Energy Conversion and Management 47 (2006) 427441

www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Carbon dioxide emissions from coal based power generation

in India
Shiv Pratap Raghuvanshi *, Avinash Chandra, Ashok Kumar Raghav
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016, India
Received 24 May 2004; received in revised form 9 November 2004; accepted 18 May 2005
Available online 21 July 2005

Abstract
Coal is the major fossil fuel used in industrial units and power plants for power generation in India. The
carbon dioxide emitted as a product of combustion of coal (fossil fuels) is currently responsible for over
60% of the enhanced greenhouse eect. The present communication is an attempt to provide a brief investigation of CO2 emission from coal based power generation in India. Energy indicators, trends in energy
consumption and carbon dioxide emissions have been thoroughly investigated. Methodology for analysis
of carbon emissions and possible sinks is also provided.

2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: CO2 emission; Coal; Combustion; Energy consumption; CO2 mitigation; Sinks

1. Introduction
Energy is the basic component for development of industry, public service and transport. It is
the prime mover of economic growth and development. Throughout the history of the human
race, major advances in civilization have been accompanied by an increased consumption of energy. Combustion converts coal into useful heat energy, but it is also a part of the process that

Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9818604170; fax: +91 1126581121.

E-mail address: spraghuvanshi@yahoo.com (S.P. Raghuvanshi).

0196-8904/$ - see front matter
2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2005.05.007

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S.P. Raghuvanshi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 47 (2006) 427441

engenders the greatest environmental and health concerns. Combustion of coal at thermal power
plants emits mainly carbon dioxide (CO2), sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), CFCs [1],
other trace gases and air borne inorganic particulates, such as y ash and suspended particulate
matter (SPM). CO2, NOx and CFCs are green house gases (GHGs). CO2 produced in combustion
is perhaps not strictly a pollutant (being a natural product of all combustion), nonetheless it is of
great concern in view of its impact on global warming. Carbon dioxide is a stable molecule with
less than 10 years average residence time, i.e. 3 years in the troposphere [2], though its residence
time is over 100 years in the atmosphere, and its present concentration in the atmosphere is
increasing at an astonishing rate of 0.4% per year. The average residence time in the troposphere
means the number of years a molecule exists before it is reused by another biological process on
the earths surface or broken apart in the stratosphere.
Electricity has been a preferred form for energy consumption and has consistently registered a
higher growth rate than other forms of energy. India is a developing country with over a billion
population and immense natural resources with total surface area of 3,287,590 sq. km and a huge
land area of 2,973,190 sq. km. Increased consumption of electric power is more intimately bound
up with economic development on the one hand and increased emission of pollutants on the other
hand. Establishment of new industries, plants, commercial complexes and expansion of the capacity for consumer goods industries to feed its ever increasing population has led to a considerable
increase in the consumption of electricity in India and, consequently, the emission levels of CO2.
Besides, with government plans for rural electrication and electricity to all, the demand for electricity is sure to increase at an astonishing rate. Based on their studies in the northern hemisphere,
Dunn and Flavin [3] stated that carbon dioxide, which is released into the atmosphere from the
burning of fossil fuels, is the single most important greenhouse gas contributing to the anthropogenic forcing of climate change. Thus, they conclude the share of CO2 in warming is expected
to rise from slightly more than half today to around 3/4th by 2100 and further stated that the
average global surface temperature would be raised more during the 20th century than during
any other century in the last 1000 years.
Carbon dioxide comprises about 0.03% of the earths atmospheric volume, but due to the combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation, this percentage has increased by about 25% since preindustrial times. Each year about 5 Gt of carbon is released into the atmosphere due to fossil
fuel combustion. The average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has already reached
358 ppm by volume (ppmv), compared to the pre-industrial level of 280 ppmv. Scientists project
that excessive CO2 emissions into the atmosphere will increase the earths surface temperature
approximately 1.54 C in the next 3040 years [4]. In most developing countries, CO2 emissions
are between 0.3 and 0.6 tons of carbon per capita per year. The relative rate of CO2 emission increase in developing countries has been much larger during the last few decades (about 5% per
year in developing regions in contrast to 1% per year in industrial regions during the last decades)
[5].
Izrael [6] states that organic fuel combustion will evidently increase until the middle of the next
century, reaching a value of about 20 billion tons of coal equivalent (tce) per year (i.e. 6 1020 J).
After that, organic fuels will be replaced with other energy resources, which do not produce the
same scale of pollutants emission into the environment. Even if this energy is produced very
cleanly, the pronounced ecological eects would still limit it, evidently associated with the huge

