ABSTRACT
The ever-increasing electricity demand of India, a developing and prospering country, is mostly satisfied by coal power plants from the 19th century to date. This fossil fuel dominated the power sector is the most versatile sector, both in terms of scale and fuel. The emissions from these fossil fuels are the causes of many environmental problems in India, in particular, and for the world, in general. The electricity sector of India also faces many other problems like power shortages, transmission losses, and sustainability in power generation, transmission, and distribution. This chapter briefly discusses the various problems faced by the Indian electricity sector, and the policies and framework adopted by the government of India to combat these problems. The progress of the sector towards providing affordable, reliable, and sustainable power to the nation is also discussed. Note also that apart from cost affordability and emission reduction, various other footprints like land, water, energy return on investment (EROI), risk to humans, etc. play a significant role in determining the optimal energy mix for the sustainability of the power sector. Carbon emissions pinch analysis (CEPA) has been applied to the Indian power sector to determine the optimal mix of various sources with due consideration of different sustainability indicators.
