80
3 The Challenges of Energy Supply
0.00
50000.00
100000.00
150000.00
200000.00
250000.00
300000.00
350000.00
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Thermal (Steam, Diesel, Gas)
Hydro
Nuclear
Others
Fig. 3.2 Installed electricity generation capacity (MW) (Energy Statistics 2018)
be more than happy to use electricity free of cost. But then freebies are always
unsustainable. Experience has shown that urban households used to adopt range of
malpractices for reducing/not paying their electricity bills. In every likelihood, this
practice will be adopted by rural households as well till such time they have enough
savings. Moreover, disproportional rise in population is a serious impediment in
managing household connectivity and recovery of use cost since millions of poor
families are mobile (for jobs) for a large part of year.
It may not be appropriate to draw a conclusive relationship between population,
GDP, and energy supply, yet a comparison of data from several countries (World
Bank 2013) indicates the following:
1. Countries using high proportion of fossil fuel for electricity generation must aim
at improving conversion ratio of GDP to fossil fuel (Fig. 3.3).
2. Higher GDP/population ratio indicates efficiency, technology use, and higher per
capita income (Fig. 3.4).
3. For countries where use of fossil fuel is disproportionately high (Fig. 3.5) and
will remain so for a few more decades, it is imperative to reduce population at
a faster rate, introduce new technology, and improve energy efficiency to scale
up GDP. It is equally significant to understand that the average life of a thermal
power plant is 40 years and many, if not most, of India’s coal-based thermal
power plants are several decades old and need to be overhauled at the earliest.
Moreover, the gross calorific value of Indian coal used for power generation
is 3541 kcal/kg whereas that of imported coal is 5500 kcal/kilogram. Outages
are common and the same is evident from the fact that in September 2018 and
October 2018, 26 and 22 thermal power stations, respectively, suffered outages
due to shortage of coal supply (Lok Sabha 2018).
4. Countries must overhaul their existing sub-critical thermal plants to super and
ultra-super as the old plants are living hell and spew venomous gases as shown
in Fig. 3.6.
However, the same plant releases the following gases and other wastes during the
process of electricity generation (Fig. 3.7).
3 The Challenges of Energy Supply
0.00
50000.00
100000.00
150000.00
200000.00
250000.00
300000.00
350000.00
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Thermal (Steam, Diesel, Gas)
Hydro
Nuclear
Others
Fig. 3.2 Installed electricity generation capacity (MW) (Energy Statistics 2018)
be more than happy to use electricity free of cost. But then freebies are always
unsustainable. Experience has shown that urban households used to adopt range of
malpractices for reducing/not paying their electricity bills. In every likelihood, this
practice will be adopted by rural households as well till such time they have enough
savings. Moreover, disproportional rise in population is a serious impediment in
managing household connectivity and recovery of use cost since millions of poor
families are mobile (for jobs) for a large part of year.
It may not be appropriate to draw a conclusive relationship between population,
GDP, and energy supply, yet a comparison of data from several countries (World
Bank 2013) indicates the following:
1. Countries using high proportion of fossil fuel for electricity generation must aim
at improving conversion ratio of GDP to fossil fuel (Fig. 3.3).
2. Higher GDP/population ratio indicates efficiency, technology use, and higher per
capita income (Fig. 3.4).
3. For countries where use of fossil fuel is disproportionately high (Fig. 3.5) and
will remain so for a few more decades, it is imperative to reduce population at
a faster rate, introduce new technology, and improve energy efficiency to scale
up GDP. It is equally significant to understand that the average life of a thermal
power plant is 40 years and many, if not most, of India’s coal-based thermal
power plants are several decades old and need to be overhauled at the earliest.
Moreover, the gross calorific value of Indian coal used for power generation
is 3541 kcal/kg whereas that of imported coal is 5500 kcal/kilogram. Outages
are common and the same is evident from the fact that in September 2018 and
October 2018, 26 and 22 thermal power stations, respectively, suffered outages
due to shortage of coal supply (Lok Sabha 2018).
4. Countries must overhaul their existing sub-critical thermal plants to super and
ultra-super as the old plants are living hell and spew venomous gases as shown
in Fig. 3.6.
However, the same plant releases the following gases and other wastes during the
process of electricity generation (Fig. 3.7).