We had a lot of fun over coal. No? So by now you must have come to know what all the hustle is on. That’s why I will not talk about the India Ratings report which says that by October 10, 16 power plants in the country have been closed due to shortage of coal.
It is no longer necessary to mention that out of 137 coal-fired power plants in the country, 72 have 3 days, 50 plants have 4 days and 30 have only 1 day’s coal left. On normal days, they have 17 days of coal in reserve.
But it is very important to know that if the light of your house is not going to go off. See, 37% of the electricity in the world is made from coal and 55% in India. That is, if the world runs out of coal, then 3 to 4 out of 10 houses will be dimmed and in India 5 to 6 houses out of 10.
Let us understand this whole story in 3 questions and answers-
Question 1: What is the current condition, how much coal is being produced in the world and how much electricity is being made in it?
Answer-
65% of coal in the world is used to generate electricity
On an average, 16,000 million tonnes of coal is produced every year in the world or say that it is produced. In 2019, 16 thousand 731 million tonnes of coal was produced and in 2020 15 thousand 767 million tonnes of coal was produced. Out of this, 60 to 65% coal was used by the world only to generate electricity.72% of coal in India is used to generate electricity
We are the second largest producer of coal in the world. We make 760 million tonnes of coal a year on an average. Of this, 70 to 75% of coal is used to generate electricity. In 2020, 72% of coal was spent on generating electricity.
Question 2: How many years of total coal is left in the world and in India?
The world has coal left for 134 years
The last time coal around the world was measured was 2016. Then there was a total of 1,144 billion tonnes of coal left in coal mines around the world. In technical language, 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 exhausted 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 America consider only 107 billion tonnes.
India is the second largest consumer 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 is to be believed, then 107 years of coal is left.
Question 3: If coal runs out, what are the options for generating electricity?
See, only 37% of the total electricity in the world is made from coal. The remaining 67% in other ways. The US generates 73% of its electricity through renewable resources wind, solar power. Therefore, countries like America will not have much problem due to the end of coal. America’s target is that by 2040, it will make coal-fired electricity stand at 20% in any case.
But in India the picture is completely opposite.
In our power generation, only 25% of the electricity is generated through renewable resources. 12% through hydro power plants. Most of the coal generates about 55% of the electricity. India has set a target of 175,000 MW for renewable energy by 2022. Which is 45% of the total power generation of 3,84,115 MW. But we are far from this figure at the moment. According to the report of 2020, only 25% of renewable resources are able to generate electricity.
without coal we will return to the 18th century
For the first time in India, the East India Company mined coal in 1774 at Raniganj in West Bengal. Earlier our life was going on without coal. So if coal runs out and we can’t work out its alternatives, we will go back to 18th century life.
