renewable energy sources for sustainability of india’s future earth

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Renewable Energy Sources forSustainability of India’s Future EarthDr. R.B. Singh and Ajay KumarIntroduction

Globally, the economic development is associated with an increased energyrequirement. But, in many developing countries as well as in countries with economiesin transition, electricity is not available in adequate amount and also inaccessible to thepeople in rural and remote areas. Energy is foremost requirement in present time toaccelerate economic growth for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Indiais one such country which has huge population and fast growing economy, which need

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India’s future needsof energy can betaken care of byThorium, the nuclearfuel of the futurefound in vastquantities on India’scoasts in the Statesof Tamil Nadu, Keralaand Andhra Pradeshalong with thetraditional woodenwater‐wheel orGharat of theHimalayan region inthe States ofUttarakhand,Kashmir, Ladakh andthe States of theNorth East will giveIndia a place underthe Sun for cleanproduction ofEnergy.

Using Gharat withimproved technologydeveloped by AnilJoshi of HimalayanEnvironmentalStudies andConservationOrganisation(

to be fueled by energy. To provide sustainable livelihoods to such a large number ofworld population as well as to gradually shift the world economic development pathfrom carbon to non‐carbon, promotion of renewable energy technologies andmaximising their use for sustainability of India’s future earth are considered to be themost desirable alternatives (Singh, 2014; Singh and Hietala, 2014).

Growth of Indian Economy and Energy Demand

India is a nation in transition, considered an "emerging economy," increasing GDP isdriving the demand for additional electrical energy, as well as transportation fuels. Indiais also a nation of extremes. Poverty remains in areas with no energy services, whilewealth grows in the new business hubs. The economy of India has undergonetremendous transformation, where agriculture sector has shrunken from 34 per cent in1982‐83 to 13 per cent in 2013‐14. During the same period the service sector, which ismore energy intensive sector has grown from 39 per cent to 60 per cent. Thecontribution of industries to GDP has remained constant during 1982‐2014 (Figure 1 and2). The installed capacity of the country has considerably increased from a mere 1362MW in the early fifties to 2,23,344 MW in 2013. The per capita consumption of energy inIndia is quite low i.e. 917.2 kWh compared to global average of 2892 kWh and thehighest per capita consumption by Canada i.e. 15145 kWh (Figure 3).Out of the totalinstalled capacity of India1,51,531 MW is thermal, 39491 MW is hydro and 4,780 MW isnuclear power. The country has 27542 MW installed capacity of renewable energy,which is 12 per cent of total installed capacity of the country (Energy Alternatives India,2015) (Figure 4 and 5).

Though fossil fuels will continue to be India’s major energy source and will continue toplay a critical role in our country, a major challenge for us is to develop programmes andpolicies that will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels in order to achieve sustainableeconomic growth and environmental stability. In the present scenario renewable energysources are very much required to attain sustainability for India’s Future Earth.

Renewable Energy Sources in India

A large potential of non‐conventional sources exists in the country. These include bio‐gas, solar PV, solar thermal, bio‐gas gasified, wind power, small hydro power, co‐generation. Considerable progress has been made in India over a wide range of



HESCO) who has putlife back into this2000 year oldtechnological marvelof India by improvingthese Gharat’s incorporatingmodern technologyinto them andmaking them multi‐purpose, and moreenergy efficienttoday. The Gharat’sof the Himalayarange not only domechanical jobs ofgrinding but alsogenerate power forthe villages night andday, locally used andimproving their lives,much is to be done inthe vast region, covering,Uttaranchal, Jammu& Kashmir, HimachalPradesh, and all theStates of the North‐East. If Mr Anil Joshiis helped andsupported by theCentral Governmentas he has greatly

programmes particularly in the production of electricity from renewable energyresources.

The key drivers for renewable energy are (i) the demand‐supply gap, especially aspopulation increases, (ii) a large untapped potential, (iii) concern for the environment,(iv) the need to strengthen India’s energy security, (v) pressure on high‐emissionindustry sectors from their shareholders and (vi) a viable solution for ruralelectrification.

