Page 21 - Mines and Minerals Reporter eMagazine - Volume October 2021

TECHNOLOGY

OUTLOOK FOR CLEAN COAL

TECHNOLOGIES IN INDIA

Udayan Singh , Ajay K. Singh , Amit Garg . Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University,
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Evanston, USA PMRC Projects Private Limited, Dhanbad, India. Public Systems Group, Indian Institute of Management
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Ahmedabad, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad, India

Introduction dicate net-zero emissions by 2060. There have been concerns
about increasing coal use on air pollution and human health.
he government’s mission for “affordable electricity for Some research also suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has
all” is based on growing coal sector expansion along had a more negative impact on coal sector growth as com-
Twith growth in the renewables capacity. The Govern- pared to natural gas and renewables (Bertram et al, 2020).
ment of India’s commitments to the Paris Agreement aspire Several analyses by integrated assessment modeling groups
for large renewables growth and also do not entail any plan indicate either a reduction or a complete phase-out in coal
of coal phaseout. In fact, the Draft National Electricity Policy use if 1.5/2°C targets and sustainable development goals are
mentions that coal-fired capacity in the country will increase to be realized (Vishwanathan and Garg, 2020). Several recent
to 330-441 GW by 2040, which would correspond to coal developments have been relevant to coal sector development
combustion of 1.1-1.4 billion tonnes (NITI Aayog, 2017). In the in India. First, the share of underground coal mining has gone
electricity sector alone, the Central Electricity Authority esti- down significantly to < 10% in the recent years. This has been
mates coal usage of 877 Mt by 2027 (CEA, 2018). This added to due to technological and geotechnical limitations on explora-
the large industrial consumption of coal would likely result in tion and extraction of Indian coal (Singh and Kumar, 2016). For
a requirement of 1.5 billion tonnes of coal by 2030-31. At the the targets mentioned above, it is essential that underground
same time, increasing climate ambitions by other countries coal mining increase significantly to meet the rising demands
might indicate growing global seriousness to mitigate climate over the next two decades. Second, the Government of India
change. Recently, China refined its national energy plan to in- in 2020 initiated auctions to wards commercial coal mining.

OCTOBER 2021 / MINES & MINERALS REPORTER 19