AIR SPOTLIGHT: ENERGY FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

 

Context: Prime Minister addressed a webinar on ‘Energy for Sustainable Growth’.

 

Highlights:

• The Prime Minister said that ‘Energy for Sustainable Growth’ not only resonates with the Indian tradition but is a pathway to achieve future needs and aspirations. Sustainable growth is possible only through sustainable energy sources.
• PM reiterated his commitment made at Glasgow to reach Net Zero by 2070.
• He also mentioned his vision of LIFE pertaining to an environmentally sustainable lifestyle.
• India is providing leadership in the global collaborations like International Solar Alliance.
• He also talked of target of achieving 500 gigawatt non-fossil energy capacity and achieving 50 per cent of installed energy capacity through non-fossil energy by 2030.
• This budget has announced 19.5 thousand crore for high-efficiency solar module manufacturing which will help in making India a global hub for manufacturing and R&D of solar modules and related products.
• India can become hub of green hydrogen given its inherent advantage in the form of abundant renewable energy power.
• Provisions have also been made in this year’s budget regarding battery swapping policy and inter-operability standards. These will reduce the problems faced in the use of electric vehicles in India.
• Along with energy production, energy saving is equally important for sustainability.
• Government brought down the cost of LED bulbs by promoting production and then 37 crore LED bulbs were distributed under Ujala scheme. This has led to saving of forty eight thousand million Kilo Watt Hour electricity and saving of about 20 thousand crore rupees in the electricity bills of poor and middle class families. Furthermore, annual carbon emission saw a decline of 4 crore tonnes. Local bodies are saving 6 thousand crore rupees every year due to adoption of LED bulbs in street lights.
• In this year’s budget, for coal gasification, 4 pilot projects have been announced which will help in firming up technical and financial viability of these projects.
• Similarly, the government is also continuously promoting ethanol blending.
• PM underlined the criticality of transition towards renewable energy. He listed a series of steps in this direction such as:
• clean-cooking in 24-25 crore households of India
• solar panels on canals, solar tree in household gardens or balconies to, possibly, get 15 per cent energy for the household from the solar-tree
• exploring micro hydel projects to enhance electricity production
• circular economy is the demand of the hour

 

World scenario:

 

The world is making progress towards Goal 7, with encouraging signs that energy is becoming more sustainable and widely available. Access to electricity in poorer countries has begun to accelerate, energy efficiency continues to improve, and renewable energy is making impressive gains in the electricity sector.

 

Nevertheless, more focused attention is needed to improve access to clean and safe cooking fuels and technologies for 3 billion people, to expand the use of renewable energy beyond the electricity sector, and to increase electrification in sub-Saharan Africa.

Recent strides:

Announcements:

• In 2018 the GoI announced an increased ambition of 227 GW renewable capacity by 2022 and 275 GW by 2027.
• Electricity: The government has a target to achieve 175 GW of grid-connected renewable electricity by March 2022: 100 GW solar, 60 GW wind, 10 GW biomass and 5 GW of small hydropower. In addition, the MNRE is targeting 1 GW of geothermal capacity by 2022.
• At the United Nations’ Climate Summit 2019, the PM announced a new target of 450 GW of renewable electricity capacity, without specifying a date.

 

Achievements:

• Global Energy Transition Index 2021:
• measures 115 countries’ readiness to shift to stable, efficient, accessible, and inclusive energy systems through three dimensions: economic development and growth, sustainability, and energy protection and access indicators.
• In the recently published report, India ranked 87th out of 115 countries and has made significant progress over the past decade, owing to the increasingly diverse energy sources, the share of renewables.
• At COP 21, as part of its NDCs, India had committed to achieving 40% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil energy sources by 2030. The country has achieved this target in November 2021 itself.
• The country's installed Renewable Energy (RE) capacity stands at 150.54 GW (solar: 48.55 GW, wind: 40.03 GW, Small hydro Power: 4.83, Bio-power: 10.62, Large Hydro: 46.51 GW) as on 30.11.2021 while its nuclear energy based installed electricity capacity stands at 6.78 GW.
• This brings the total non-fossil based installed energy capacity to 157.32 GW which is 40.1% of the total installed electricity capacity of 392.01 GW
• During the last 7.5 years, India has witnessed the fastest rate of growth in renewable energy capacity addition among all large economies, with renewable energy capacity (including large hydro) growing 1.97 times and solar energy expanding over 18 times.
• As per REN21 Renewables 2020 Global status Report , during the period 2014 -2019 renewable energy programmes and projects in India attracted an investment of US$ 64.4 billion.
• The budgetary allocation for RE sector has been increasing every year with ₹5,753 crore allocated in Budget 2021-22.
• FDI inflows into non-conventional energy between 2000 and 2020 was $9.83 billion.
• In 2017 the total supply of renewable energy was around 200 Mtoe, representing 23% of Total primary energy supply (TPES).