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429

amount of heat being dispersed into the environment due to the GHGs emitted from stationary or
mobile sources in various forms.
1.1. Problems associated with CO2 increase in atmosphere
Projections by the International Energy Agency in World Energy Outlook 2000 have indicated that global CO2 emissions would increase to 29,575 and 36,102 million tones in 2010 and
2020, respectively [7]. Fast accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can evidently aect
the climate of earth rather quickly by warming the earth surface. This eect is associated with
the absorption of long wavelength radiation much more by CO2 than other GHGs. In particular, the atmosphere of the northern hemisphere will be 1 C warmer because of anthropogenic
carbon dioxide when this contribution will have reached several billion tons, corresponding to a
60 ppm increase in concentration from now, such an increase could take place by the year 2010 [8].
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests that the global mean surface
temperature of the earth has increased by between 0.3 and 0.6 C since the late 19th century. Giorgi and Hewitson [9] concluded that a doubling of CO2 would increase the temperature by 24 C
and decrease rainfall by 1020% (>1 mm day
1). Carbon dioxide has already risen by 30% since
the industrial era began [4].
The global atmosphere traps an increasing amount of heat due to the increased concentration
of CO2, and thus, higher temperatures result globally. This change in atmospheric temperature is
of concern since even an increase of a few degrees would lead to severe regional eects, such as
prolonged droughts, crop failure, change in cropping pattern, vegetative production with increased desertication, polar ice might partially melt, resulting in ocean ooding and submergence of major portions of low lying islands and coastal areas. Problems like global warming,
climate change, emergence of natural hazards like ooding and change in sea levels, are on their
headway, and for all these, the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide is held responsible. For
all these changes, human activities are held responsible, which mainly includes the emission of
GHGs by fossil fuel combustion [8]. CO2 is a universal production of the cycle of life. It is absorbed by plants and generated and released by oxygen utilizing processes such as animal respiration, natural decay processes and anthropogenic combustion of fossil fuels. The level of CO2 in
the world depends on the balance between these processes. CO2 is a product of the combustion of
the hydrocarbons in coal, oil and gas. It cannot be eliminated from the combustion, but it can be
signicantly reduced, only at a great expense.
A US Environmental Protection Agency study of 15 major cities calculated that an estimated
9800 additional deaths could occur annually in the United States due to air pollution as a result of
global warming [10].
1.2. Objectives of study
The objective of this study is to prepare an inventory of CO2 emissions from the present energy
generation and predict the same for the next two decades. This emission inventory will provide
options to policy makers for CO2 reduction in the Indian power sector. Mitigation options (sinks)
have been suggested and discussed.

