Piyush Goyal said India and other emerging economies needed a "pragmatic" approach with "practical and doable" ideas to tackle environmental problems.
Noting that coal reserves need to be tapped to propel its development agenda, the government on Thursday said it is committed to using coal "cleanly and sustainably".
"The issue of coal is really an issue of energy security. India has reserves of coal which it needs to tap to provide energy to its people and to propel its development agenda. At the same time, it is committed to using coal cleanly and sustainably," Union Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said at the opening session of a three-day conference on "Coal-based Power: Confronting the Environmental Challenges" organised by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
Goyal said India and other emerging economies needed a "pragmatic" approach with "practical and doable" ideas to tackle environmental problems, according to a statement by CSE. Union Environment Secretary Ashok Lavasa said there is a need to use the best technology available for sourcing energy from coal so that adverse consequences on environment are significantly reduced.
CSE Director General Sunita Narain said for countries, like India which were struggling with acute energy poverty, coal is a necessity. "While these countries must move eventually towards a new, cleaner renewable-based energy future, coal-based power but one which was as clean as possible is needed in the interim to alleviate the energy poverty," she said.
According to CSE Deputy Director General Chandra Bhushan, in the period 2011-2035, global energy demand is set to show a one-third increase, with India experiencing a 3% annual growth in demand.
In this scenario, coal will remain one of the key drivers and in the global energy mix, coal in 2012 occupied 29% stake while in 2040, its stake is expected to hover around 24%, he said.
Noting that environmental impacts of the coal sector are huge, CSE said that as per International Energy Agency, the coal-based power sector accounts for about 330 billion cubic metres of the total water drawn globally.
In India, 65% of all freshwater withdrawal by industry is accounted for by this sector while in terms of air pollution, coal-fired power plants contribute approximately 60% of particulate emissions, over 80% of mercury emissions, 45-50% of sulphur dioxide emissions and 30% of nitrogen oxide emissions, CSE said.
Bhushan said the government recently passed new environmental regulations substantially tightening the emissions standards and reducing water consumption. "Implementing these new policies will be challenging given the large investment needs," he added.
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 "Piyush Goyal")
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