SINGAPORE: India is ramping up efforts to turn coal into gas, joining several other Asian economies such as China and Indonesia in turning to the centuries-old technology to reduce dependence on imported fuels.
New Delhi’s push has gained fresh urgency as shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Israel war on Iran threaten supplies of crude oil, liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and fertiliser feedstock to import-dependent economies such as India, say analysts.
For India, coal gasification seems an obvious answer given its vast reserves of the fossil fuel.
Yet experts say it may face the toughest challenge among regional peers, with obstacles ranging from the characteristics of Indian coal and water-intensive operations to financing constraints and fragmented policymaking.
TURNING COAL TO GAS
Unlike conventional coal-fired power generation, coal gasification converts the resource into synthetic gas (syngas) rather than burning it directly. The process, which dates back several centuries, heats and reacts coal with oxygen and steam to produce syngas, which is made mainly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
The syngas can then be cleaned and converted into many molecules to make fertilisers, methanol, dimethyl ether (DME), synthetic natural gas and hydrogen. DME can also be used as a substitute for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). And even the residual carbon dioxide can be further captured and converted to more products.
Coal gasification can substitute some imports but not fully replace them, because industrial demand is large, varied and difficult to displace quickly, experts said.
Atanu Mukherjee, CEO of energy-transition advisory firm Dastur Energy, described it as a way to create “optionality” and energy resilience, rather than a route to stop reliance on imported fuels altogether.
Experts said coal gasification has remained niche because projects are costly, technically complex and slow to scale.
Mukherjee pointed to China as an example, saying its coal-gasification buildout was a “long haul” that took “10 to 15 year runs” to reach large-scale deployment.
But the technology is drawing renewed interest as oil- and gas-import-dependent economies look for a cushion from fossil-fuel shocks, experts said.
India is among the countries accelerating its coal-to-gas push.
Last month, the country approved a US$3.9 billion scheme to support coal gasification, with incentives covering up to 20 per cent of plant and machinery costs for new projects.
Read the full article here