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2. National energy prole

The total installed capacity of the country was only 1362 MW in 1947, which has increased to
over 108,000 MW presently, and generation has increased from 4.1 to over 540 billion kW h during this same period. The present installed capacity includes contributions of 76606.91 MW by
thermal (coal, gas and oil), 22,000 MW by hydro, 2720 MW by nuclear and the rest by biomass,
wind, etc. Electricity generation in India has doubled in the 10 years between 1988 and 1998 [11].
The total energy consumption in the country in 1998 was 12.5 quadrillion BTU, which is just 3.3%
of the world total energy consumption. Fig. 1 shows the source wise growth of power generation
since 1947 in India.
The main energy resources of India can be grouped into three broad categories, viz. commercial
(coal, oil, natural gas, hydroelectric and nuclear fuel); non-commercial (forest, dried dung cakes,
i.e. animal wastes, vegetable wastes); renewable (solar, geothermal, tidal and wind power). In
India, over 65% of the total energy consumption is met by commercial energy sources, and the
remaining 35% comes from non-commercial and renewable sources.
2.1. Energy demand and shortage
Electricity demand, growing at 8.7% annually during the present decade, has outstripped the
economic growth rate of 6.2%, and electricity consumption per person has increased to
355 kW h (20012002) from 90 kW h in 1972 [12]. Coal demand in the country has been projected
to be 460 and 620 Mt for the years 20062007 and 20112012, while the total commercial energy
demand would be 411.91 and 553.68 Mtoe for the same years. Total energy demand has been expected to reach 563.21 and 723.93 Mtoe, respectively, in 20062007 and 20112012. The demand
forecast is derived by econometric analysis. All data used in the study for projection are based on
actual 19902002 data.
India has energy demand and peak shortages touching 9.3% and 12.3%, respectively. With a
gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 8% set for the tenth ve year plan, the national demand
for electric power is likely to grow at a rate of 9% per annum in the next decade with a requirement of over 15,000 MW of additional capacity every year to feed more than one billion popula-

Fig. 1. Total power generation in India (19472002).

S.P. Raghuvanshi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 47 (2006) 427441

431

tion [13], which will necessitate a tripling of installed generation capacity from 101,000 to
292,000 MW by 2020 [14]. During 20002001, the total energy shortage was estimated at
39,816 million units, and the peak shortage was estimated at 10,157 MW (approximately 13%
of the countrys installed capacity). In terms of energy demand, India accounts for 3.5% (313.5
million tones of oil equivalent, Mtoe) of the world commercial energy demand (8752.4 Mtoe)
in 2001 [15]. The countrys demand is increasing steadily, but an equilibrium position has not been
achieved.
The fossil fuels share in energy generation, along with their CO2 emission, is presented in Table 1.
Indias energy use is mostly based on fossil fuels. Although, the country has signicant coal and
hydro resource potential, it is relatively poor in oil and gas resources. As a result, it has to depend
on imports to meet its energy demands. The geographical distribution of available primary commercial energy sources in the country is quite skewed, with 77% of the hydro potential located in
the northern and northeast regions of the country. India is the third largest coal producing country, and about 60% of energy demands are met by coal. Coal is the major source of energy production in the commercial sector. World coal production rose by 60% between 1971 and 1995.
Further, under a business as usual (BAU) scenario, production is projected to continue to rise
by 2.2% per year to 2020. The majority of this increase will be in the developing countries of Asia.
Available Indian coal can be ranked as sub-bituminous, followed by bituminous and lignite.
India accounts for almost 7% of the global coal reserves and about 86.4% of the reserves in India
lie well within explorable depth of 600 m. About 70% of the total coal reserves are located in the
eastern region, while most of the hydrocarbon reserves lie in the west. Table 2 gives the reserves
outlook of the country. Presently, the total coal production in the country is 327 MT and consumption is 348 MT, while the total and the proven coal reserves of the country are
211,594 MT and 82,396 MT, respectively.
3. Energy indicators
India is one, among six, of the largest energy consumers of the world with the United States,
China, Russia, Japan and Germany. India, being the second most populated country, with a population of 1049 billion, after China, is growing at a growth rate of 11.04% per year as observed
between 2001 and 2003 and 21% in the last decade, 19902000 (lower than 19801990, i.e.
24%). The United States requires 12,000 BTUs per dollar of GNP, while India requires 31,000
per dollar of GNP. This comparison shows that, although India is industrialising (developing)
fast, unless more ecient technologies are adopted, we will consume more energy per capita in
order to fulll the demands of our one billion population. The energy indicators and economic
parameters are presented in Table 3.
Table 1
Fossil fuels share in carbon emission and energy generation
Fuel
Coal
Oil
Natural gas

Share of energy generation (%)

Share of carbon emission (%)

India

World

India

World

55
30.5
7.0

20.3
41.3
21.1

69.78
26.31
3.9

41.2
42.65
16.12

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Table 2
Coal reserves by category (MT) in India as on 01 January 2001
Coal type

Proved

Indicated

Inferred

Total

Coking
Prime coking
Medium coking
Blended/semi-coking
Subtotal
Non-coking@

4614
11,294
482
16,390
68,024

699
11,296
907
12,902
85,644

1036
221
1257
36,766

5313
23,626
1610
30,549
190,434

Total

84,414

98,546

38,023

220,983

Source: Ministry of Coal, India, 2001 [16]. @ includes coal of Northeastern region also.

