Heat on Power: Green Rating of Coal-Based Power Plants

Contents: Preface. Units. 1. The green rating project. 2. Coal-based power generation. 3. Resources - land, coal and water. 4. Energy and greenhouse gases. 5. Pollution -wastewater, solid waste and air pollution. 6. Policy, compliance and community. 7. Rating and recommendations. Annexures.

Coal plays a critical role in our energy mix, providing over 70 per cent of India’s electricity supply. It is likely to remain a mainstay for several more years, given India’s immense power needs and domestic availability of coal.

But coal is also the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. It burns to produce emissions that are a leading anthropogenic source of global warming, acid rain, smog and toxic air and water. 

We need to use coal efficiently to reduce its environmental costs. CSE’s Green Rating Project analysis of India’s coal-based power sector paints a sobering picture but also offers recommendations for improving the environmental and social performance of this important sector.