For too long, the country relied on a centralized model borrowed from the West. In tandem were the policy makers in India, who couldn’t think beyond one-size-fit-for-all solutions. They couldn’t understand that a society is not an amorphous mound, but comprises different segments of people; each with distinct culture and with varying degrees of aspiration. The energy requirement for each segments, therefore, are different. The solutions are to be weaved around the needs of people, their culture and the communities they belong to.
The rising demand-supply gap in energy reaffirms that the past model has outgrown its role. Increasing the generation of electricity through building a new thermal, nuclear plant or a large dam is going to be tough. The availability of land wouldn’t be easy. The policy of coercive method of acquisition of land for such projects wouldn’t work as it is against the basic tenet of market economy that professes ownership of individual property. In addition, despite illiteracy, the voice of the disadvantaged has become louder. Saving the forest cover has become a necessity. Without the forests, there wouldn’t be adequate rains and rivers would be extinct. The linear thinking of pushing for energy at the cost of water, and by extension, food security would be too foolish.
On the top of it, India’s domestic coal production is grossly insufficient to fuel the thermal power plants. Importing coal too has become expensive. The declining productions of natural gas from Krishna-Godavari basin have ruined the hopes of a North Sea-style oil-and gas-powered growth of the economy. Since the Fukushima disaster in Japan, the nuclear power has lost its sheen as a source of clean energy. Its credibility is in doubt, not only in the US, but in other countries as well. Italy has imposed a one-year moratorium on its plants for a long-term nuclear energy programme. Germany’s 17 nuclear reactors are in pause. China has suspended all its nuclear project approvals despite its earlier plan to quadruple its nuclear energy capacity by 2020.
The viable option left for the government of India is to push for renewable energy. Depending on the location and the community’s requirement, the renewable source could be solar, wind, biomass and micro-hydel. The electricity could be drawn from a grid. The off-grid applications are suitable for small requirements and locations, which are remote. Replacing diesel generated power in rural areas would serve two purposes. The country would save from importing diesel and the environment would be saved from diesel’s emissions.
The biggest hurdle continues to be the mindset of policy makers. The irritants in the renewal’s journey are more of management issues. The solutions could be found with a bit of imagination, but with a high dose of intent. “Renewal Energy can power the world and the road block is not money but enabling policy,” says Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change's study, “it can do so at a more cost competitive and faster rate than conventional energy sources.”
A KPMG report, authored by its executive director, Santosh Kamath, states that solar will equal cost of coal power by 2017 in India. With limited choice, the momentum is likely to pick up soon. “Renewable is no longer ‘alternative energy’, it is pretty much as mainstream as it gets,’’ asserts Anish De, chief executive, Mercados EMI Asia. The circumstances will push for an energy model that is intrinsically Indian, and inclusive.
The rising demand-supply gap in energy reaffirms that the past model has outgrown its role. Increasing the generation of electricity through building a new thermal, nuclear plant or a large dam is going to be tough. The availability of land wouldn’t be easy. The policy of coercive method of acquisition of land for such projects wouldn’t work as it is against the basic tenet of market economy that professes ownership of individual property. In addition, despite illiteracy, the voice of the disadvantaged has become louder. Saving the forest cover has become a necessity. Without the forests, there wouldn’t be adequate rains and rivers would be extinct. The linear thinking of pushing for energy at the cost of water, and by extension, food security would be too foolish.
On the top of it, India’s domestic coal production is grossly insufficient to fuel the thermal power plants. Importing coal too has become expensive. The declining productions of natural gas from Krishna-Godavari basin have ruined the hopes of a North Sea-style oil-and gas-powered growth of the economy. Since the Fukushima disaster in Japan, the nuclear power has lost its sheen as a source of clean energy. Its credibility is in doubt, not only in the US, but in other countries as well. Italy has imposed a one-year moratorium on its plants for a long-term nuclear energy programme. Germany’s 17 nuclear reactors are in pause. China has suspended all its nuclear project approvals despite its earlier plan to quadruple its nuclear energy capacity by 2020.
The viable option left for the government of India is to push for renewable energy. Depending on the location and the community’s requirement, the renewable source could be solar, wind, biomass and micro-hydel. The electricity could be drawn from a grid. The off-grid applications are suitable for small requirements and locations, which are remote. Replacing diesel generated power in rural areas would serve two purposes. The country would save from importing diesel and the environment would be saved from diesel’s emissions.
The biggest hurdle continues to be the mindset of policy makers. The irritants in the renewal’s journey are more of management issues. The solutions could be found with a bit of imagination, but with a high dose of intent. “Renewal Energy can power the world and the road block is not money but enabling policy,” says Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change's study, “it can do so at a more cost competitive and faster rate than conventional energy sources.”
A KPMG report, authored by its executive director, Santosh Kamath, states that solar will equal cost of coal power by 2017 in India. With limited choice, the momentum is likely to pick up soon. “Renewable is no longer ‘alternative energy’, it is pretty much as mainstream as it gets,’’ asserts Anish De, chief executive, Mercados EMI Asia. The circumstances will push for an energy model that is intrinsically Indian, and inclusive.
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