Solar Energy

Because of its location between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator, India has anaverage annual temperature that ranges from 25°C – 27.5 °C. This means that India hashuge solar potential. The sunniest parts are situated in the south/east coast, fromCalcutta to Madras. Photovoltaic (PV) cells have a low efficiency factor, yet powergeneration systems using photovoltaic materials have the advantage of having nomoving parts. PV cells find applications in individual home rooftop systems, communitystreet lights, community water pumping, and areas where the terrain makes it difficultto access the power grid. The efficiency of solar photovoltaic cells with single crystalsilicon is about 13 % ‐ 17%. High efficiency cells with concentrators are beingmanufactured which can operate with low sunlight intensities.

Wind Energy

Among renewable technologies, wind farms appear to be a feasible and cost effectiveoption for supplementing the conventional means of power generation on a large scale.The total installed wind power capacity of India is nearly 600 MW which has placed Indiaamong the top three countries in the world in harnessing the wind resources. Thiscapacity is expected to reach upto 2000 MW by the turn of the century.

Since 1985, the Ministry of Non‐Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) has carried out anextensive wind monitoring and mapping programme to identify better sites and assessthe resource potential. A number of wind mapping and monitoring stations were set upand a number of wind farm sites were identified in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra states and Lakshsdweep island inIndia.



contributed to revivethe Gharat in theHimalayas over thelast 30 years, apassion of life forhim he can help inmaking the areaeasily generate atleast 10,000 MW ofclean electricity,changing the lives ofthe people of theentire Himalayanregion.

Thorium basedNuclear powerenvisaged by theLate Dr HomiBhabha, whokeeping in mindIndia’s shortage ofUranium as a fuel,planned a self‐reliant nuclearprogramme for Indiaaround thoriumfound in vastquantities in thesands of costal Indiain the Momazitesands, As in an articleby KumarChellappan, a

Wind energy has following characteristics:

• It is one of the most environment friendly, clean and safe energy resources.

• It has the lowest gestation period as compared to conventional energy.

• Equipment erection and commissioning involve only a few months.

• There is no fuel consumption, hence low operating costs.

• Maintenance costs are low.

• The capital cost of wind energy installation is comparable with other conventionalpower plants. For a wind farm, the capital cost ranges between 4.5 crores to 5.5 crores,depending on the site and the Wind Electric Generator (WEG) selected for installation.

The pollution saving from a WEG With an average output of 4,000 kWh per year, savingshave been estimated as follows: • Sulphur ‐ dioxide (SO ): 2 to 3.2 tonnes • Nitrogen ‐oxide (NO) ; 1.2 to 2.4 tonnes • Carbon ‐ dioxide (CO ) : 300 to 500 tonnes •Particulates: 150 to 280 kg.

Biogas

Advanced bagasse co‐generation is another ambitious programme launched to harnessthe 3500 MW potential available in the sugar industry. In the area of solar photovoltaics,India has achieved a leading position in the world in the development and use oftechnology. India is the second largest manufacturer of crystalline silicon modules in theworld. Industrial production has reached a level of 7 MW/year. This programme alsoreceived a boost from the Global Environment Facility and the Indian Renewable EnergyDevelopment Agency. Most of the renewable sources have small generation capacity.The renewables tend to be competitive vis‐à‐vis fossil fuel sources in remote sparselypopulated locations (typically rural locations) where it is not economical to extend thegrid.

Biomass includes solid biomass (organic, non‐fossil material of biological origins), biogas(principally methane and carbon dioxide produced by anaerobic digestion of biomassand combusted to produce heat and/or power), liquid biofuels (bio‐based liquid fuel

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champion ofThorium basednuclear power in thePioneer. “Dr Bhabhadrew the three –stage nuclearprogramme afterunderstanding thestrength andweakness of India.He was aware thatthe country’suranium resourcewas scarce. HenceBhabha envisagedsetting up ofpressurised heavywater reactors(PHWR) which arerun with uranium.The spent fuel fromthese reactors isreprocessed to getplutonium. ThePlutonium thusaccumulated is usedas fuel in fastbreeder reactors.When we cover theplutonium withblankets of uranium,we will get moreplutonium. If we use

from biomass transformation, mainly used in transportation applications), andmunicipal waste (wastes produced by the residential, commercial and public servicessectors and incinerated in specific installations to produce heat and/or power).