 

Future scenario:

• India’s primary energy consumption will grow 156 per cent by 2040 (BP Energy Outlook, 2019).
• India will also account for 25 per cent of the rise in global energy use by 2040.
• Though India’s per capita primary energy consumption is still only a third of the global average, it is going through its most energy intensive phase, which is expected to continue for next couple of decades.
• Also, by 2040, 42 per cent of India’s new demand is to be met by coal leading to more CO2 emissions.

 

Major Programmes and Schemes:

• The government has been promoting renewables since Electricity Act 2003. Subsequently National Electricity Policy, 2005; National Clean Energy Fund, 2010; revised tariff policy 2016, were formulated to incentivise and create a market for renewable energy sector.
• Further, the launch of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) in 2008 gave thrust to solar energy by giving capital subsidy. So far, about 40 GW of solar electric generation capacity has been installed.
• The government also tried to create the market for renewable energy suppliers with policies like Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO), which directs Discoms to purchase power from renewable energy sources and Renewable Energy Certification (REC) compliance of RPO.
• Some of the policies under National Action Plan of Climate Change such as the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) to save energy and Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs (UJALA) to save energy and reduce emission are welcome.
• Further, the National Bio-fuels Policy 2018 targets 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol and 5 per cent blending of biodiesel in diesel by 2030.
• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM): To provide energy and water security, de-dieselise the farm sector and also generate additional income for farmers by producing solar power, scheme aims to add 30.8 GW of solar capacity with central financial support of over Rs. 34,000 Crore.
• Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme: “National Programme on High Efficiency Solar PV Modules” with an outlay of Rs. 4500 crores to support and promote manufacturing of high efficiency solar PV modules.
• Solar Parks Scheme: To facilitate large scale grid connected solar power projects, a scheme for “Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects” is under implementation with a target capacity of 40 GW capacity by March 2022.
• Roof Top Solar programme Phase-II: with a target of 40 GW installed capacity by the year 2021-22, is also under implementation.
• Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) Scheme: A scheme for setting up 12 GW Grid- Connected Solar PV Power Projects by Central Public Sector Undertakings with domestic cells and modules is under implementation.
• Wind Power:
• has grown 1.9 times during past 7.5 years to about 40 GW. India has the 4th largest wind power capacity in the world.
• Government of India has notified the offshore Wind Energy Policy to harness the potential of offshore wind energy along India’s coastline.
• The Ministry has notified the wind solar hybrid policy, providing a framework for promotion of large grid connected wind-solar PV hybrid projects.
• Off-Grid Solar PV Applications Programme Phase III: for Solar Street Lights, Solar Study Lamps and Solar Power Packs
• Atal Jyoti Yojana (AJAY) Phase-II: for installation of solar street lights
• Green Energy Corridor: In order to facilitate renewable power evacuation and reshaping the grid for future requirements, the Green Energy Corridor (GEC) projects have been initiated.
• The following Bio-energy schemes were under implementation by the Ministry:
• Programme on Energy from Urban, Industrial and Agricultural Wastes/ Residues
• Scheme to support Promotion of Biomass based cogeneration in sugar mills and other industries
• Biogas Power (Off-Grid) Generation and Thermal application Programme (BPGTP)
• New National Biogas and Organic Manure Programme (NNBOMP)
• Waiver of Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for inter-state sale of solar and wind power for projects
• Hydropower Purchase Obligation (HPO) within Non-Solar Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO).
• Competitive Bidding guidelines for procurement of solar and wind power.
• Hydrogen Mission: to make India a global hub for Green Hydrogen production and export.
• One Sun – One World – One Grid (OSOWOG): A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the World Bank
• International Solar Alliance

