Aakanksha Tiwari, Researcher - Environment and Climate Action

In India, coal consumption and production has doubled in the last 15 years. The federal government sees coal as a key driver of economic growth in the coming decades as well. Traditionally, coal mining and coal based power generation have been funded by the public enterprise and operated by the State. The speakers on day one spoke about various topics involving coal financing and they shared their answers to the following questions:

Despite the proven negative effects of coal mining and coal-burning on the environment and people, NITI Aayog has estimated that coal will have at least a 44% share in energy mix even in 2040. Does this add up to a coal addiction? And what is this addiction costing us? 

Did you know that coal ash produced in India occupies more than 40,000 hectares of land, which leads to degradation of soil, water, air and ecosystem in the surroundings. This article throws light on the types, effects and solutions for coal ash management in India.

As the world is rightly going gaga over the clean energy it is also important to look at the entire life cycle of a technology proposed to understand its impact on the environment. The author tries to do that with the analysis of CSP plants impact on the environment.

The draft EIA notification 2020 got a lot of traction from different stakeholders and rightly so because of the effects it is likely to have on the environment. So, before Draft EIA 2020 what were the rules? Were they any better? Let's have a look at their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

In the current scenario of rising developmental activities and dilution of green laws in India, the author decodes the journey of EIA from 1994 to 2020 and throws light on shift in concern from environmental protection towards industrial development through amendments in EIA Notifications.

This report is an analysis of theactual conditions and impacts of coal and water utilisation in Mettur Thermal Power Plant for three consecutive years between 2015 and 2018 in line with the state and national statutes.