Coal isn’t easy to exclude from sustainable development (GS Paper 3, Environment)
Context:
- Fossil fuels produce 80% of the total energy supplied worldwide. In 2022, oil, coal, and gas accounted for 30%, 27%, and 23% of the world’s total energy, while solar and wind energy sources together contributed only 2.4%.
- The per capita energy supplied in India in 2022 was 37% of the global average, and only 26% of that of China. Therefore, India’s energy needs will continue to grow.
Dependence on coal in India:
- Only 11.5% of the electricity generated in India is produced by variable renewable energy (VRE) sources, and coal-fired thermal power plants (TPPs) generated 74.3% of India’s electricity during FY 2022-2023 and continue to increase their share.
- The coal sector plays a vital role in infrastructure development and in the core sector industries which employ millions of people.
- Further, India’s cumulative emissions from fossil fuels and industry between 1750 and 2021 are only 3.3% of the global total, behind those of Europe (31%), the U.S. (24.3%), and China (14.4%).
- Fulfilling the development needs of 17% of the world’s population, in India, is also a fundamental duty to which we must attend, or ‘sustainable’ development would be an empty catchphrase.
- Against this backdrop, India must focus on increasing the efficiency of its TPPs to reduce emissions while ramping up nuclear energy and enhancing pumped storage to integrate more VRE sources into the grid.
Net zero goal:
- According to Central Electricity Authority (CEA) projections for FY32, India’s national grid can absorb 924 TWh of electricity from renewable energy sources by adding 47 GW of battery storage capacity and 27 GW of pumped storage projects.
- Batteries will become cost-effective only after 2030, and the tariffs of pithead TPPs are only 40% of the round-the-clock tariffs for solar plants backed by battery storage in India today.
- Further, any increase in battery storage capacity in India will require the import of critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite, which are controlled by other countries (mainly, China), posing significant risks to India’s energy security.
- Ninety-six percent of the coal used by TPPs in India comes from domestic mines and is key to keeping electricity affordable in India. So the CEA projects that TPP capacity in India will reach 259-262 GW by FY32, from 212 GW in FY23.
- Recent projections indicate that only 19 GW of pumped storage projects and 18 GW battery storage capacity additions are expected by FY32, which will require a further 23 GW of TPP capacity to be added to the grid by then.
- To balance this with India’s long-term goal of reaching net-zero by 2070, the country must continue to implement more efficient clean coal technologies.
Coal-washing:
- Coal deposits in India contain high levels of ash (35-50%) compared to those mined in other coal-mining countries. Burning coal with more ash erodes boiler tubes and other components, affecting the plant’s availability, efficiency, and performance.
- The transport of unwashed raw coal to TPPs located more than 500 km from the mines also means transporting millions of tonnes of ash-producing non-coal material, congesting India’s roads and rail transportation systems.
- The practice in all major coal-producing countries is that the miner washes the high-ash coal at the pithead and dumps the rejects in the mine before dispatching the washed coal to consumers.
- So the government can mandate miners to supply only washed coal to all TPPs located more than 500 km from mines to reduce emissions and pollution. The coal-washing cost can be fixed by the electricity regulator as a part of the tariff determination process.
Issue with desulphurisers:
- Indian coals generally have less sulphur than that mined in other coal-rich countries. TPPs in India have tall stacks, and the flue gas’ exit velocity plus favourable weather conditions means sulphur dioxide emissions are widely dispersed.
- Historical sulphur dioxide emissions have created a cooling effect by masking global temperature rise by 0.5 degrees Celsius.
- Retrofitting existing TPPs with flue-gas desulphurisers (FGDs), increases their specific coal consumption by 1.5-1.7%, leading to lower efficiency and higher emissions. FGDs require large capital investments leading to tariff hikes.
- India can therefore reduce particulate emissions by more than 99.97% by installing low-cost, high-performance electrostatic precipitators and reserve FGDs for TPPs near urban areas.
Other development strategies:
- Some 30% of the current TPP capacity in India is from supercritical or ultra-supercritical technologies. The advanced ultra-supercritical technology (AUSC), with a proven efficiency of 46%, could further reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 15% compared to supercritical technologies.
- Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants also have efficiencies of 46-48% and can capture carbon dioxide.So the Government of India can incentivise deployment of IGCC or AUSC technologies at scale.
- It can also repurpose some TPP sites to install small modular nuclear reactors under international safeguards to enhance zero-carbon electricity generation.
Way Forward:
- Global warming is the result of the combustion of all fossil fuels, not just coal. The efficient operation of TPPs is critical for India since they ensure that peak and off-peak demands are met continuously, at affordable costs.
- For India, low-carbon development is not a choice but a necessity, and the steps to achieve this are reflected in its ‘Long-term Low-Emissions Development Strategy’.
