We need an orderly transition from coal to renewables

By Educrat IAS Academy | | 0 comment | 27 July, 2022 | 0

With inflation at unprecedented levels in many countries, concerns over energy security have gained centre stage.

Needs to increase domestic coal production

High prices of coal and coal-based generation will only encourage imported coal and expose the country to price risks from international energy prices.
The domestic coal industry has responded to increasing international prices with an increase of over 30 per cent in coal production from April to June this year.
Anticipating these problems, a big effort toward permitting commercial mining has been made to get the private sector to produce more coal.
Gradual transition: Looking at coal from a singular focus on GHG emissions will give a myopic view of energy requirements for a growing economy like India.
The path to achieving 500 GW of renewables needs to be gradual, ensuring an orderly transition as coal is unavoidable in the near future.
Reducing coal imports and increasing domestic production of coal needs focused attention

The draft National Electricity Policy released in May 2021, recognised the need to increase coal-based generation.
Holistic approach in ESG criteria: Apart from the government, the industry should also take up this issue with the financial community in adopting a more holistic approach toward environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria.
There is the need for a regulator to address the issues arising from a greater role of the private sector.
Single point of contact: A single point of contact for the industry in the form of a dedicated regulator would give great comfort to private players and would help to overcome problems that could arise in due course.
The undue financial burden on the coal sector due to various cross subsidies needs attention. The regime needs to be reformed.