Environmental costs of coal-based thermal power generation in India

The recent discussions on sustainable development and climate change related challenges are centred on greenhouse gases (GHGs) ¹ emissions and global warming. The discussions since the Rio Summit (1992) has culminated in the introduction of the Kyoto Protocol (1997), which enforces a binding commitment on industrialized countries to reduce their emissions of GHGs by 5.2 per cent below the level prevailing in 1990 (Gupta 2007). Though developing countries are not yet subject to a reduction commitment on this front, their developed counterparts are putting increasing pressure on more advanced developing countries (e.g. Brazil, China, India) to complement their actions (EC 2003). Given the fact that GHGs can originate from multifarious activities involving primary (e.g. agriculture and related activities), secondary (e.g. iron and steel, cement), infrastructure (power generation, transport), waste management and many other sectors, any commitment by India at the multilateral forum on reducing emissions would have long-term repercussions on the economy. ² The emission management concern is more serious in the context of the coal-based power generation sector in a developing country like India, where the economy is still in the booming stage.