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This is What’s Slowing Down the Clean Energy Transition
With Big Oil's 2050 forecast that places oil and gas at the centre of energy basket, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve net-zero carbon emissions targetsHow the Psychology of Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden and MBS is Driving Oil...
The dominant drivers of the crude oil market today are not the fundamentals of demand and supply, but the non-fundamentals, the psychology of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Joe Biden and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Interview | Are Indian OEMs Shying Away from the Biofuel Push?
What prevents India's original equipment manufacturers (OEM) from transitioning to flex engines? Shyamasis Das discusses the challenges faced, including the high cost of flex engines.India has Big Clean Energy Goals – So Why is it Banking on Coal?
India's renewables targets, while ambitious, will still not be enough to meet rising power demand, comments Rahul Tongia.Price Cap, Energy Geo-Politics
US petroleum firms have benefited the most from sanctions on Russia. Europe has been pushed into a relationship of energy dependency with the US.Can Developing Economies Have High Growth Without Using Coal? A Debate.
Rahul Tongia and Jason Bordoff square off on a question that will confront emerging nations in the coming years.Natural Gas: The Bridge on India’s Path to Energy Atmanirbharta
India has a long way to go before it can fully wean itself off fossil fuels. During this transitional phase, gas producers should be granted unfettered marketing and pricing freedom.For Energy, it’s not RE vs Coal – Adopt a Portfolio Approach
India is undergoing an energy transition, but it must not write off coal. The most cost-effective way to balance the grid in 2030 will be to keep both thermal power and renewables in the basket of options.Policy Revamps that Will Help Scale Storage Technologies
The key need for improving storage is innovation, which is not just a technical issue but extends to business models and regulatory frameworks. While there is a need to scale up production, we should also revamp how we integrate and plan for storage, writes Rahul Tongia.Give Coal the Attention and Effort that it Needs
The fundamental issue remains woefully short stockpiles. With a recent increase in the domestic demand, and high global prices, the key is to address crucial issues of planning, feedback (or lack thereof), and risk, says Rahul Tongia.“It is Pragmatic, Morally Defensible for India to Buy Crude Oil from...
It is the same energy security imperative that drove Europe’s decision to continue buying crude from Russia, says Vikram Mehta.Global Fuel Price Rise and How Should India Navigate The Oil Crisis |...
In an interview with India Today, Vikram Mehta shares his perspective on how India should navigate the oil crisis as prices continue to rise globally.Russia’s Ukraine Invasion; India Impact Of A ‘New Energy World...
In an interview with Strat News Global, Vikram Singh Mehta assesses the impact on India of gas, oil and financial sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine, fuel prices, the repercussions on India and Russia’s energy assets in each other’s countries, and many more.How to handle impact of Ukrainian crisis on India’s energy sector
To deal with energy volatility, India must build reserves, revive conversations on pipeline with Iran, TurkmenistanTime to Rationalise Fuel Taxes
The delayed feedback from wholesale inflation to retail inflation is also reflected in the household inflation expectations survey of the RBI.Preparing for a Green Energy Shift in 2022
The ‘irresistible force’ for clean energy has met the ‘immovable object’ of an embedded fossil fuel energy system. How can policies reconcile this paradox?The Inside Story of India’s Coal and Power Crises
Simple arithmetic will show that power plants consumed more coal than they received, but given that generation wasn’t exceptionally high, does this mean the problem was supply?A Green Response to Natural Gas Price Shock
The price surge must be leveraged to improve energy efficiency, intensify demand conservation and intervene to prevent the switch to coal, among other measures.Challenges For Natural Gas to Become India’s Bridge Fuel
Rahul Tongia examines the relevance of natural gas both through the lens of competitive economic viability as well as other impacts.Book Review | Betting on natural gas as a ‘clean’ fossil fuel
Bibek Bhattacharya reviews The Next Stop for Mint, focusing on natural gas' role in India's decarbonisation and its limitationsThe agenda for Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri
Hardeep Singh Puri should not see his responsibility through the siloed prism of oil and natural gas, Vikram Singh Mehta writes.Challenges for natural gas to become India’s bridge fuel
Rahul Tongia examines the possibilities for natural gas in India’s energy mix.The great leap to clean energy
Vivek Rae reviews The Next Stop: Natural Gas and India's Journey to a Clean Energy Future.Can natural gas be a ‘bridge’ fuel in India’s energy transition?
