We had a lot of fun on coal. No? So by now, you must have known what the whole attack is on. So, We will not talk about the India Ratings report that by 10th October, due to shortage of coal, 16 power plants in the country have been shut down.
It is no longer necessary to mention that out of the total 137 power plants in the coal-fired country, 72 have 3 days, 50 plants have 4 days and 30 have only 1 day’s coal. On normal days, they have 17 days of coal in the reserve.
But it is very important to know that the lights in your house are not going to go off. See, 37% of the world’s electricity is made from coal and 55% in India. That is, if coal is exhausted from the world, 3 to 4 out of 10 houses will be switched off and 5 out of 10 houses in India will be switched off.
Let us understand this whole story in 3 questions and answers:
Question 1: What is the present situation, how much coal is being made in the world and how much is it generating electricity?
Answer: 65% of the world’s coal is spent on generating electricity
On an average, 16,000 million tonnes of coal is produced every year in the world. Coal was 16,731 million tonnes in 2019 and 15,767 million tonnes in 2020. Out of this, 60 to 65% of the coal was used by the world only to generate electricity.
72% of coal in India is spent on power generation
We are second among the highest coal-producing countries in the world. On average, we make 760 million tonnes of coal a year. Out of this, 70 to 75% is spent on coal power generation. In 2020, 72% of coal was spent on power generation.
Question 2: How many years of coal is left in the world and in India?
Answer: The world has coal left for 134 years
Coal 2016 was last measured around the world. At that time, a total of 1,144 billion tonnes of coal was left in the coal mines around the world. In technical terms, it is called coal reserve. About 8.5 billion tonnes of coal is consumed in the world every year. At this pace, coal will be depleted in the next 134 to 135 years.
India has 107 years of coal left, According to the Ministry of Coal, Government of India, we currently have 319 billion tonnes of coal, but agencies in Europe and the US consider only 107 billion tonnes.
India ranks second with the highest consumption of coal. According to yearbook.enerdata.net, on an average, India consumes 1 billion tonnes of coal. According to the figures of the Government of India, we have 319 years of coal. If the international agency believes, 107 years of coal is left.
Question 3: What can be the options to make electricity if coal is exhausted?
Answer : See, a total of 37% of the world’s electricity is made from coal. The remaining 67% in other ways. The US generates 73% of electricity renewable resources through the air, solar energy. Therefore, the elimination of coal will not cause much trouble to countries like the US. The US target is to bring coal power to 20% by 2040.
But the picture in India is complete upside down
We get only 25% of the electricity generated through renewable resources in making electricity. 12% through Hydro Power Plant. The highest coal generates about 55% of the power. India has set a target of 1,75,000 MW for renewable energy for 2022. The total power generation is 45% of 3,84,115 MW. But we are far from this figure at the moment. According to the 2020 report, only 25% of renewable resources are now being electrified.
Without Coal We Will Return to the 18th Century. For the first time in India, the East India Company mined coal at Raniganj in West Bengal in 1774. Earlier, our lives were going on without coal. So if coal runs out and we can’t work on its options, we’ll be back in 18th-century life.
