Coal is the backbone of the Indian power sector. The coal-fired power plants remain the largest emitters of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and substantial amounts of nitrogen oxides, which are associated with climate and health impacts. Various CO₂ mitigation technologies (carbon capture and storage—CCS) and SO₂/NO _x mitigation technologies (flue gas desulfurization and selective catalytic reduction) have been employed to reduce the environmental impacts of the coal-fired power plants. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the feasibility of various mitigation technologies employed. This paper attempts to perform environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of Indian coal-fired power plant with and without CO₂, SO₂ and NO _x mitigation controls. The study develops new normalization factors for India in various damage categories, using the Indian emissions and energy consumption data, coupled with the emissions and particulate emission to come up with a final environmental impact of coal-fired electricity. The results show a large degree of dependence on the perspective of assessment used. The impact of sensitivities of individual substances and the effect of plant efficiency on the final LCA results is also studied.

Production of algal biomass and its conversion to biofuels are important technological platforms within the larger umbrella of CO₂ capture and utilization. This analysis incorporates a life-cycle assessment (LCA) with respect to global warming potential and techno-economic assessment (TEA) of algae biofuels, focusing on the sourcing and delivery of CO₂. This analysis evolves past work in this area to include high-purity biogenic CO₂, industrial fossil fuel use, fossil power plants, and direct air capture, and uses a Sherwood plot approach to estimate the CO₂ capture energy penalty. We also show that allocation or displacement facilitates a more intuitive distinction between biogenic and fossil sources of carbon. Thus, the LCA better reflects the influence of coproduct handling strategies as compared to previous works. The TEA is also strongly influenced by the CO₂ concentration in the flue gas. Currently, when CO₂ is sourced from large-point sources, the price of biofuels ($4.5-6.5/GGE) may become comparable to fossil diesel. However, as DAC systems become more economical, they may deliver competitive CO₂ sources for biofuels in 2050 with a total cost of <$7/GGE. Based on the net emissions and costs, algae biofuels with CO₂ sourced from biogenic sources are consistent with a decarbonized economy as of now, with substantial potential for DAC with decreasing costs.

Underground coal mining has been known as a significant source of fugitive greenhouse gas emissions. Past analyses of these emissions in India used deterministic emission factors and predominantly focused on methane emissions with reporting of CO₂ emissions remaining limited to a few sites. This study addresses these gaps via field measurements on 108 underground mines (out of a total 338) to evolve greenhouse gas reporting in this sector. Results show large heterogeneity across “degrees” of mines as categorized by the Indian government. In addition, CO₂ emissions are found to be significant in shallower mines of lower gassiness. Overall, the emissions from underground mining have reduced from 2.6 to 8.3 Mt-CO₂e to 1.3–3.6 Mt-CO₂e during 1980–2019. These emissions might remain significant by 2050 under a 2–2.5°C constraint or may decline below 100,000 t-CO₂e under a 1.5°C constraint. We also discuss several generalizable outcomes and approaches to make inventories in this sector more robust.