Dr. Arvind Kumar*
Governments are more focused on energy security in the short-term, relying on low-hanging but risky alternatives, such as looking for new routes of fossil fuel supply, nuclear extensions, or coal revival. However, to improve the resilience of energy system against global energy trade shocks, and to enable a sustainable transition to clean energy systems we should rekindle our consumption track, reinvent urban space, infrastructure and mobility and promote decentralized and resilient energy systems in an effort to embark towards a more responsible and sustainable path.
India’s decision to achieve ‘net zero’ by 2070 has been hailed globally as a game changer. But do you think India’s commitment is realistic? India accounts for only 7% of global emissions and has made reasonable progress by reaching nearly 110 GW of RE by the end of March 2022. The government has also supported green hydrogen, with the recent release of Green Hydrogen Policy, which provides the initial support for production of green hydrogen and ammonia in the country. The Union Budget 2021 also focused on green recovery as a central aspect of its policy framework, investing not only in renewable energy but also air pollution, providing potable water and biodiversity conservation. Even this year’s Budget (2022) emphasizes energy transition and RE, allocating significant funds towards local manufacturing of solar modules and also introduces new areas like battery swapping, decentralized RE and deployment of biomass pellets in thermal plants. Despite this, it seems likely that the full potential for green recovery has not been achieved, as analysis of energy-related policies from the Energy Policy Tracker (EPT) was considered a “mixed bag”.
Climate change is already affecting regions around the world. Unabated, its future negative impacts will likely be vast, costing much more than preventing it. According to a latest report of World Meteorological Organization (WMO) atmospheric levels of the three main greenhouse gases warming our planet – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide- all reached new record highs in 2022. This underlines the urgency of taking decisive steps to tackle climate change, including through the transformation of global energy use. Energy is at the heart of the climate challenge – and key to the solution. A large chunk of the greenhouse gases that blanket the Earth and trap the sun’s heat are generated through energy production, by burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and heat. Considering the same, climate change scientists have been warning the global community of the long-term consequences of continuing carbon emissions and urging for transition to Green energy & mobility that have become a global phenomenon as they show us the pathway to healthy and livable planet majorly because of five reasons i.e. Clean energy sources are all around us; Clean energy is cheap; Clean energy is healthy; Clean energy creates jobs; Clean energy makes economic sense.
Renewables form a vital component of green recovery, especially in a fast-developing country like India. The renewable sector is not just competitive economically, but also holds immense potential for job creation since clean energy technologies such as solar are far more labour intensive than conventional energy sources. For instance, it has been estimated that in reaching its goal of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel energy sources by 2030, India could create as many as 3.4 million new clean energy jobs largely from Distributed RE, which will create opportunities for local employment. Would such efforts encourage the start of new ventures, and help scale up domestic businesses?
India’s energy demand is expected to increase more than that of any other country in the coming decades due to its sheer size i.e. 1.38 billion and enormous potential for growth and development. Therefore, it is imperative that most of this new energy demand is met by low-carbon, renewable sources. Currently, India’s energy mix is skewed towards the use of coal(C) for power generation, oil(O) for transport and industry, and biomass(B) for residential heating and cooking. For instance in 2020, COB met about 82% India’s total primary energy demand.
India also has the potential to become a manufacturing hub for upcoming technologies like green hydrogen and energy storage. However, India’s power sector has always faced shortage of skilled personnel, not only in the private sector but also within DISCOMs, grid management companies, regulators and policymakers and this problem is being compounded further in the current scenario. Thus, shouldn’t capacity building within India through skill development be of utmost priority? There is a need to develop a robust strategic framework to boost the renewable power sector by learning from other countries who have successfully devised green recovery packages. As part of the green recovery package, the priorities should be fourfold – focusing on clean energy and mobility transition, injecting liquidity for financial relief, enhancing strategies to adopt E-vehicles in the freight and passenger segments and an overhaul of the electricity distribution system. A holistic view which examines a range of solutions that complement each other and identifies key elements, including technology development, enabling renewables, distributed energy resource, promoting energy resilience, local manufacturing of RE, energy storage technologies and job creation will be very effective.
At an international scale, with the world in the midst of energy crisis- triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and post pandemic disruptions we are witnessing drastic fluctuation in energy demand, oil price shocks, energy supply hiccups, and lowered energy investments. The long-term impacts of these crises on low-carbon energy transitions and mitigation of climate change are still uncertain but are slowly emerging. Governments are more focused on energy security in the short-term, relying on low-hanging but risky alternatives, such as looking for new routes of fossil fuel supply, nuclear extensions, or coal revival. However, to improve the resilience of energy system against global energy trade shocks, and to enable a sustainable transition to clean energy systems we should rekindle our consumption track, reinvent urban space, infrastructure and mobility and promote decentralized and resilient energy systems in an effort to embark towards a more responsible and sustainable path.
COP26 marked an important milestone in advancing the call for energy resilience as part of climate adaptation. However, COP26 is not the finish line. It is, rather, an inflection point. Hence at forthcoming COP27 in Egypt; while it is important to track emissions, it’s now time to catch-up on impacts we have already locked in; it is also imperative for us to focus that if climate change is everyone’s challenge, we need to recognize that a collective responsibility in tackling it must include providing resilient and safe energy. Looking toward COP27 we have to continue to advance the transformation to energy resilience—through both public policy advocacy and its leadership role.
*President, India Water Foundation
