Climate Change Complicates India's Energy Choices

摘要

As global policymakers gather in Paris for talks on tackling climate change, the pressure is mounting on the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, India. Rich industrialized nations want large developing economies like India to commit to a path of economic growth that does not involve vast increases in emissions, which means limiting consumption of fossil fuels. But that creates serious problems for an economy that remains hugely dependent on coal, and for a government that is trying to deliver energy to the quarter of the Indian population — some 300 million people — stuck in extreme energy poverty and still mainly reliant on biomass (PIW Aug. 13' 12). Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to provide universal affordable energy by 2019 as he seeks to steer the Indian economy from services to manufacturing and create more job opportunities. But that will involve burning more fossil fuels, especially coal, which already accounts for 60% of the country's 280 gigawatts of installed power generation. Local commentators have warned Modi against succumbing to pressure from developed nations to limit consumption of cheap and abundant coal, given that renewable energy sources remain costly and cannot be scaled up to replace coal.