NEW DELHI: worries over energy security will drive India's goal to slow the growth of its carbon emissions, the head of a government panel tasked developing the country's low-carbon strategy said on Monday.

Reserves of fossil fuels such as coal are fast running out, making it imperative for India to improve efficiency and accelerate renewable energy sources to keep the economy growing at a projected 8 to 9 per cent annually, Kirit Parikh said.

India, the fourth-largest carbon emitter in the world, is under pressure to cut pollution in the fight against climate change. While per-capita emissions are still low, the demand for electricity and fossil fuels is rising.

".... we are very short of oil, very short of gas. We need to find in the next 20, at the most 30 years, an alternative to coal-based power plants. That will be required in a business-as-usual scenario." Kirit said in an interview.

India had announced a new climate plan which identifies renewable energy as a major factor. However, coal still remains a source of energy supply in the country. India posseses 10% of the world's coal reserves. About 70 million tonnes of coal is imported every year, most of which is inferior in quality and highly polluting. It is mostly used for making steel. India plans to add 78.7 gigawatts of power generation during the five years ending March 2012, most of it from coal, which now accounts for about 60 per cent of the nation's energy mix.

By comparison, renewables such as wind, solar and biomass contribute only 8.8 per cent to generation. Although, there are plans to scale up solar power generation to 20 gigawatts by 2022.

According to sources, there are high expectations that a nuclear deal with the United States of America might usher in a new chapter in clean energy for India, but long planning and building periods for nuclear reactors and high cost are deterrents.

Parikh said given the dependence on coal, the only way forward was to improve the efficiency of coal-based power plants by using technology such as super-critical boilers which would help cut coal use by about 20 per cent.

In 2009, India set a goal for slowing the growth of its emissions, stating efforts to rein in its "carbon intensity" -- the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of economic output -- by between 20 and 25 per cent by 2020, from 2005 levels.

Parikh said the target was achievable without a major shift in policy keeping in view the fact that India's energy intensity has been coming down.