Reiterating India’s commitment to a low carbon economy

INTRODUCTION

As an emerging economy, India's energy demands are rapidly expanding. Agriculture, transport, industries and the domestic sectors constitute the key segments of this rising demand. At present, in most of these sectors, a higher percentage of demand is being met from fossil based fuels such as coal and petroleum.

INDIA'S RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGETS

A dip in domestic production or a fall in the imports of fossil fuels can derail planned and proposed developmental activities. At the same time, inefficient usage of fossil fuel can trigger environmental degradation. Hence, the country is rapidly expanding the share of renewables in its energy mix and is implementing the world's largest renewable energy capacity addition programme. India aims to achieve 40% cumulative electric power capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030.

During the last few years India’s spending on renewable energy has substantially increased. Targets for various renewable energy sources have been revised to achieve renewable energy capacity of 175 GW (Gigawatt) by the year 2022. This shall include 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro-power. To fuel expansion in the renewable energy capacity addition, the government is also introducing several enabling policy measures across verticals. Also, there is a strong focus on raising awareness among citizens so as to cut on energy wastage and enhance their reliance on clean energy sources such as solar and wind energy.

In Goa, the state government and the central government are jointly working to ensure 24x7 access to quality reliable and affordable power supply to all domestic, commercial, agriculture and industrial consumers. To meet this need and to augment the share of renewable energy, the government has partnered with leading companies such as the NTPCVidyutVyaparNigam (NVVN) Limited. The Goa Energy Development Agency has been vested with the responsibility of enhancing adoption of clean energy based solutions in the domestic and industrial sectors. Recently, Pradhan Mantri UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LED for all) Yojana was launched in Goa with a target of replacing approximately 15 lakh LED bulbs, impacting close to 5 lakh households.

While the above stated targets will enable participation of the private sector, it is evident that realizing ambitious targets will require robust business models and effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. The desirable shift from a fossil fuel based economy to a renewable based one will not happen in a day's time. In all, the key energy consuming sectors, relevant policy reforms, process re-engineering mechanisms and change in practices across the value chain will be instrumental. At the same time, access to efficient technology and easy finance will drive the sentiment of the energy sector in the country.

GREEN SWITCH

• Sustainable approaches to energy consumption entail increased use of renewable energy, better fossil fuel technologies and implementation of improved energy conservation measures.
• Adopting renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass/gas are a few options that can be taken, along with using energy efficient appliances and upgrading to LED (light-emitting diode) based/compact fluorescent lighting.