Dear All,
Please find the link to our article on “The Future of Coal in India”, which was published
as a cover story in the current issue of fortnightly Down To Earth, based in New Delhi.
The
article explains how the world is undergoing a massive energy
transformation. We can appreciate and understand this transformation by
reflecting on some of the trends emerging in various
sectors.
•
In the last five years, all the major energy-related institutions
have completely reversed their forecast on coal consumption. From a
20-33% growth in world’s coal consumption till 2040, they now forecast
stagnation and even reduction in consumption
of coal. In India, the forecast on coal consumption has been revised
downwards significantly.
•
Energy efficiency improvements have helped restrain the growth in
final energy demand in the world to just one-third of the level it
would otherwise have been. The momentum towards energy efficiency is
such that despite significant reduction in energy
prices in 2016, investments in energy efficiency have increased. India
has moved from incandescent bulbs to LEDs in 3 years.
•
In 2016, for the first time, the electricity sector edged ahead
of the oil and gas sector to become the largest recipient of energy
investment. More than half of these investments went to the solar and
wind sectors.
•
Solar is now the cheapest source of energy during day-time in
India. In the next 10 years, the price of solar is projected to reduce
further by 50%.
•
Smart grid, especially smart metering, is becoming mainstream. In
2016, about US $47 billion was spent on infrastructure and software to
facilitate more flexible grid operation, demand management and
integration of renewable resources. Large-scale smart
meters are being installed at consumer and distribution transformer
level in India.
•
The price of Lithium-ion battery has declined by more than 50%
since 2010. It is projected to decline further by 70-80% in the next 10
years.
•
Induction cooking is now the most efficient, cleanest and the cheapest mode of cooking.
•
From about 2 million currently, the number of electric vehicles
on the road could reach 50-70 million by 2025. In fact, one in every
three cars sold by 2030 could be electric.
The
above trends will lead to radical changes in the way we produce and
consume energy -- so radical in fact, that investments made in the
conventional energy infrastructure today will most
likely not finish their economic life and would be stranded. Our
article joins the dots and illustrates the implications of these changes
on the energy future of India, especially on coal power plants and
large DISCOMS.
Hope you like the article. Looking forward to your feedback and comments.
Regards,
Vijeta
Dr. (Ms) Vijeta Rattani
Climate Change Division
Centre for Science and Environment
41 Tughlaqabad Institutional Area
New Delhi- 110062
Office number- 011-29955125
Email-
vijeta@cseindia.org
Twitter: vijeta88
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