India’s carbon emissions from coal-fired generation hits record levels

• 8 months ago (2024-03-13)
• David Flin

Asia 892 Coal 296 Emissions 65

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Data from energy think tank Ember shows that India’s coal-fired electricity generation reached a new high in January 2024, with its share of the country’s generation mix reaching 80 per cent. Emissions also rose 10 per cent for the equivalent period last year, up to 104.5 million metric tons of CO2 for January 2024.

The increase in coal-fired generation came as output from solar, wind, and hydro fell by 3 per cent, 19 per cent, and 21.4 per cent respectively from the level in January 2023. Cumulative zero-carbon electricity generation was 26.6 TWh in January 2024, 11.2 per cent lower than January 2023, and clean power’s share of India’s total electricity generation mix fell sharply to 18.4 per cent, a 5-year low.

As India’s total power consumption continues to climb at a faster rate than utilities can add clean supply, power firms have boosted output from coal to meet the demand. If these trends continue, India will emit a record amount of CO2 from power generation, with a predicted increase of about 10 per cent over the 2023 figure.