New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
A temporary coal shortage has emboldened the Indian government to press ahead with plans to develop 99 new coal projects with production of 427mn t/y, according to a recent briefing by Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
Land for new coal projects continues to be auctioned despite the government’s pledge to achieve net zero emissions by 2070 and despite the fact that 36% of capacity at operating mines goes unused.
Indeed, underutilised capacity at India’s existing mines is actually greater than projected capacity from India’s 99 new coal projects (427mn t/y), demonstrating that these new projects are unneeded, according to GEM.
India’s planned new coal mine capacity places it second in the world after China with 596mn t/y.
In some major mining regions, such as Jharkhand and Odisha, the industry has over 100mn tonnes in unused capacity at active mine sites, amounting to over 40% of unused mine capacity in those states.
The report shows that new mines would not open fast enough to meet coal demand in the short-term and would be hampered by the same problems as existing mines, such as low labour productivity, competition from renewables, land acquisition issues, and infrastructure constraints.
According to GEM, the 99 new coal projects threaten to displace at least 165 villages and affect 88,000 families. Water shortages would also be exacerbated by the new coal projects.
Ryan Driskell Tate, Project Manager – Global Coal Mine Tracker, GEM, comments: ‘The signs warning against the massive expansion of coal mining are easy to see, but the Indian government is not heeding them. New mines can’t make the industry’s old problems go away. The irony of this expansion is that opening new mines today could intensify the sector’s weaknesses and inefficiencies tomorrow, especially as competition from renewables and conflicts over land use continue to emerge.’
