HomeGlimpses" of 7th Coal Summit |
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Introduction
Fossil Fuels - Coal, Oil and Gas have been the primary
energy source globally over centuries. A situation has now
reached for drastic curtailment in their usage to ensure that
the Universe continues to remain habitable in future.
It is for this reason that a global campaign has been launched
for phasing out coal which is the dirtiest among the Fossil
Fuels.
Situation in India is however, different - even now our per
capita emission is one of the lowest in the world and almost
1/3rd of India's population which is going without
electricity connection has to be provided electricity which is
reliable and yet affordable. For achieving this mammoth
task the country has already launched an ambitious
programme of creating 175 GW of Renewables -based
generation capacity. But despite this it will continue to
remain largely dependent on Coal though its share in the
energy basket will go down marginally over the years.
Simultaneously the country has also to ensure that it abides
by its Paris commitment of bringing down Energy Intensity
per unit of GDP by 30% over the 2005 level.
This can be achieved by “Greening” the Black Coal.
Realistically speaking, Black Colour can be transformed
into Green in oil paintings or through modern day laser
lights. The fact however, remains that the Black Coal is the
product of Green Trees and Vegetation and though the
process of Coal formation is irreversible, the Basic
objective of greening can be achieved by containing the
Green House Gas emissions caused by Coal Combustion,
into the atmosphere .
No doubt the Paris commitment made by us is ambitious but
it is achievable. What is needed is a total review of the
production as well as utilisation systems for Coal across the
entire value chain. We have not only to ensure that the Coal
produced from a mine is the cleanest possible but have also
to clean it further before it is made available to the
consumption centre. At the consumption centre combustion
technologies have to be improved so that emission level is
reduced to the minimum and then steps have to be taken to
capture and sequester the Green House Gases so that their
impact on the Environment is reduced to the minimum.
This requires well-planned and well-coordinated efforts on
the part of Govt, Mine Planners, Coal Producers and Coal
Consumers . While Govt. have to formulate policies which
are implementable, the mine planners have to plan the
mining system in a manner that Coal that comes out from
the mine is not contaminated. Going forward, it has to be
realised that Indian coal is basically poor in quality and for
reducing its adverse impact on environment it has to be
cleaned and then the consumers like power plants have to
ensure that they adopt High Efficiency Low Emission
(HELE) technologies to contain emissions from coal
combustion. This is to be followed with Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies so that the entry of Green
House Gases that are emitted on account of coal
combustion, into the atmosphere is reduced to minimum.
Both Coal and Power Sectors have covered lot of ground in
this direction but lots more remains to be done. Need of the
day is to take a review of what has been achieved so far so
that the Road Map for future can be prepared.
It is with this objective that the theme for the Coal Summit
being organised jointly by India Energy Forum, MGMI,
Delhi Chapter and Indian School of Mines Alumni
Association, Delhi Chapter has been selected as “Can India
Grow Sustainably without Green Coal”?
While India Energy Forum (IEF) is a premier Think Tank in
the country on Energy Issues, MGMI is the oldest
organisation of Earth Scientists in India and Indian School
of Mines Alumni Association has been active in the field of
disseminating knowledge about advancement of Mining
Science and Technology. These three orgnaisations together
have been organising a Biennial Summit on Coal for more
than a decade now.
In view of the current situation and on- going developments
in the Industry, it has been decided to devote the 7th Coal
Summit due this year to the theme of "Can India Grow
Sustainably without Green Coal?". This Summit will be
organised on 5th and 6th September 2018 at Hotel The
Ashok, New Delhi.
Challenges in Coal Sector are many and so are the obstacles
which are varied in nature. The objective of the Summit
would be to identify them and take a comprehensive look
there at and chalk out strategies to meet them. The entire
gamut of Coal Mining activities starting from Exploration
and including Mining and Coal Beneficiation technologies,
improvement in Infrastructural facilities, upgrading of
Mining Equipment and facilitation of clearance processes
particularly those related to Environment and Forest and
Land Acquisition and R&R and most importantly Mine
safety will have to be addressed.
Relevant issues to be dwelt upon have been identified as
under:
- Environmental considerations in Coal Exploration
- Mine Planning for Quality Improvement of Coal
- Environment Friendly Coal Mining systems in India
- Coal Beneficiation in India
- R&R in Coal Sector
- Coal & Forest in India
- Coal Gasification in India
- CBM in India
- Environment friendly Coal Combustion technology for Power Generation
- Making affordable Power from Green Coal