India’s focus for natural gas should be where it displaces coal, especially 'dirty', inefficient coal‘India needs one institutional mechanism for bringing all the bodies...
We also need reforms related to pricing, taxation, development of infrastructure, relationship between the Centre and state governments, and R&D, says Vikram Singh Mehta.Book Review | The Next Stop: Why gas is not just hot air
The Next Stop is a "rich and insightful" book where 38 industry insiders with experience in natural gas band together, says reviewIndia’s road to clean energy goes via natural gas
Decarbonisation is the endgame, but India must first ‘green’ its fossil fuel energy basket by increasing the share of natural gasThe Next Stop | How is natural gas pricing done in India?
A new book edited by Vikram Singh Mehta looks at different aspects of natural gas use in India, including policy changes and reforms in pricing.Is natural gas India’s best choice for moving away from coal and fossil...
An excerpt from ‘The Next Stop: Natural Gas and India’s Journey to a Clean Energy Future’, edited by Vikram Singh Mehta.GV Ramakrishna: A steward of petroleum
The former petroleum secretary, who passed away two weeks ago, placed oil and gas exploration in India on a sure footing, writes Vikram Singh Mehta.Challenges for natural gas to become India’s bridge fuel: Economics,...
This paper examines the possibilities for natural gas in India’s energy mix, both through the lens of competitive economic viability as well as the impact its use might have, notably, on carbon emissions.Need for an integrated approach for coal power plants
This discussion note suggests an integrated approach to addressing the retirement of older coal plants, installation of ECS, etc,.A new map for the end of Oil Age: Technology is answer to energy...
How should India, an economy dependent on fossil fuels, navigate future energy transitions? A new book has some pointers.Coal power plants need an integrated approach
The three issues — retirement, pollution control, and making plants flexible — are inter-related. They need to be addressed in an integrated fashion by distribution companies.India’s energy transition: Coal is down but not out
The coal transition is already underway. There may be a lot of uncertainty, but what is even more certain is that the future will not look like the past – and it shouldn’t. The future should be cleaner, more inclusive, more efficient, and more secure, not to mention cost-effective.Why India’s push for private-sector coal mining won’t raise carbon...
After decades of public-sector dominance, and controls that relegated the private sector to minority status in coal mining, India recently launched commercial coal mining via coal mine auctions. Proponents argue this will help bring in not just more capital and improved technology, but also improve the quality of production and output; critics worry this will lock ...COVID-19 is an opportunity to clean up India’s coal power plants
The arrival of COVID-19 in India led to a lockdown requiring 1.3 billion people to stay at home. Economic activity, at least in the first two versions of the lockdown, almost came to a standstill. By many standards, this was the world’s strictest lockdown. Total demand of grid electricity between March 25 ...Will breaking up Coal India Limited lead to efficiency and competition?
Inherent and structural differences mean simply breaking up CIL will not unleash meaningful competition, not unless the system is willing to bear a high spread in coal prices. Location matters enormously, and coal ends up being a not very liquid commodity (no pun intended). Newspaper reports have spoken about breaking up Coal ...The future of Indian electricity supply: Scenarios of coal use by 2030
India is expected to be among the top growth markets in the world for electricity in the coming decade. At the same time, electricity supply mixes are changing worldwide, in large part due to the rise of renewable energy (RE). Apart from RE, the elements of the Indian electricity sector transition today ...India needs to change the thermal power story to survival of the fittest,...
