ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN UNDERGROUND COAL GASIFICATION: THEFUTURE CLEAN AND GREEN ENERGY RESOURCE

India and World at large is in the need of some alternative energy source, an energy source that will do less harm to the environment and will be free of the disadvantages of opencast and underground mining. Underground coal gasification (UCG) could serve as an alternative clean source of energy. The UCG process holds multiple benefits. It can extend coal reserves by exploiting deposits thought to be uneconomic through conventional methods of extraction or where reserves have limited access due to excessive depth or geological arrangement. Increasing concern about the environment and significant domestic and international pressure has led to the development and growth of UCG worldwide. The present paper provides an overview of this much talked about alternative clean source of energy which one can also say is a green energy resource