Energy trilemma
Topic: Environment and Sustainable Development · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The energy trilemma is the problem of meeting three energy goals at the same time:
- Security: a steady, reliable supply that does not depend too much on others.
- Affordability: energy that people and industry can pay for.
- Sustainability: energy that does not harm the environment.
Improving one goal often hurts another, so governments have to balance them. This is central to the energy transition, which is the shift away from fossil fuels.
Example
India has large coal reserves of its own, so coal power is cheap and secure, but it is highly polluting. Imported gas is cleaner, but it is costlier and depends on foreign suppliers. Renewables are clean, but sun and wind are not always available, which creates supply problems. Every choice gives up something on one of the three goals.
Related concepts
- Energy transition
- Energy intensity
- Coal phase-down
- Grey hydrogen
- Blue hydrogen
- Green hydrogen
- Green ammonia
- Hydrogen economy
- Green premium
- Carbon capture, utilisation and storage