In order to characterize the drivers in energy development, it is possible to decompose the primary energy consumption (PEC) as a product of three variables, population (P), per capita GDP
(GDP/P) and energy intensity of GDP (PEC/GDP) [17]:
PEC GDP

P
1
GDP
P
In this way, the growth rate of energy consumption for a given period has been approximated as
the sum of the growth rates in energy intensity, per capita GDP and population.
Similarly, CO2 emissions can be decomposed as the product of the primary energy consumption
and the carbon intensity of primary supply (CO2/PEC). The growth rate in CO2 emissions can,
thus, be approximated as the sum of the growth rates in energy and carbon intensity:



 
 

C
C
PEC
GDP
 PEC


P
2
CO2
PEC
PEC
GDP
P
PEC

where PECprimary energy consumption, Ccarbon, Ppopulation (millions), (GDP/P)per

capita GDP, (PEC/GDP)energy intensity of GDP and (C/PEC)carbon intensity of primary
supply.
Table 3
Energy indicators for India
Indicator/parameter
Total population (106)
Elec. generation (TWh)
Rate of growth (%)
kW h/capita
Primary commercial energy
Supply (Mtoe)
Rate of growth
kgoe/capita
kgoe/US$GDP
GDP (1012 US$)
Rate of growth (%)
GDP/capita (US$)
Rate of growth (%)

1970
541
61
11.6
113
59
5.0
109
0.54
110
3.5
203
1.0

1980
679
119
6.9
175
96
5.0
141
0.64
149
3.1
219
1.0

1990
837
289
9.3
346
175
6.2
209
0.68
256
5.6
306
3.4

1993
890
355
7.1
400
210
6.3
236
0.71
296
5.0
333
3.2

2000
1000
540
6.2
540
310
5.7
310
0.74
420
5.1
420
3.2

2010
1140
986
6.2
865
510
5.1
447
0.73
631
4.2
631
4.2

S.P. Raghuvanshi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 47 (2006) 427441

0.6

900

Per Capita Carbon Emission (MT)

800

E Consumption

y= 0.0166x + 0.1762

700

R2=0.819
0.4

600
500

0.3
400
0.2

300
y=31.525x + 139.05
R2=0.7359

0.1

200
100

Per Capita Energy Consumption (MT)

Carbon Emission

0.5

433

19
90
19
91
19
9
19 2
93
19
94
19
95
19
96
19
97
19
98
19
99
20
00
20
02
20
05
20
10
20
20

Years

Fig. 2. Regression analysis of per capita energy generation and carbon emission.

This equation provides a simple but robust framework in order to characterize and compare
energy and CO2 scenarios. Eq. (3), given by Kaya [18] and known as the Kaya identity, also relates the carbon emission per GDP with the improvement in energy intensity for GDP (process
eciency improvement) and carbon intensity (energy conversion eciency) of power conversion
devices. The carbon dioxide emissions depend upon the population, living needs, industrialization, standard of living, etc. The carbon emissions, thus, can also be expressed as given by the
Kaya identity:


 
GDP
E
C
3
CO2 emissions P
P
GDP E
where C/Eenergy intensity, E/GDPenergy intensity of economy.
The total energy consumption of India is equivalent to 3.3% of the world total energy consumption, whereas the energy related carbon emissions (i.e. 252.6 million metric tons of carbon) is
4.41% of the world carbon emissions. The per capita energy consumption is 12.9 million BTU
(one sixth of the world average) as compared to 350.7 million BTU by the US. Per capita energy
consumption and per capita carbon dioxide emissions are presented in Fig. 2. The energy intensity
(2703 BTU/$) of the country is about double that of the United States of America. Similarly, the
carbon intensity (0.57 metric ton of C/103 US$) is also a little more than double that of the US
(0.22 metric tones/103 US$). Global energy related CO2 emissions are projected to grow by 60% in
19972020 based on a stable policy environment. This projected increase presents a particular
challenge to the Annex 1 countries of the Kyoto Protocol, which are committed to reducing their
emissions by the budget period 20082012.
4. Climate change policy of India
The climate change and energy policy in India has, so far, shown mild concern for the environmental eects of energy production, conversion, transportation and use. India is highly vulnerable
to climate change as its economy is heavily reliant on climate sensitive sectors like agriculture and
forestry, and its low lying densely populated coastline is threatened by a potential rise in sea level.

