Forbes: Over the Next 7 Years, 50% of India's Coal Will come from Overseas

This is an article that offers both promise as well as some major cautions: Forbes magazine takes a close look at the fact that 50% of India's coal is going to be imported about 7 years from now. On the most basic level, this means $ 40 billion a year lost in foreign exchange because of this terrible addiction. Look a little beyond that, and it means much worse - not only is this money going up, quite literally, in smoke, this also means that the air is going to be polluted with sulfur and carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide at the very least, water drawn to cool the coal based powerplants will also be contaminated and when this water is released into the sea or into the river system, some of the contaminants will return to contaminate the soil in the country. A frightening state of affairs to say the very least.

I am not sure what can be done - motivated "experts" like the stupid N N Sachitanand whom I have talked about here, have been touting nonsense about some renewable energy technologies which are being successfully used elsewhere. India has a huge coastline which makes offshore wind a very real and viable possibility. The country is bathed in sunlight and this is, fortunately, an area where the government is doing something - the 13th Plan is looking hard at addressing the deficiency in installed solar capacity. As the country grows to be more prosperous, it is going to require more power. Hopefully, India will wean itself from its coal addiction asap. This is a direction that is not going to end in a comfortable journey, wherever it takes the country.