According to coal secretary Amrit Lal Meena, the government is willing to offer closed and abandoned coal mines to the private sector under a revenue-sharing arrangement. The government has taken a stock of such mines and there are roughly 225 of these mines.
“Our endeavour is wherever there are reserves, though it may not be viable for Coal India to extract coal, to offer it to the private sector under the revenue-sharing mode. There is response from the private sector. So, we are open to offer those closed and abandoned mines to private sector whosoever is willing to take them, operate them to produce coal and give revenue share to Coal India,” the coal secretary said. For those closed mines where there would be no takers, a final closure in a time-bound manner would be planned. Out of the 225 mines, as many as 69 have been identified by Coal India for final closure.
One billion tonnes: India’s ‘historical’ coal and lignite production
India has surpassed the milestone of producing one billion tonnes of coal and lignite, the Hindu Business Line reported. Additionally, India also surpassed the 937.22 million tonnes (mt) of coal and lignite produced in FY23 — twenty-five days ahead of schedule. Minister of Coal, Pralhad Joshi, declared producing 1 billion tonnes in coal and lignite a “historical high”.
In March 2023, the nation’s monthly coal production reached 107 mt, surpassing the 100 mt mark for the first time. The monthly output was 99.73 mt in January 2024.
New scorecard finds oil and gas majors “way off track” from Paris Agreement goals
Financial think-tank CarbonTracker assessed the production and transition plans of 25 of the world’s largest oil and gas companies. According to the research, no oil or gas corporation supported the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement’s main objective of keeping global warming “well under” 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Using a Paris alignment scorecard as a guide, the authors looked at the companies’ exploration and production plans, investments, carbon emission reduction targets, and executive bonus schemes.
According to the analysis, only three businesses have plans to maintain current levels of output: UK-based Shell, Norway’s Equinor, and Spain’s Repsol. BP is the only corporation that plans to reduce its fossil fuel production by 2030. ConocoPhillips, on the other hand, plans to boost output by 47% by the end of the decade in comparison to its 2022 output.
The US and EU at odds about the future of fossil fuel subsidies at the OECD talks
The US and EU are at odds over ending subsidies for oil and gas development, the Financial Times reported. OECD member nations convened for a second round of closed-door negotiations in Paris in order to discuss plans by the EU and UK to stop most export credit agency loans and guarantees for oil, gas, and coal mining projects—the largest source of foreign public money for the industry.
The report said the US was still consider the EU’s offers, and more talks were planned for June and November. As per EU’s proposal, export credit agencies were only allowed to support fossil fuel projects if each of the OECD’s individual member nations concluded that the projects were in line with the requirement to limit global warming to 1.5°C over pre-industrial levels. Additionally, the EU is putting forth a new transparency mandate that would force nations to disclose the financial information behind fossil fuel projects.
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