Opening up coal sector will hit ecosystem hard

Context: The recent opening up of the coal industry to the private players in terms of restoring the economy will encourage ecosystem degradation. 

Issues with the use of coal

• Strategic dependencies: Despite being one of the largest producers of coal, India imports a sizeable 235 million tonnes.

• No much of an employment generator: The coal sector accounts for about 0.8% of total employment.

• Environmental Hazard:

• High ash content and cannot be substituted for coking coal.

• Dirtiest fuel: Pollution at different stages of coal production.

• Mining Stage: For E.g. underground fires have been burning in Jharia, Jharkhand since 1915.

• Transportation Stage: Through rail or road or ship is equally polluting.

• Industry Usage: Contamination of water bodies by fly ash slurry and particulate emissions by thermal power plants.

• Institutional Drag: 

• Routine flouting of environmental norms: discovered by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on Coal India.

• Lack of will of implementation: noticed by the stepping in of Supreme Court to push enforcement.

• Bureaucratic hurdle and states’ disregard:

• The target of solar capacity addition has been slashed by 23% last year; 

• Solar rooftop programmes remain opaque to the public.

A case for moving away from coal-based energy.: 

• Holistic approach: “The better we manage the health of our ecosystems, the better we manage human health and the spread of zoonotic diseases” - Antonio Guterres

• International Examples: Most countries have centered their crisis recovery plan around clean energy

• Germany has turned away from combustion engines to battery-operated cars and ‘green’ hydrogen energy for steel plants.
• Even the countries hit severely by the economic crisis are pursuing the transition (E.g. Italy and Spain)

• Economically Prudent: Sydney, For E.g. will save about half a million dollars over the next few years in energy costs.

Way Forward: 

• The idea of Atmanirbhar Bharat will only follow if it restores India’s natural wealth and holy rivers to the glories of the past.
• Use COVID as an opportunity: to push ministries towards a massive outreach to the people, in popularizing alternative power sources, while farming out renewable energy research.