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S.P. Raghuvanshi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 47 (2006) 427441

India signed this multi-lateral treaty on 10 June 1992 and was the 38th country to ratify the Convention on 1 November 1993. India is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) and participates in international eorts to nd a coordinated, equitable and eective set of actions to combat the threat of climate change. Still, the countrys policy
insists more on the use of coal as its major fossil fuel for power generation.
There are various technologies and processes that have substantial potential to reduce GHG
emissions, for instance, coal and biomass gasication technology; gas turbine technology; power
generation with solar thermal and photovoltaic technology, fuel cells, etc. Clean coal technologies
and renewable energy usage have been adopted by India as methods of best approach to discuss
climate change. These are broadly classied as:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)

Energy conservation and improvements in energy eciency.

Use of low carbon fuels like natural gas and hydropower.
Promote aorestation.
Sequestration.
Sinks.

These options have been partially implemented and further implementations are necessary to
move towards a sustainable energy future and reduce its dependency on coal red electricity generation. Along with all these methods, further steps can be implemented for reduction of CO2
emissions. These are research and development; information and education (for awareness); economic measures; regulatory measures; and voluntary agreements. Each step oers advantages and
drawbacks and has dierent eects on CO2 reduction. Measures often interact and function in
combination.
Research and development activities include research on the climate system and prevention of
climate change. These include voluntary and funding support based participation by institutes and
industries on climate change related research.
Information and awareness campaigns are directed to the general public and specic groups in
order to motivate them and to disseminate technical knowledge for energy eciency and
conservation.
India recognizes the importance of reducing these harmful emissions and also places a high priority on economic development. As such, India is not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol that mandates specic commitments by countries to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases to an
average of 5.2% below 1990 levels by 20082012. Nevertheless, India accepted (ratication was
unnecessary) the Kyoto Protocol on August 26, 2002.
5. Method to calculate CO2 emission from coal combustion
5.1. Characteristics of coal used in power sector
The lower grade coking coal used in Indian thermal power stations has low caloric value and
high ash and moisture content. The ash of Indian coal is refractory in nature, which is also con-

S.P. Raghuvanshi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 47 (2006) 427441

435

sidered an advantage for its use in power plants. Indian power plants receive coals of E, F and G
grades. Indian coal in general, contains low sulphur (<0.6%), and the chlorine content is less than
0.1%, making it an ideal fuel for power generation purposes.
The rate of coal consumption in production of electricity, overall, for India is of the order of
0.770.85 kg/kW h [19]. Coal is extracted from a system of linked collieries in the country and is
transported mainly by rail (about 60%) and also by road. Around 449 mines are operational in the
country, which provide coal for various uses. Washing of coal in the country is dicult because it
contains near gravity impurities and existing coal beneciation facilities are old and have low unit
capacity.
5.2. Carbon dioxide emission from coal combustion
Carbon dioxide emission from combustion of coal depends on the quantity of coal consumed,
the average carbon content of the coal and a small percent of carbon that remains unoxidised,
largely as particulate matter. The high heating value (HHV) of coal (or gross caloric value,
GCV) is related to its carbon content. The GCV/HHV was calculated to be 14840.09 kJ/kg.
The fraction of carbon in coal was estimated by using the general molecular formula of coal,
i.e. C135H96O9NS. Of the total carbon burned, Marland and Rotty [20] have estimated that about
1% escapes unoxidised. Based on the input parameters and ultimate analysis of the fuel used for
power generation, the emission of carbon dioxide from thermal power plants has been computed.
The input parameters are coal consumed per annum, combustion system eciency and carbon
content of the fuel. The combustion system eciency has been considered equal to the average
value (26%) observed in pulverized systems. The total carbon dioxide emissions from the power
sector have been obtained from Eq. (4):
QCO2 Cqg

