In spite of adverse environmental impact, coal mining is still inevitable for development. Discuss.
The reasons are
- Cheap cost of Coal,
- Huge employment in the sector,
- Wide availability,
- No reliable alternative,
- Lack of political will
India needs more energy to fuel its growth. Coal is one of the Cheapest and most easily available energy source. India has fifth largest coal reserves in the world. In order to provide electricity to millions of its poor, India has to expand and accelerate its energy production.
Despite the push for renewable and clean energy resources such as LPG and nuclear technology, there has been no substitute to replace coal.
There are powerful unions and lobbies which are affiliated to political parties. Hence, phasing out of coal production would not only be a policy decision but political decision too. The huge labour employed in the sector would have to be adequately compensated and alternative livelihood arrangements need to be made.
Despite the coal cess, coal is inexpensive and efficient in electricity production. Coal is the most abundant energy source in the world with U.S and China consuming more than India.
Apart from steam coal which is used to generate electricity, metallurgical coal is used in production of various metals (steel production).
Among the eight core industries that have a combined weight of 37.90% in Industrial Index of Production. Three of them namely a) Coal, b) Iron and Steel and c) Electricity have direct linkage to coal.
Hence, abandoning coil powered development may not be feasible in the near term. Adoption of clean coal technologies such as coal gasification and ‘quick starts ‘in thermal plant is needed. Also, the integration of renewable with coal in a systemic manner can improve efficiency. There is also a need to boost thermal efficiency and mandate ultra-super critical and advanced ultra super critical boiler technology. Coal is not just a relic of the past but also a part of future.
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