As summer looms, India orders coal power plants to max out

By SIBI ARASU
Associated Press

BENGALURU, India (AP) — India’s government has issued orders for coal and power plants to run at full capacity through this year’s summer months. Leaders are desperate to avoid the power crisis that saw rolling electricity cuts and a temporary ban for industrial activities in some of India’s hottest states last year as cooling systems exhausted the grid. Analysts warn going all-out will pump an extraordinary amount of additional greenhouse gases into the air from a country that is already the world’s third-biggest emitter. But until there are major infrastructure changes — including developing storage for clean energy — that allow for more renewable energy or efficient cooling systems, people in the hottest regions of India face a difficult tradeoff.