ONE WORLD, ONE SUN, ONE GRID

Infrastructure – Energy

  • Stressing that India would generate 40 per cent of power from non-fossil fuels by 2030, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 October called for connecting solar energy supply across borders giving the mantra of ‘One World One Sun One Grid’.
  • The Prime Minister also said he saw the 121-country International Solar Alliance as the future OPEC for meeting energy needs of the world.
  • Oil cartel OPEC led by Saudi Arabia currently meets close to half of the world’s oil needs. He said solar power will play the same role that oil wells have played over the past few decades in meeting global energy needs.
  • Talking about India’s plans for the renewable energy he said that India would add as much as 50 GW of non-hydro renewable energy to existing 72 GW and is successfully marching on the way to achieve the target of having 175 GW of clean energy by 2022.
  • The prime minister was of the view that this was the right time to invest in renewable energy because there is a possibility of USD 70-80 billion business in the next four years in India.

Energy Crisis in India:

  • An energy crisis is a bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy . In other words, refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular those that supply national electricity grids or those used as fuel in vehicles.
  • Industrial development and population growth have led to a surge in the global demand for energy in recent years.
  • In India we rely too much on thermal energy to satisfy our energy requirements. This has come up with an environmental cost from air pollution to climate change.
  • To address the issue it is imperative to diversify our source and renewable energy should add to our arsenal in great proportion.
  • Present Day Energy
  • Coal supply by Coal India Ltd is restricted to around 65% of actual coal requirement by coal-based thermal plants, leading to increased dependence on imported coal.
  • This results in increasing power generation costs due to limited fuel availability. Increasing operational inefficiencies and outstanding debts have led to poor financial health of state discoms.
  • As per the estimates of Planning Commission, to ensure a sustained 8% growth of the economy, by 203132 India needs to increase its primary energy supply by three to four times and its electricity generation by five to six times of the 2003-04 levels.
  • Energy-efficiency is extremely important and can be promoted by setting appropriate prices and this is particularly important where energy prices are rising. However, appropriate prices by themselves may not suffice and non-price incentives/disincentives are therefore also required.
  • There is a need for alternate energy which will not only offset the demand of conventional fossil fuel, but also pave way to cleaner solutions A green growth economy is the need of the hour.
Share Socially