India is at a political, environmental, and economic impasse -- and the common denominator is coal. According to recent reports, India simultaneously has too much coal and not enough, a problem that results from the collision of a variety of factors: rising energy demand, greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental degradation; environmental regulations on coal productions, bureaucratic red tape, and poor infrastructure that appear to be motivating coal producers to import; and limits to the potential for clean energy deployment to keep pace with the demands of an emerging economy.
While the crisis is largely political, one thing is clear: over the long term, an intensifying coal shortage is likely to drive the cost of electricity up and India's energy poor are likely to suffer the most.
From the Washington Post:
India's dependence on coal will continue to grow for 30 years, experts say. Proposed nuclear power reactors will take many years to complete, and renewable-energy sources can, at best, light up rural homes and streetlights but not power factories, said Jaiswal, the coal minister.
"We have solar energy for six hours a day. But it can light only two bulbs. If the coal can bring 24 hours of electricity to our homes, my children can study better, and I can buy a television," said Amme Lal, from Morga village in Chhattisgarh, who was taking home on his bicycle logs from the forest for cooking fire. "But I have also seen how sad coal mines look -- all black, no trees, fumes rising."