where QCO2 amount of carbon dioxide emitted, Mt; Ccarbon fraction of the fuel; qamount
of fuel consumed in the particular year, MT (per annum); gcombustion eciency of the fuel
device.
Power plants also use small quantities of Diesel oil and furnace oil (FO) as supplemental fuels
to boost the combustion and heat content. Generally, this supplementary fuel combustion is 0.2
0.3 ml/unit of power. The supplementary fuel consumption in old thermal power plants may
range from 1% to 4% of the fuel. In the present study, this supplementary fuel has not been taken
into account for computing the carbon dioxide emissions. Also, the factor of 0.949665 t/h/MW
has been considered for CO2 emission [21]. Fig. 3 represents the carbon dioxide emissions from
coal combustion and the projected coal consumption that would be consumed by the year 2025.
It is estimated that the carbon dioxide emissions may be expected to increase at an annual
growth rate of 3% between 2001 and 2025. This has been exacerbated by the low energy eciency
of coal red power stations in the country. It is well recognized that there is and will be continuous
increases in carbon dioxide emissions in India and the world. The per capita CO2 emission of
India is about ve times lower than the global per capita carbon dioxide emissions. Presently,
the per capita carbon dioxide emissions of India have reduced to above three times less and
the total CO2 emissions have reduced to over two times less than the global per capita emissions.

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Fig. 3. Projected coal consumption and carbon dioxide emissions from power generation in India.

6. Mitigation strategies
Mitigation strategies should consider increasing sinks, reduction of carbon dioxide sources,
aorestation, fuel mix, improvement in energy eciency, replacement of fossil fuels for power
generation with renewable or nuclear energy sources and carbon sequestration.
6.1. Supply side options for mitigation of CO2 emissions
Supply side options for mitigation of CO2 emissions are mainly classied as eciency improvements on existing generating plants, advanced cleaner technologies and renewable energy based
power generation.
6.1.1. Clean coal technologies (CCTs)
Use of cleaner coal technologies (CCTs) can reduce the environmental impact of the increase in
coal use. In India, the conventional pulverized coal (PC) type of technology is used in most of the
installed power generating stations. An analytical study of CCTs for their energy consumption,
net eciency, CO2 emissions and specic CO2 reduction in relation to the conventional pulverized
system is presented in Table 4.
Power generating facilities in developing countries are often outdated and poorly maintained,
but India is improving in terms of replacement of outdated and old installations by new and more
ecient technologies. The IGCC technology is being tried in several power stations but is still in
the experimental stages.
6.1.2. Eciency improvement in power generating stations
Increasing generation eciency is a major component of a broad based energy eciency programme as a carbon dioxide reduction option. This can be achieved through heat rate improvements and reduction of auxiliary power consumption in thermal power plants. Energy eciency
and emissions of environmental pollutants in thermal power stations are dependent upon the fuel
used for combustion in the furnace. Eciencies in many countries, including India, having PC
boilers can be improved by 1020%, which can lead to a large reduction in carbon dioxide

S.P. Raghuvanshi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 47 (2006) 427441

437

Table 4
Energy consumption, net eciency and CO2 emission of generation systems
Technology

Conventional hard coal-red

Power plant (PC)
Combined cycle with PFBC
IGCC
IGCC with hot gas cleaning

Energy
consumption
kW h fuel/kW hel

Net eciency
(at full load)

CO2 emissions
kg/kW hel

Specic CO2
reduction related to
conventional systems (%)