India is very rich in biomass. It has a potential of 19,500 MW (3,500 MW from bagassebased cogeneration and 16,000 MW from surplus biomass). Currently, India has 537 MWcommissioned and 536 MW under construction. The facts reinforce the idea of acommitment by India to develop these resources of power production. Following is alist of some States with most potential for biomass production: Andhra Pradesh (200MW) Bihar (200 MW) Gujarat (200 MW) Karnataka (300 MW) (Meisenr and Quéneudec(2006).

Geothermal Energy

The general characteristics of geothermal energy that make it of significant importancefor both electricity production and direct use include:

Extensive global distribution; it is accessible to both developed and developingcountries.Environmentally friendly nature; it has low emission of sulphur, CO and othergreenhouse gases.Indigenous nature; it is independent of external supply and demand effects andfluctuations in exchange rates.Independence of weather and season.Contribution to the development of diversified power sources.

Geothermal energy can be used very effectively in both on‐ and off‐grid developments,and is especially useful in rural electrification schemes. India has reasonably goodpotential for geothermal; the potential geothermal provinces can produce 10,600 MWof power (but experts are confident only to the extent of 100 MW). But yet geothermalpower projects have not been exploited at all.

Biofuel Energy

Biodiesel production that accounts for a smaller proportion of liquid biofuels increasedfrom 0.01 million tonnes in 1991 to 9.0 million tonnes by 2008. European Union (EU) isthe major producer of biodiesel (above 60 per cent), with a significantly smaller

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Thorium as blanketinstead of uranium,we will get more andmore fuel gradeuranium (U‐233). Inthe third phaseUranium‐233stockpiled fromprevious phase isused as fuel withthorium as blanket.Since India has thelargest Thoriumreserve in the world,we would not havebeen at the mercy ofthe western worldfor fuel”. It isstrange that afterthe signing of theIndo‐ Nuclear deal in2007, for somereason thegovernmentamended the Mines and Mineral(Development andRegulation) Act toallow the export of Monazite was onlyby Indian Rare EarthLtd (IREL) agovernment

contribution coming from the US (17 per cent). Other significant biodiesel producersinclude China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia. Currently (Raju, Shinoj and Joshi, 2009).India’s biofuel production accounts for only 1 per cent of the global production. Thistranslates to around 425 million litres, consisting of 380 million litres of fuel ethanol(Licht, 2009) and 45 million litres of biodiesel (FAO, 2008). In India, ethanol is primarilyproduced by fermentation of molasses, a by‐product in the manufacture of sugar fromsugar cane. It is estimated that, out of one tonne of sugar cane, 85‐100 kg of sugar(8.5 to 10 per cent) and 40kg (4 per cent) of molasses can be recovered. The recoverypercentage of ethanol from molasses is 22‐25 per cent as per Indian standards. Presentlyabout 70‐80 per cent of cane produced in the country is utilised for the production ofsugar and remaining 20‐30 per cent for alternate sweeteners (jaggery and khandsari)and seeds.

Unlike other countries, India is not using vegetable oils derived from rapeseed, mustardor oil palm for production of biodiesel. This is because, India is not self‐sufficient inedible oil production and depends upon large quantities of imports of palm oil and othervegetable oils to meet the domestic demand. However, utilising non‐edible seed oilsextracted from tree and forest origin does not interfere with food security. Every yeararound 1.2 million tonnes of tree‐born seed oil is produced in the country. Therefore,biodiesel in India is mostly produced from the oils extracted from the seeds of shrubslike jatropha and pongamia. Use of jatropha for deriving oils has multiple benefits. First,the oil produced is non‐edible; second, it can survive in areas of low rainfall and lowfertility; third, it requires very little inputs and care for cultivation; fourth, the cake leftover after oil extraction can be used as an organic manure, for preparation of herbalinsecticides and biogas; fifth, jatropha has the ability to assist in the build‐up of soilcarbon; sixth, large‐scale cultivation of jatropha in the marginal land can earn carboncredits for the country, and so on. However, as mentioned earlier, biodiesel industry inIndia is still at a nascent stage although the government has ambitious plans to expandthe sector (Raju, Shinoj and Joshi, 2009).The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy(MNRE) is in the process of preparing a “National Policy on Biofuels” which is expectedto lay the foundation for the accelerated development of the sec‐tor with a focus onresearch and development, capacity‐building, purchase policy and registration forenabling biofuel use.



company. Nowprivate companiesexport it with aclause if Thorium isfound it will be givento the state. India isan acknowledgedleader in the FastBreeder technologyalong with thedeveloped world.Export of Monazitemust be immediatelystopped.