- It is hoped that developed countries will take the lead in combating climate change and provide new and additional climate-specific financial resources and technology transfer to developing countries as per the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement.
25 years of the International Space Station
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Why in news?
- On November 20, the International Space Station passed 25 years since the first module launched into orbit.
- It is one of the world’s most successful locations for international diplomacy, peace and collaboration, even in times of war.
When did the International Space Station launch?
- The first segment of the ISS; the Zarya Control Module was Russian and launched November 20, 1998.
- Zarya supplied fuel storage and battery power, and served as a docking zone for other space vehicles arriving at the ISS.
- On December 4, 1998, the US launched the Unity Node 1 module. Together, the two modules were the start of a functioning space laboratory.
- Over the course of 42 assembly flights, the ISS became what it is today. Among the first “live-in” astronauts were Bill Shepherd of NASA and Roscosmos cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. Since then, the ISS has been continuously inhabited.
Size of the ISS:
- The ISS is split into various spaces for living and working. It has six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree view bay window.
- It measures 109 meters (357 feet) end-to-end.
- Its solar array wingspan is also 109 m. The largest commercial aircraft, the Airbus A380, has a wingspan of 79.8 meters. And about 13 kilometers of electrical wires run through the space station.
- The ISS orbits Earth every 90 minutes at a speed of 8 kilometers per second.
What scientific discoveries on the ISS have benefited life on Earth?
- Astronauts have conducted hundreds of scientific experiments on the ISS. Sometimes they experiment on themselves, monitoring their general health, nutrition or the effects of solar radiation.
- And sometimes they conduct experiments for scientists on Earth. These experiments have led to numerous scientific breakthroughs.
- From Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease to cancer, asthma and heart disease, it’s all been studied in space. Scientists say some medical experiments are best done in space because cells behave in microgravity more like they do inside the human body, but it’s difficult to recreate such conditions on Earth.
- There have been discoveries to benefit drug development, new water purification systems, methods to mitigate muscle and bone atrophy and those that have led innovations in food production.
How long will the ISS be operational?
- Plans for the future operation of the ISS were thrown into uncertainty with the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
- Both the European Space Agency (ESA) and national bodies withdrew from international collaborations with Russia, and Russia said it was leaving the ISS to build its own space station.
- The old and new spacefaring nations want to make an independent mark on space. They include Japan, China, India, the United Arab Emirates and others.
- The US and Europe have said they remain committed to the International Space Station through 2030.
- NASA is almost entirely focused on its Artemis program and plans to populate the moon.
- ESA is working toward a new space station, which it is calling Starlab.
Investor Risk Reduction Access platform
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched the Investor Risk Reduction Access (IRRA).
- IRRA has been jointly developed by all the stock exchanges – BSE, NSE, NCDEX, MCX and Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSE).
Details:
- The platform will act as a ‘safety net’ for investors in case of technical glitches faced by a trading member or a stock broker registered with SEBI.
- It will provide investors an opportunity to close open positions and cancel pending orders in case of disruption at the stock brokers’ end.
What is the IRRA platform?
- IRRA platform has been developed to reduce risks faced by investors in the eventuality of technical glitches at the trading member’s end at both the primary site and disaster recovery site.
- Its purpose is to provide investors with an opportunity to square off/close their open positions and cancel pending orders using the IRRA platform in case of technical glitches or unforeseen outages that render the trading member’s site inaccessible.
- It has been designed to reduce risks for investors participating in the market. It is not meant for taking fresh positions or orders, but only to cancel the pending orders.
Why was there a need for it?
- With increasing dependence on technology in the securities market, there has been a rise in instances of glitches in trading members’ systems, some of which lead to disruption of trading services and investor complaints.
- In such instances, investors with open positions are at risk of non-availability of avenues to close their positions, particularly if markets are volatile.
How will the IRRA platform work?
- IRRA can be invoked by trading members when they are faced with a technical glitch at their end impacting their ability to service clients across exchanges from both – the primary site and disaster recovery site, where relevant.
- Even stock exchanges can also monitor parameters like connectivity, order flow and social media posts, and suo moto initiate the enablement of the IRRA service, if needed, irrespective of any such request by the trading member, according to SEBI.
- This service shall be enabled by the exchanges, suo moto, only in case of disruption of trading services of trading member across all the exchanges, where the trading member is a member
- On invocation, after basic checks, the platform downloads trades of the trading member from all the trading venues and sends SMS/email to investors using internet trading or wireless technology along with a link to access IRRA.
How will the platform help investors?
- Once the investors are authorized to access the IRRA platform, investors can view and cancel pending orders across all segments and all stock exchanges from the order book, square off/close the open positions across segments and exchanges and cancel the orders across segments which are pending at the exchanges.
- IRRA is not available for algo trading and Institutional clients. Securities available for trading and settlement on a Trade-for-Trade basis will not be available for square-off, as per the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) available on the BSE’s website.