The proposals for solving the current stranded capacity crisis should start a process of big picture thinking to achieve better collective outcomes on multiple long-term objectives. Doing so requires some decisive changes to the status-quo. How we got here: The chronic factors behind recent woes Contrast the following energy and peak deficits ...Coal in India
Executive summary Coal provides about half of India’s commercial primary energy supply today and is the dominant fuel for power production in India. In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi established ambitious goals for renewable energy (RE) development, aiming to quadruple its capacity by 2022. Despite expected growth in RE, we project that ...Can natural gas be a catalyst to build a lower-carbon world?
The short answer to the question is yes; natural gas can be and has already become a catalyst in some countries, which are transitioning to a low-carbon economy. The more important question though is can this model be replicated in other countries with gas as a catalyst? Several factors have been responsible ...Renewable Energy “versus” coal in India – A false framing as...
Comparing Renewable Energy and Coal A number of publications proclaim Renewable Energy (RE) is cheaper than coal. A newspaper will often show two cost curves, a rising one for coal, and a falling one for RE, especially solar (Figure 1). At some point they cross-over, an intersection dubbed “grid parity”. It’s a ...Indian Railways and coal: An unsustainable interdependency
Coal and railways in India are heavily interdependent. In the Financial Year (FY) 2017, out of 574 MT of coal (inclusive of imports) consumed for grid electricity generation (Central Electricity Authority, 2017), 341 MT, or 60 per cent, was transported through railways (Railway Board, March 2017). On average railways accounts for over ...Commercial coal mining in India: A possible but not irrefutable game...
The recent Cabinet decision to open up coal mining to commercial miners, who will now have the freedom to sell coal in the open market, is an interesting development. For decades since its nationalisation, the public sector Coal India Limited (CIL) has dominated coal production in India, producing some 82 per cent ...Recommendations for reforms in India’s coal mining space
Coal India Limited (CIL) commissioned a study in 2017 to analyse the long term trends that would play a role in determining the future for coal in the country. While commissioning the project, CIL noted, “With government’s efforts to push renewable energy due to international conventions on climate change, increase in carbon ...An energy warning and lessons
There is clarity and purpose in the management of our energy policy. Oil policy has been well defined and while it is difficult to attract private capital into exploration in today’s low oil price environment, there is no uncertainty regarding the government’s intent. The fiscal and contract terms are competitive and the ...Why is today’s oil market, a ‘no mans’ land?
The oil market has never been easy to call but these days it appears to be in “no man’s” land. Why is that the case? A few weeks back American Tomahawk missiles took out a Syrian airfield. The price of the North Sea Brent crude jumped up by 2% to $56.08/barrel, but ...Challenges, recommendations for meeting 2017 norms for air pollution from...
In this Brookings India IMPACT Series paper, Rahul Tongia and Deborah Seligsohn discuss the challenges for India in meeting the upcoming 2017 standards for air pollution from thermal power plants. While these new environmental norms are a welcome step in reducing emissions and are in line with global standards, gaps still remain in ...2016, the year of inflexion for the oil industry?
India hasn’t yet joined the global move towards clean energy. But for how long can it hold out? A large part of my working life was spent with the Shell Group and I accumulated shares in the company. Last year, I decided to reduce my holdings of these shares. This was because ...Paper | India’s coal requirement by 2020: A bottom-up analysis
Key findings India is heavily dependent on coal based power for its electricity needs, 79 per cent of total electricity generation is coal/thermal based. This is not expected to change drastically in the near future. Thermal power generation consumes around 76 per cent of total coal available in the country (imports included). ...How India reformed its petroleum sector
Political compulsions ensured that the process was done slowly, steadily and stealthily Indian newspapers have carried a series of interesting recollections by bureaucrats and technocrats of their involvement in the economic reform programme of 1991. None talked about the energy sector and, in particular, petroleum. This was understandable as their focus was ...Is the struggle between China and India a struggle to secure their energy...