2.63
2.41
2.22
2.22

0.38
0.41
0.42
0.45

0.87
0.80
0.79
0.73

8
9
16

emissions [22]. Increased eciency through generation, transmission and distribution projects
should emphasize activities such as heat rate improvements, cogeneration and waste heat recovery, high eciency transformers and reductions in line losses associated with electricity transmission and distribution.
The average net eciency for power generation, in India, is approximately 26%, which means
74% of the thermal energy produced is lost in the production and distribution of the electric power
[22]. Production and distribution improvements can be done by upgrading transmission and distribution (T&D) to improve the delivery of electricity from power stations to the end user. Reduction of CO2 emissions from energy end use and transportation can be accomplished by reducing
energy demand at stationary sources and reducing the transportation fuels used. If these power
stations work at design eciency, the increase in aggregate power output will be more than
15%, indicating a 12% decrease in CO2 emission per kW h of energy generated. A similar observation has been reported by Kumar and Sinha [23].
Also, fuel switching from coal to other fuels of less carbon intensity decreases CO2 emissions per unit of energy consumed by as much as 43% when switching from coal to natural gas
[24].
6.1.3. Renewable energy options for mitigation
Renewables can also replace fossil fuels for reducing the greenhouse gases emissions. According to government policy, it is suggested and targeted that there would be 10% of power generation in India by renewables. The major issues that setback generation from renewable energy
sources in India are site specic resource variability, load uncertainty, system selection/sizing
and incomplete assessment of options. Most renewables are promoted by individual technologies/component suppliers. System analysis/load forecasting and software/modeling support are
required.
The country possesses renewable energy sources in abundance. The potential capacity is estimated to be 126,000 MW. The largest source (79,000 MW) includes ocean, thermal and tidal/
wave power. Table 5 presents the potential available and the achieved capacity of particular
renewable energy sources. Solar energy is also available in abundance and intensity, which needs
to be tapped.
Similarly, waste to energy options are open to exploration. The waste can be urban, agricultural, animal residue or industrial waste. Indian waste is rich in organic content.

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Table 5
Renewable energy potential and achievements in India
Sources/technology

Units

Potential

Achieved (till December 2000)

Wind power
Small Hydro power
Biomass power
Biomass gasiers
Biomass cogeneration
Urban industrial waste based power
Solar photovoltaics
Solar water heating
Biogas plants
Improved biomass chulhaas

MW
(upto 25 MW)MW
MW
MW
MW
MW
MW/km2
Million m2
Million
Million

45,000
15,000
19,500
16,000
3500
1700
20
140
12
120

1267
1341
308
35
273
15.2
47
0.55
3.1
33

7. Carbon dioxide sinks

Disposal of carbon dioxide into sinks can be the best mitigation option. CO2 sinks are biosphere sinks (oceans, forest, vegetation and soils), geosphere sinks and sequestration (oil reserves,
coal beds, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, deep ocean and deep aquifers) and material sinks (durable wood products, chemicals and plastics). These CO2 sinks are grouped on the basis of their nature and the location and ultimate fate of the CO2 [25]. A classication of these sinks is presented
in Fig. 4 [26].
The buildup of CO2 in the earths atmosphere is presently only occurring at a rate of 1.8 ppmv/
year (14.0 Gt CO2/year) due to several, natural carbon dioxide sinks that work to remove the gas
from the planets atmosphere. The sinks that remove gases from the atmosphere are generally natural processes that have a limited capacity [27].
7.1. Oceans as sink
Oceans absorb CO2 from the atmosphere because the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere
is greater than that in the oceans. This dierence in partial pressure of CO2 results in the gas

Carbon
dioxide Sinks
Materials

Biosphere
Soil

Oceans

Geosphere

Plastic

Chemical

Oil recovery

*Vegetation

Coal Beds

*Forests
*Grasslands

Depleted oil & Gas Reservoirs

Durable Wood

Deep Aquifers

Fig. 4. Carbon dioxide sinksclassication.

