Plea for faster adoption of clean coal technologies

New Delhi, Dec 4 (IANS) Clean coal technologists from Canada and India met here Tuesday to discuss strategies for reducing carbon emissions during power generation.

The conference was kicked off by B. Prasada Rao, chairman and managing director, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) who called for accelerating the adoption of newer clean coal technologies from labs to commercial stage.

Rao indicated that the government of India has identified supercritical coal combustion technology (SCCT) for power plants of over 660 MW capacity. BHEL is partnering other power producers to establish thermal power plants employing this technology by 2017.

The SCCT allows power production efficiency to move up from 39 percent to 46 percent in an eco-friendly manner, according to a statement issued by the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).

Lauding INAE for playing a key role in bringing scientific and academic community face to face with industry and government, Prasada Rao seconded INAE president Baldev Raj’s idea of throwing up challenge of producing clean energy to young Indian engineers.

The day-long conference was hosted by Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) and Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), as part of the INAE’s silver jubilee celebrations.

Baldev Raj said India is among the lowest consumers of electricity. When India triples per capita energy production to around 2,500 watts per person in the current decade it can ill afford to triple its carbon emissions, he added.

Ivy Lerner-Frank, Canadian trade commissioner extended her government’s support in implementing the ongoing energy memorandum of understanding and science & technology agreement to ensure sharing of knowledge and technology to produce clean energy.

IANS 2012-12-04 16:34:03