India will need to import the bulk of its fuel for this decade and the next. In another four years, India is expected to become the world’s largest coal importer, overtaking Japan, the European Union and China. The Chinese attempts to dominate the South China Sea is, from the Indian standpoint, far more ...Budget fails to lay out a clear roadmap for petroleum industry
Petroleum industry is in terrible shape. Brookings India chairman and former CEO of Shell Vikram S Mehta details what the Finance Minister can do to put it back on track. I am one of the quick-fire commentators who complimented the finance minister on budget day for both affirming fiscal rectitude and addressing the ...Brookings India Roundtable on “Future of Coal – 2020”
A Brookings India roundtable on “Future of Coal – 2020” invited experts to discuss future coal demand for the country, and also to share preliminary findings of our ongoing research on the challenges in ensuring sufficient coal supply contingent with the demand. Summary: The three key preliminary findings from our research are: Coal demand ...“Withdrawal of sanctions on Iran a huge opportunity for India to...
Watch Vikram S Mehta on Macros with Mythili on ET Now. There’s been a dramatic collapse in the price of crude oil in recent weeks. Price of the Indian basket has more than halved since the Modi government took over in May 2014 – from 108 USD a barrel to just below ...End of the oil age
Oil will diminish in significance in a reconfigured energy system. Decades hence, 2015 might well be seen as the year the oil era entered the phase of terminal decline. For during this period, there was a convergence of action and sentiment against oil products and oil companies. The Paris summit on climate change ...Interview | India warns country’s coal consumption to double in...
Rahul Tongia, Fellow, Energy and Environment in an interview with James Bennett, AM, ABC News, Friday December 18, on India’s coal consumption in the coming years. KIM LANDERS: As celebrations subside following the Paris climate accord, the world’s third-biggest emitter India is warning its coal consumption will still double in coming years. ...Initiatives needed from India to reduce the import of oil
Recently, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan spoke at the release of the IEA’s India Energy Outlook about cutting down of the country’s import dependence for domestic energy needs by 10 per cent by 2020-21. How can this be done? There are three initiatives that the government needs to take when it comes to ...Will oil remain the bulwark of global energy system in the long-term?
“The Future of Oil” is headed towards an interesting crossroad. The pathway will not be signposted; there will be many twists and turns. Oil is headed towards a future in which it will lose its pre-eminence in the energy landscape. Key Highlights: Over the next five years: Oil, along with coal and ...Cleaning coal instead of wishing it away
The World Bank recently announced that short of exceptional circumstances, they would no longer fund coal in developing regions. The U.S. and other nations are also contemplating, if not making, similar choices, driven in part by concerns about climate change. This view may be impractical, if not myopic, given that at least ...Shaping India’s energy future: Ambitions, actions and obstacles
Multi-domain, multi-scale, and multi-stakeholder efforts are needed to overcome the combination of acute and chronic challenges facing India’s energy future. Analogies aren’t perfect, but a number from the healthcare domain could apply to energy. Doctors often characterize diseases or conditions as acute or chronic – energy faces both sets of challenges. In ...Over the Barrel: Oilpolitik
This column first appeared in the Indian Express, on January 5, 2015. Like other products of the Brookings Institution India Center, this is intended to contribute to discussion and stimulate debate on important issues. The views are those of the author. A frequently asked but futile question is: Where are oil prices headed? The question ...Over the barrel: On oil, let’s play the ‘what-if’ game
This column first appeared in Indian Express, on November 3, 2014. Like other products of the Brookings Institution India Center, this is intended to contribute to discussion and stimulate debate on important issues. The views are those of the author. Now is the time for the government to ask the question, “What should we do ...Step on the gas
The government must make it easier for oil and gas companies to acquire assets abroad An important plank of India’s energy security policy is to build up a portfolio of international oil and gas assets. The government recognises that hydrocarbons are tradables and can be purchased in the open market. But given ...A fact check on gas
How the recent gas price hike got it right. ONGC, Reliance and Cairn, the three major oil and gas producers in the country, should make an earnest effort to bring politicians, bureaucrats and other opinion-makers to their producing fields in the offshore basins of Krishna Godavari, the desert of the Barmer district ...