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439

being absorbed into the worlds oceans. The amount of CO2 that can be taken up by the oceans in
a given year is a function of wind speed, air and water temperatures and concentration gradients
and is, therefore, dicult to determine accurately. Similarly, the absolute amount of CO2 that the
oceans will be able to absorb is currently a matter of debate. The best estimates of the ocean sink
are that the oceans are absorbing 7.4 Gt CO2/year (0.9 ppmv/year) [27].
7.2. Forests as sinks
Forests sequester carbon for nite time periods, which would allow the implementation of more
permanent options for avoidance of GHGs emissions and stabilization of climate change. Slowing
deforestation and planting trees will increase the planets terrestrial biomass sink, also slowing
CO2 buildup in the atmosphere. Globally forests, grasslands and other land based plants are currently absorbing an estimated 5.5 Gt CO2/year (0.7 ppmv/year). The total forest area in India is
63,300 103 ha, having a deforestation rate of 274 103 ha yr
1. Out of the total land available
for forestation (i.e. 53,200 103 ha) about 10,640 103 ha can be considered for energy plantations. Trees growing in the forest serve as an important means to capture and store atmospheric
CO2 in vegetation, soil and forest products. Further, in India, the wasteland available for forestation is quite large, i.e. 30 106 ha. An energy plantation can be used for power generation in
three general applications, for instance:
(i) Co-ring in fossil fuel red power generation facilities.
(ii) Cogeneration in agriculture and forestry processing facilities.
(iii) Stand alone grid connected biomass based power stations that consider energy plantation
feed stocks along with other agriculture residues, like baggase, wood waste, rice hull, etc.
Though non-conventional fuels like biomass, hydro, solar, etc. can replace coal based power
generations to an extent, they are expensive to establish and operate on one hand, while their
net life cycle CO2 emissions are negligible or zero on the other hand, which provides them a superior position above fossil fuels like coal.
Brown et al. [28] have grouped forest mitigation activities into three categories: the rst category includes activities that avoid the release of emissions from carbon stock (forest conservation
and protection); the second includes activities that store carbon (aorestation, reforestation and
agro forestry); and the third category involves substituting the use of carbon intensive products
and fuels with sustainable harvested wood products and wood fuel (e.g. substitution of wood
for steel or concrete and bio-electricity for electricity generated from fossil fuel combustion). Sathaye et al. [29] have suggested aorestation (short and long rotation), regeneration and protection
of forest as a possible and fastest way to reduce C emissions. The potential was estimated to be of
the order of 1 Pg C yr
1 in 2010, or enough to oset a large portion of the annual GHGs emission
from this sector during the 1990s.
The reason for forests as an increased sink is that increased levels of atmospheric CO2 have
acted to fertilize plant matter, causing their increased growth. Forests allow bio-chemical conversion of carbon dioxide into a useful product for long term storage The regeneration of forests on
abandoned farmland in the northern hemisphere may also be contributing to the capacity of this
sink.

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S.P. Raghuvanshi et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 47 (2006) 427441

Emissions of CO2 from coal combustion can also be reduced by CO2 capture and sequestration.
The CO2 may be stored in aquifers, oil and gas elds or on the ocean oor. These technologies
have great potential and have been studied in depth by the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme [30].

8. Conclusion
This communication was mainly focused on studying the carbon dioxide emissions from coal
based power generation and the other energy indicators on which GHGs emissions are dependent.
Methods and equations to analyse these emissions and their dependence on various factors, like
GDP, population, energy intensity, etc., have been taken into account.
Coal, being the abundant source available in India, will continue to play the major role in future power generation. As also, the government policy is based on coal based power generation,
essentially, carbon dioxide emissions will take place as long as we use these fuels. For every ton of
fossil fuels burned, at least three quarters of a tone of carbon is released as CO2. It has been found
that 0.80.9 kg/kW h CO2 is emitted in Indian power plants.
It is concluded that there are technically feasible and economically viable options for mitigating the most potent GHG (CO2) emission from the power sector, like shifting to very optimistic
and clean renewable based energy sources in place of coal and other high carbon intensive fuels,
which need to be studied for their suitability and life long assessment for specic Indian conditions. The possibilities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions depend mainly on economic growth,
the development of energy ecient systems and fuel switching to less carbon intensive production
systems.
Reduction measures can be improved many fold with a combination of two options, i.e. using
low carbon fuels in ecient systems for power generation and enhanced growth of sinks (e.g. forests). Also, CO2 emissions reductions cannot be achieved within a short span of time, since clean
coal technologies, renewable energy sources and sinks have their own times to reduce CO2 in the
atmosphere.

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