Thermal Power Sector

 

Thermal Power Sector: Rating Scorecard
 
Coal Toll:
More than 70 per cent of India's electricity is produced by coal-fired power plants. Most of them do not have modern technologies and use low-grade coal that is low on energy content and high on waste. As a result, the coal power sector is one of the most polluting and resource wasteful. These are the findings of a two-year study by non-profit Centre for Science and Environment that rated the plants on environment and energy performance.
 
How power can be cleaned? :
Coal is an environmentalist’s bugbear. The use of coal to generate energy is the key reason the world is looking at a catastrophic future because of climate change. Recognising this, global civil society has given a rousing call for coal divestment, asking companies, universities and individuals to stop investment in coal thermal power plants. They want coal to go, renewables to be in. And in the interim, clean gas, also a fossil fuel, to be used as a “bridge fuel”. In this scenario any talk of “cleaning” coal to make it less damaging is untenable. This will not work for us in India.