Revkin: "the reality is that grids and central power plants are a mainstay of increasingly urbanized economies. In India, that means coal will be an economic keystone for decades"

Lag in India coal production foreseen in 2011...

[Revkin] Lag in India coal production foreseen in 2011 as leading to electricity gap (@gfmag). Key to huge blackouts? Read prescient piece:

One of the world’s fastest-growing economies, India could face an electricity shortage of more than 10%—and perhaps as high as 15%—in the current fiscal year, according to the Central Electricity Authority. Meanwhile, delays in getting environmental clearance for mine expansion are creating fuel shortages, forcing India to import more coal.

Australia:  Carbon price gloom eases

While they are finding the experience of it not as bad as they expected, people remain overwhelmingly opposed to the carbon price. Sixty per cent (down 2 points since late June) are against it, compared with 36 per cent (up 3 points ) in favour.

Only 5 per cent say they are personally better off after the introduction of the carbon price and compensation package

Live Blog: The Great Power Outage - India Real Time - WSJ

Catalyst for Reform

Some analysts said public outrage over the widespread outages may force Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government to tackle reforms in the crisis-riddled power sector. Fuel shortages are crippling coal and gas-fired plants, forcing them to run below capacity or shut down for long stretches; state utilities have billions of dollars of accumulated losses; and, as has been on stark display, the nation’s creaky grid needs upgrading.

“Unless this government wants to commit political suicide, there’s no way they can ignore this,” said Abhey Yograj, managing director of Tecnova, a consulting firm that advises foreign companies on India.

The Power Gap Behind India's Mass Blackouts - NYTimes.com

[Revkin] It’d be great to think that renewable energy sources and distributed electricity generation could solve such problems, and they’re great where they work. But the reality is that grids and central power plants are a mainstay of increasingly urbanized economies. In India, that means coal will be an economic keystone for decades.