It is great to knowthat as BusinessIndia states “Nuclear Power is onearea in which Indiahas indigenised tothe highest degreeof self‐reliance and competences,having managed to standardise andimprove upon the Canadian – designed220,MW PHWRs andthen scale this up to540 MW reactorsize. A momentous milestone wasreached in

Strategy for Growth of Renewable Energy in India

To promote renewable energy technologies in the country, the government has put inplace some subsidies & fiscal incentives. The Indian Renewable Energy DevelopmentAgency has been set up under Ministry for Non‐Conventional Energy Sources and is aspecialized financing agency to promote and finance renewable energy projects.Following is a short list of new measures: (i) Income tax breaks,(ii) Accelerateddepreciation, (iii) Custom duty/duty free import concessions (iv) Capital/Interestsubsidy,(v) Incentives for preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPR) and feasibilityreports

Coal fired generation currently provides two thirds of the generation capacity, andhydropower supplies the other third. Yet, India is blessed with vast resources ofrenewable energy in solar, wind, biomass and small hydro. In fact, the technicalpotential of these renewables exceeds the present installed generation capacity.Unique in the world, India has the only Ministry that is dedicated to the development ofrenewable energies: the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. This bodes well for theacceleration of renewable development throughout the nation ‐‐ both to meet theunderserved needs of millions of rural residents and the growing demand of an energyhungry economy.

IREDA

IREDA is a Public Limited Government Company established in 1987, under theadministrative control of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to promote,develop and extend financial assistance for renewable energy and energy efficiency/conservation projects. The objectives of IREDA are:

1. To give financial support to specific projects and schemes for generatingelectricity and / or energy through new and renewable sources and conservingenergy through energy efficiency. (http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/list.aspx?lid=1376&Id=7)

2. To increase IREDA's share in the renewable energy sector by way of innovativefinancing. (http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/list.aspx?lid=1374&Id=7)

3. To strive to be competitive institution through customer satisfaction.(http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/list.aspx?lid=1373&Id=7)

http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/list.aspx?lid=1373&Id=7





September 2005 when the country’s first indigenouslydesigned and fabricated 540 MW PHWR unit 4 atTarapur becamecommercial sevenmonths ahead of schedule. Using thesame core of 540MW, Indianenterprise hasdeveloped the 700MW PHWR, eight ofwhich are under conconstruction. Indeed India is now capableof selling its 220MW reactors, which are best in theirclass, to developing countries that require compact ,affordable and easily manageableplants.” This is agreat feat for Indiaas all these havebeen done with tightsanctions in place. Government shouldsupport and help

4. To maintain its position as a leading organization to provide efficient andeffective financing in renewable energy and energy efficiency / conservationprojects. (http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/list.aspx?lid=1372&Id=7)

5. Improvement in the efficiency of services provided to customers throughcontinual improvement of systems, processes and resources.(http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/list.aspx?lid=1371&Id=7)

The government schemes for promotion of renewable energy are: Wind Generationbased I (http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/contentpage.aspx?lid=744)ncentives, Solar(http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/contentpage.aspx?lid=743) Generation based I(http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/contentpage.aspx?lid=744)ncentives, JNNSM(http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/contentpage.aspx?lid=745), IREDA‐NCEF RefinanceScheme (http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/contentpage.aspx?lid=1430) and SWHS CapitalSubsidy Scheme (http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/contentpage.aspx?lid=1482).

Renewable Energy Resource is Key to India’s Future Earth

Future Earth is a 10‐year international research initiative that will develop the knowledgefor responding effectively to the risks and opportunities of global environmentalchange, and for supporting transformation towards sustainability. The wide applicationof renewable energy resource will provide solutions oriented research to meet theIndian socio‐economic challenges identified in the Future Earth 2025 Vision. The FutureEarth Vision (2014) tries to explore new ways and paths to achieve sustainabledevelopmental goals. It aims to mitigate the effects of global environmental change andresource crunch on the people. Along with this, it also tries to contribute to resolve thenexus between basic needs of poor people, human well‐being, urbansiation, andsustainability.

