“India’s decarbonization can be a success if coal-bearing states receive targeted support through installing renewables like solar power”, says lead-author Aman Malik from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Especially coal mining but also coal power production is currently concentrated in the East of the subcontinent while the western and southern states of India are leading in creating renewable energy infrastructure.
In the study, the scientists look at two different decarbonization scenarios: A strong mitigation scenario would see a drastic drop in coal mining employment in the East, threatening jobs and existing energy investments, and thereby the public acceptance of India’s path to net zero. The following energy transition would lead to massive investments in renewables creating mainly jobs in the western and southern parts of India. Following a weak decarbonization scenario would put less pressure on jobs in India at first sight due to slower declines in coal jobs. However, this would limit the speed and potential to switch to cleaner energy and fight climate change fast enough.
The analysis shows that specifically designed policies to support the poorer Eastern states e.g., by installing solar power capacities there could help build broad support for the energy transition in India, help in gradually breaking existing coal lock-ins, and boost economic diversity and job creation in all regions.
Article:
Aman Malik, Christoph Bertram (2022): Solar energy as an early just transition opportunity for coal-bearing states in India.
[DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/ac5194].
Weblink to the article:
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac5194/meta
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