COAL SHORTAGE, HEATWAVE, AND POWER CUTS

Our country is currently going through long power cuts, heavy coal shortage, and strong heatwave altogether. The weather during the months March and April is as hot as that of months May and June. It is clear from the current scenarios that people were neither ready for climate change and nor for the coal shortage. Let us examine these major issues in this article.

Potential Heatwave in India as per European Space Agency

Coal Shortage and its Reasons

The urgency for coal shortage in India was earlier reported during August 2021 when thermal power plants from various states indicated for upcoming danger of electricity crisis due to unavailability of coal. The Union Coal Minister, Prahlad Joshi, admitted about the same during September 2021 and assured for its improvement. Now, the situation has become adverse because of increase in demand of electricity during summers. Let us see the possible reasons behind coal shortage.

Increase in International Prices of Coal

European countries faced the coal crisis during 2020-21 due to sudden increase in demand of electricity because of unseasonably cold weather conditions during summer. On the other hand, China also faced electricity crisis in 2021 because the Chinese Government stopped coal imports from Australia (diplomacy issues) and switching electricity generation through renewable resources but failed.

Increase in Coal Prices in 2021-22

Apart from these two incidents, the Russian invasion is also the reason for market fluctuations of everything across the world. The coal price has increased $250-$300 per Ton which is highest in the last 13 years. The imported coal in August 2021 was 42% less than that of August 2020 which is the major reason for India's coal shortage.

High Dependency, Less Production

India is one of the world's largest producers, consumers, and importers of coal as the production is not sufficient. 70% of electricity is produced through coal and 73% of electricity generated is through the coal produced in India. As the coal imported lately is lesser, India should have stepped up to produce more coal to compensate the demand but reverse happened. 

The production dipped because of bad monsoon which hindered the production as well as transportation of coal. More than 70% of total thermal power plants in India were running on 50% of their capacity and had coal stock less than what should have been more. In addition, the electricity production from hydro power plants this year is 30-40% less than the previous year.

 

Heatwave

India and Pakistan have seen the worst heat waves this summer. Though heat waves are normal in India, but the average temperature of only March month itself is highest in the last 122 years. Another heatwave is expected in May-June month which is the result of drastic climate change. The scientists of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasted that the upcoming heatwaves can be deadly as a lot of people work in extreme heat with no shield or protection.

Data of various states and deaths during 2010-15 heatwave

The increased heat has further increased demand of electricity, while thermal power plants of various states have no answers. There are large number of fruit vendors, construction workers, farmers, etc. who are in potential danger as heatwave can cause skin problems such as rashes, infection, serious illness, and even skin cancer because of Ultra Violet (UV) radiations.

Consequences

In states like Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, etc. it has officially been announced that there will be power cuts for some hours. According to reports, the shortage of electricity is of 62.3 crore unit with highest 3000 MW in Uttar Pradesh. Long power cuts are hurting normal households, small factories, industries, etc. and slowing down numerous day to day activities. This is a joint effect of decreasing coal shortage and increasing hot weather.

In India, heatwaves have caused deaths in the past: 3000 people lost their lives in 1998 Andhra Pradesh, 1500 deaths in 2010, 2332 deaths in 2015, and so on. There is already an alert in the North-Western part of India, especially in Delhi. Some districts have already crossed 48-49 degrees in early May. A study of country's top meteorologists shows that around 17,000 people have died in the last 50 years due to heatwave, which is certainly not a good sign.

Solutions 

For coal shortage there should not be immediate solutions. We require long term solutions for this problem because coal is an essential resource in our life. We have to reduce our dependency on thermal power sources. The solar power plants should be encouraged more. Other sources such as hydro energy, geothermal energy, wind energy, biomass, etc. should be an alternative for fossil energy sources.

Whole world is switching to Renewable energy

Non-fossil resources are not only productive but also an environmental friendly solution because they cause less pollution. In addition, the other usage of coal such as chemical production, paper, textile, metal,etc. should be reduced for some time in order to compensate for electricity. We should also step forward by using energy only when required and avoid wasting electricity.

Conclusion

We should not ignore the potential threats approaching us. Overpopulation, increasing pollution, unsegregated waste disposal, unregulated power usage, and so many factors are responsible to boost the consequences of climate change to severely affect all of us. We may not feel it, but heatwave is a silent pandemic that we should not ignore. We should take proper precautions while going out in sunlight to prevent as much harmful radiations to penetrate into our skins as possible.

Things to keep in mind in this heatwave

Soon, researchers will come up with solutions for implementing alternate energy sources to compensate electricity requirements. In this hot summer, we should not forget to hydrate not only ourselves but also birds and animals. The situation is unstable and it would be difficult for everyone if the multiple crisis simultaneously keep happening in our country.