The government should identify strategic research agenda for India’s Future Earthfocusing on:

1. Dynamic Indian Environment including observing and attributing urbanisationinduced changes; understanding biophysical processes, interactions, disasterrisks and population thresholds; exploring and predicting short and long termchanges in futures.

2. Sustainable Development including basic needs of the people; overcoming



http://www.ireda.gov.in/forms/contentpage.aspx?lid=1482








scientists in BhabhaAtomic ResearchCentre at Trombaywho are developinga reactor that uses Thorium as a fuel.

Recently PrimeMinister MrNarendra Modi on avisit to BhabhaAtomic ResearchCentre (BARC)acknowledged it bysaying “India’s self‐reliance in thenuclear fuel cycleand the commercialsuccess of theindigenous reactorsdemonstrated thatwith vision, resolveand hard work, Indiacould be a front –ranking country inthe most challengingfields”.

regional inequalities; improving quality of human population and encouragingparticipatory Governance.

3. Transforming towards sustainability in India including understanding andevaluating socio‐economic transformations; local identify and promotingsustainable life style and liveloohoods; transforming development styles.

Conclusion

The domestic production of crude oil from fossil fuels remains more or less stagnantover the years and meets only one third of national requirement, while the balance ismet through imports of crude petroleum products that cost huge for the country closeto $90 billion in 2008‐09, which have massive impact on the country’s foreign exchangereserves. The demand of crude oil is expected to continue over the next decade since itis projected that the industrialisation and urbanisation in the country will increase incoming future that would further increase the demand for petroleum products. Thisgrowing dependence on fossil fuels for powering the industry and transport sector isthe key reason for the country to embrace renewable energy production on its own.Along with this, socio‐economic and environ‐mental benefits are also expected in orderto transform India’s future earth towards sustainability.

References

Chatterjee, K., Kumar, V. and Chatterjee, A. (2014), Promoting Renewable Energy inIndia Climate Change Centre Development Alternatives.http://www.climatechangecentre.net/pdf/renewableenergy.pdf(http://www.climatechangecentre.net/pdf/renewableenergy.pdf)

Energy Alternatives India (EAI) (2015)http://www.eai.in/ref/ae/geo/geo.html#sthash.NfcAIgBp.dpuf

FAO (2008), Biofuels: Prospects, Risks and Opportu‐nities,The State of Food andAgriculture, Food and Agricultural Organisation, Rome.

Future Earth Programme (2015) Future Earth 2025 Vision sets the framework for theprogramme’s contribution to global sustainable development, http://www.futureearth.org/

http://www.climatechangecentre.net/pdf/renewableenergy.pdf



India Ministry of Non‐Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) http://mnes.nic.in/

Licht, FO (2009), World Ethanol and Biofuels Report, 7(18): 365, 26 May.

Meisen, Peter and Quéneudec,Eléonore (2006), Overview of Renewable EnergyPotential of India, Global Energy Network Institute (GENI).

Raju, S.S., Shinoj, P. and Joshi, P.K. (2009), Sustainable Development of Biofuels:Prospects and Challeneges, Economic and Political Weekely, XLIV (52).

Singh, R.B. (2014). Emerging frontiers, challenges and changing professional avenues forgeographers in the contemporary world. Geographica Polonica, 87(2), 555‐568, DOI:10.7163/GPol.2014.12.

Singh, R.B. (Ed.) (2015). Urban Development Challenges, Risk and Resilience in AsianMega Cities‐Sustainable Urban Future of Emerging Asian Mega Region, Springer, Tokyo.

Singh, R.B. and Hietala, R. (Eds.) (2014). Livelihood Security in Northwestern Himalaya,Springer, Tokyo, Pages 258.

The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI) (2015). http://www.teriin.org/

Web Reference

http://www.futureearth.org/sites/default/files/future‐earth_10‐year‐vision_web.pdf

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renewable energy sources for sustainability of india’s future earth

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