G7 countries agree to end use of coal power by 2035

Why in news?

• Energy and climate ministers from the G7 group of industrialized nations have agreed to phase out by 2035 the use of coal power where the emissions have not been captured.

About

• The non-governmental organization had called for the G7 to set an earlier 2030 phaseout date for power generation by coal, and a 2035 deadline for gas-fired supplies.
• Together the G7 makes up around 38 percent of the global economy and was responsible for 21 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2021.

Coal Sector in India

• Coal Reserves: India has significant coal reserves, and it is one of the world’s largest coal producers.
  • The major coal fields in India are located in the eastern states of Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal, as well as in central states like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
• Coal Production:India is among the top 3 leading coal producers globally. The Coal India Limited (CIL) is the state-owned coal mining company and the largest government-owned-coal-producer in the world.
• Coal Consumption: The power demand in India is surging. In 2022, the requirement grew about 8 – 9%.
  • Industrial and commercial activity are among the biggest consumers of energy in the country.
• Import and Export: Despite being a significant coal producer, India has also been importing coal to meet the growing demand.
  • This is due to issues such as transportation challenges and the need for specific types of coal for certain industries.

Concerns in phasing Out of Coal Power Plants

• Currently, out of the total energy produced in the country, only 22% is from renewable sources. Fossil fuels, mainly coal, still provide 75%of India’s power supply.
• Dependency on Natural Factors: Energy sources like solar and wind are variable as they rely on natural factors like sunlight, wind and water availability.
  • To ensure a steady supply, India has to heavily invest in battery storage.
• Concerns in Hydropower Projects:Numerous hydropower projects are under construction or in the planning stages in the Himalayan region.
  • But they have come under fire as the projects have caused ecological damage and raised concerns about the potential conflicts over water resources in the area.
• Nuclear Energy:The country’s plans to generate energy with the help of nuclear power plants have not really taken off.
  • During 2021-22, the plants produced about 3.15% of the total electricity generated in India.
• Infrastructure Development: The transition to renewable energy requires significant infrastructure development.
  • The speed and scale of this infrastructure development can be a challenge for a country as large and diverse as India.
• Grid Integration: Integrating renewable energy into the existing power grid is a complex task.
  • The grid must be flexible and capable of handling fluctuations in supply.

Steps Taken by Government for Transition to Renewable Energy Sources

• India aimsto reach 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, about three times the current capacity of about 180 GW.
• National Solar Mission (NSM): It waslaunched in 2010, it has set ambitious targets for solar capacity installation, including grid-connected and off-grid solar power projects.
• Green Energy Corridors: The Green Energy Corridor project focuses on enhancing the transmission infrastructure to facilitate the integration of renewable energy into the national grid.
• Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO): This requires power distribution companies and large electricity consumers to procure a certain percentage of their power from renewable sources, encouraging the demand for renewable energy.
• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM): It includes the installation of solar pumps, solarization of existing grid-connected agricultural pumps, and the establishment of solar power plants on barren or fallow land.
• International Solar Alliance (ISA): India played a key role in establishing the International Solar Alliance, a coalition of solar-resource-rich countries to address their energy needs through the promotion of solar energy.

Concluding Remark

• The agreement marks a significant step in the direction indicated last year by the COP28 United Nations climate summit for a transition away from fossil fuels, of which coal is the most polluting.
• It helps accelerate the shift of investments from coal to clean technology in particular in Japan and more broadly in the whole Asian coal economy, including China and India.

Warming of Indian Ocean

Why in news?

• According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), From 1950-2020, the Indian Ocean had become warmer by 1.2°C and climate models expect it to heat up a further 1.7°C–3.8°C from 2020–2100.

Key Highlights

• Marine heatwaves: Marine heatwaves are expected to increase tenfold from the current average of 20 days per year to 220–250 days per year.The tropical Indian Ocean will likely be in a “near-permanent heatwave state.
  • It causes habitat destruction through coral bleaching, seagrass loss and the degradation of kelp forests, adversely affecting the fisheries sector.
• Theheat content of the Indian Ocean, when measured from surface to a depth of 2,000 meters, is currently increasing at the rate of 4.5 zetta-joules per decade, and is predicted to increase at a rate of 16–22 zetta-joules per decade in the future.
  • Joule is a unit of energy and one zetta-joule is equal to one billion-trillion joules (10^21).
• Thermal expansion:Rising heat content causes the volume of water to increase, called the thermal expansion of water.
  • It is responsible for more than half of the sea-level rise in the Indian Ocean -larger than the changes arising from glacier and sea-ice melting.
• Thefrequency of extreme dipole events is predicted to increase by 66% whereas the frequency of moderate events is to decrease by 52% by the end of the 21st century.

Consequences of extreme heating

• It has significant repercussions for the southwest monsoon season, which provides about 70 per cent of India’s annual rainfall.
• The warming could also lead to more frequent and intense extreme weatherevents, such as tropical cyclones and floods, as well as a rise in sea levels due to thermal expansion.
• The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), is also expected to change due to the warming of the Indian Ocean.
  • In the positive phase of the IOD, when the western parts of the Indian Ocean are warmer than the eastern parts, monsoon rainfall generally increases across many regions in India and the rest of South Asia.
  • In the negative phase, when the western parts of the ocean are cooler than the eastern parts, less than normal rainfall is observed during the post-monsoon period in northwestern India.
• The pH levels of the ocean’s waters are projected to decrease from about 8.1 currently to 7by the end of the century.
  • Changes in pH may be detrimental since many marine organisms are sensitive to the change in ocean acidity.

Way Ahead

• Addressing the impending challenges in the Indian Ocean demands a multifaceted approach. Reducing GHG emissions and building climate-resilient infrastructure are the most effective strategies to mitigate the current and future impacts of warming.
• Conserving marine ecosystems through sustainable practices and improving forecasting capabilities can strengthen the region’s resilience to extreme weather events