to emission reduction as large as those from two similarly hard-to-abate sectors — iron and steel, and cement. 

The first step in the road map is that existing plants should be required to meet the benchmark efficiency of the best plants in their category. For instance, power plants based on sub-critical technology — roughly 85 per cent of the current fleet — should be required to meet at the very least the emission factor of the top performers in their category (such as Tata Power’s 40-year-old Trombay unit, the Kothagudem Thermal Power Station, operated by the Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Ltd or JSW’s Toranagallu plant). This would result in a significant improvement in overall emission. 

The second step is to replace coal as the raw material — many power plants are already using biomass for co-firing. Our proposal is to mandate a switch to 20 per cent biomass, which would reduce carbon-dioxide emission at scale. 

But all this requires a plan with emission targets and clear directions. For instance, currently, the government’s plan is to build ultra-supercritical coal plants, which are undoubtedly much more efficient and cleaner than older technology. But without the right policy incentives, 40 per cent of these new-generation units work below a 50 per cent plant load factor, which means their emission is higher than plants with poorer technology. The underlying problem is that the current merit order dispatch system, which determines the sale of electricity, is based solely on the cost of generation. It is cheaper to produce electricity from older power plants, which have depreciated capital costs, or from units with less investment in technology or maintenance. This is the fatal flaw that still makes dirty coal the king. It needs to be displaced. And it can be. 

The author is at the Centre for Science and Environment.sunita@cseindia.org, X: @sunitanar