Powerless: India's Energy Shortage and Its Impact

by Sam Tranum

This is a book about India's energy shortage, its causes, and consequences. Powerless details how much coal, oil, gas, uranium, and power the country uses, and for what purposes. It examines the quantity of these things the country produces and where. The book looks at the sizes of the gaps between supply and demand, and how the country fills them with imports. It then discusses how the shortages and resulting imports affect the country's economy, businesses, and residents. After examining the current scenario, the author moves on to look at predictions for how fast demand and supply will grow, how big the shortages of natural resources might become in the next few years, and whether India is likely to be able--politically, logistically, and financially--to fill these gaps with imports. The book also looks at the environmental and health effects of India's growing energy use, and how efforts to mitigate these are likely to affect demand for coal, oil, gas, and uranium.

310 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Originally from Massachusetts, I worked as a staff reporter at the Charleston Daily Mail, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and Energy Intelligence in Washington DC. I also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkmenistan, and taught journalism at the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan. I have an MA in international relations from the University of Chicago.