The Hindu Business Line : `Coal-based power plants will not do for Maharashtra'

What it says
Energy conservation and reduction of greenhouse gas emission must be taken up.
T&D losses must be reduced and hydropower judiciously used.
Compact fluorescent lamps are preferred as they have a long life and use much less electricity, when compared to light bulbs.

Mumbai , Oct. 4

Coal-based thermal plants are not the answer to Maharashtra's rising power demand, says Greenpeace India in its recently commissioned report on the upcoming 4,500-MW thermal power plants in the State. The new plants are likely to come by 2010.

Mr Soumyabrata Rahut, a Greenpeace campaigner, told Business Line that unless energy conservation and reduction of greenhouse gas emission is not taken up on a war-footing, the climate would be irreversibly affected.

Coal-based power plants emit greenhouse gases in large amounts. And the report's findings show that other non-polluting alternatives are available, he said.

The report, tilted Capacity Planning Analysis for Maharashtra, has been compiled for Greenpeace by Mr D. Narasimha Rao, a visiting professor with Bangalore's Indian Institute of Management.

The report targets reducing greenhouses gases by 2015.

It said use of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) will save power as they have a long life and use much less electricity, when compared to light bulbs. The report advises reduction of transmission and distribution (T&D) losses and judicious use of hydropower. This can make additional thermal capacity unnecessary.

Base load power

One of the report's main arguments is that thermal plants produce `base load' power. Base load power is the steady flow of power in a plant regardless of the total power demand of the grid. The power demand in the State peaks during morning and evening.

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