Coal India Limited has accounted for only 0.65 per cent of the country’s total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of 2,616 mt during 2019-20.
It is estimated that about 30 kg of CO2 is emitted for every tonne of coal produced by CIL. With CIL’s opencast output at 572 mt, during 2019-20, over 17 mt of CO2 equivalent was emitted out of CIL’s coal mining operations, compared to the country’s total of 2,616 mt. To balance the CO2 emission, CIL has taken up large scale plantation in its mining areas where the green cover increased to 862 hectares in 2020-21, which is 6 per cent more compared to 813 hectares of 2019-20. Further, the company is focusing on non-road mode movement of coal as part of its environment friendly measures. During 2020-21, non-road coal transportation accounted for 77 per cent of total supplies.