New Kennedy School Research Paper: Plotting the Roadmap to a Cleaner Power Future in India

One of the world’s fastest developing economies is facing serious challenges as it goes about planning for its energy future. India relies heavily on coal for its present energy needs, but will have to deploy other technologies if it wants to reduce carbon emissions over the long term.

A new research paper released by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center’s Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) program analyzes India’s growing power needs, and lays out a potential technology roadmap for developing and deploying advanced coal-powered technologies. “Cleaner Power in India: Toward a Clean-Coal-Technology Roadmap,” is co-authored by Belfer Center Fellow Ananth P. Chikkatur, and Ambuj D. Sagar, research associate.

“Even as India stands poised on the edge of significant growth in coal power, it is critical to promote technology trajectories that not only meet the near-term needs of the country but also set the coal-based power sector on a path that would allow it to better respond to future challenges,” the authors write.

Chikkatur and Sagar conclude that while commercial supercritical combustion technology is the best energy option for India over the short-to-medium term, all options are on the table over the long term given the evolving nature of many key technologies. The authors suggest that the Planning Commission of India facilitate discussions involving important stakeholders aimed at developing a “consensus roadmap” for the future.

“While it is important for the government to lead such a roadmapping exercise, a transparent and inclusive process must aim to build consensus among stakeholders on a range of key issues,” the authors state. “Hence, the roadmapping process must ensure outcomes that are consistent with the country’s agreed-upon developmental priorities, and also acceptable to the local populace whose lives will be directly affected by building large coal power plants.”

See the paper on the Belfer Center website: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/18186/cleaner_power_
in_india.html