India is largely dependent of thermal power plants right now which generates about 64 - 65% of the total power generated in the country. We burn about 600 million tonnes of coal every year to produce vast amount of power which is yet to get out of cities and reach those more than 500 million houses in small villages that are not even connected to the grid. As our demand increases, the limited amount of fossil fuels are running out.
The thermal power stations consume a lot of water to generate power by burning coal to turn water into steam which then spins a turbine. Apart from consumption of huge amount of water, these power plants are also responsible for polluting the air around the power plant by emitting Greenhouse gases. So the real cost of getting coal based power would have to include the loss of forest cover due to mining, environmental and health impacts of mining, carbon footprint of transporting coal, environmental and health impacts of burning this coal and polluting the air. How expensive do you think coal would be now?
However, fortunately, you and me are not paying this cost yet but if our dependence on coal does not change, our kids and future generations will have to deal with the consequences.
So, what's the government doing about this?
On one hand the government has acknowledged the problem and has decided to switch to Nuclear energy but on the other hand there are plans in process of bringing up a few hundred power plants more and completely pollute some more of India's fertile land. Find one close to you - click here
