Modi said yesterday the onus was on the west to cut emissions, as developing nations still needed “room to grow”
“The principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities must remain the bedrock of our collective enterprise across all areas – mitigation, adaptation and means for implementation. Anything else would be morally wrong,” he said in a speech that all eyes were on as India is the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases (7%) – still daylight behind China (25%) and the US (15%), according to The Hindu.
The PM this week flagged his plan to reduce carbon intensity of growth by 33-35% over 2005 levels, raise the share of non-fossil fuel power to 40% by 2030 and produce 175 gigawatts of renewable power by 2022.
Importantly, though, he said “climate justice demands that, with the little carbon space we still have, developing countries should have enough room to grow”, which means aggressive mitigation measures by developed countries before 2020, including ratifying the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, removing conditions and revisiting targets.
“Developed countries must fulfil their responsibility to make clean energy available, affordable and accessible to all in the developing world. This is in our collective interest,” Modi said.
“So, we look to the developed countries to mobilise $US100 billion ($A136.52 billion) annually by 2020 for mitigation and adaptation in the developing countries. They must fulfil their commitment in a credible, transparent and meaningful manner.”
WCA’s new report, India’s Energy Trilemma, said that economic development, urbanisation, improved electricity access and an expanding manufacturing base will ensure India’s position as the world’s third largest energy consumer will be consolidated over coming years.
The International Energy Agency forecasts that India’s energy consumption will be more than OECD and Europe combined by 2040, and rapidly approaching that of the US.
The IEA also estimates that 304 million people in India are without access to electricity.
So it was no surprise to the WCA that India’s Minister for State and Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal said earlier this year that “universal and affordable energy access 24/7 … is the mission of this government under Prime Minister Modi”
In 2012, coal met 45% of India’s primary energy demand and 72% of generated electricity demand, and the country currently has roughly 205 gigawatts of coal-fired electricity generation capacity, which will soon be augmented by 113GW of new coal-fired capacity currently under construction.
Recognising India’s growing role in the international coal market, the WCA commissioned external analysis to consider future demand, CO2 abatement costs and levelised electricity cost for India, including comparison with Europe.
WCA’s report says aside from cost considerations, replacing the subcritical capacity currently in the development pipeline with supercritical and ultra-supercritical capacity would save CO2 at a cost of about $US10/tonne in 2035.
“By comparison, abating a tonne of CO2 through the deployment of large-scale solar PV in India can cost up to $40/t, even accounting for the cost declines expected through 2035 (about $16/t under a low weighted average cost of capital and low capital cost scenario,” the report said.
It warned, however, that subcritical technologies are significantly cheaper than more efficient options, which could lead to continued deployment over the next 20 years.
“With a lot more coal plants currently in development, the choice of coal technology will have significant implications on the carbon intensity of the Indian economy going forward,” the report said.
“Expanding efficient coal consumption will help address India’s energy trilemma of meeting demand, reducing energy poverty and actively participate in climate change commitments.”