 

Issues/Challenges ahead:

• Mobilization of the necessary finance and investment on competitive terms:
• Gearing up the banking sector for arranging finances for larger deployment goals,
• exploring low-interest rate,
• long-term international funding, and
• developing a suitable mechanism for risk mitigation or sharing by addressing both technical and financial bottlenecks are major challenges.
• Land acquisition: Land acquisition is one of the major challenges in renewable power development. Identification of land with RE potential, its conversion (if needed), clearance from land ceiling Act, decision on land lease rent, clearance from revenue department, and other such clearances take time.
• Balancing growth and environment: For a country like India, committing to net zero transition could potentially have implications on growth, on the economy and on energy availability for industrialisation and urbanisation.
• Creating an innovation and manufacturing eco-system in the country
• Integrating larger share of renewables with the grid
• Enabling supply of firm and dispatchable power from renewables
• Enabling penetration of renewables in the so called hard to decarbonize sectors.
• The energy transition itself will change resource flows and reset sectors of the energy system in ways that, if not planned for, could lead to unintended consequences and leave entire communities adrift.
• Despite the recent strides in renewable energy, India still largely depends upon coal (around 55%) and oil (30%) for energy sources.
• No country will contribute more to the rise in global carbon emissions than India. India consumes coal more than the United States and Japan combined—will “remain ingrained under the fingernails of the nation” because of “politics, economics, and the complications of generating electricity.”
• The share of hydroelectricity in India’s energy mix has been slowing.

 

In the transport sector, emerging challenges include:

• Demand rebound versus sustained behaviour change
• Private vehicle ownership versus non-motorized, shared, and public transport
• Internal combustion engines versus electric vehicles
• Inefficient supply chains versus clean, optimized logistics
• Short-term supply disruptions versus long-term resilient supply chains

 

In the electricity sector, emerging challenges include:

• Fossil fuels versus renewables and distributed energy resources
• Regulated electricity markets versus competitive wholesale electricity markets

 

Four principles for India’s clean energy and economic recovery programs:

• Invest in least-cost energy solutions:
• The steeply falling costs of clean energy technologies present an opportunity to pursue an economically viable clean energy transition. For example, the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) program decreased the unit cost of LED bulbs by over 75 percent in 18 months.
• Other examples include solar and wind emerging as India’s lowest-cost electricity sources, even without subsidy, and electric buses beginning to present lower total cost of ownership than that of diesel buses for city bus services.
• Savings from avoided fossil-fuel costs and stranded assets should be considered in current investment decisions.
• The economic savings associated with a clean energy future can be redeployed to support critical development priorities. This pathway must be carefully planned and executed to protect existing jobs and create future job growth.
• Support resilient and secure energy systems: As climate change accelerates, the likelihood of pandemics and extreme weather shocks will likely increase, making the need to build a resilient future critical.
• Prioritize efficiency and competitiveness: Given India’s scale and stage of development, efficient and thoughtful use of resources is essential. India’s manufacturing prowess and technology leadership present an opportunity to leverage Make in India to turn India into a more self-sufficient economy and globally competitive export hub over time. Circular economy solutions should become a core feature of India’s future economy.
• Promote social and environmental equity: Given India’s position as one of the world’s largest and fastest growing economies, albeit with large social inequalities, additional weight on social and economic equity must be considered when applying these principles in the Indian context.

 

Way forward:

• Inclusive approach to evaluate energy policy and investment decisions: Policy-makers should prioritize measures to support the economy, workforces and society at large as countries shift to a low-carbon energy system.
• Accelerate Electrification and Go Beyond: Electrification and the scaling up of renewables are critical pillars of the energy transition and need to be ramped up quickly.
• Increased Research & Development funding and cross-sector collaboration are needed to fully decarbonize energy systems, from green hydrogen and negative emission technologies to digitally-enabled demand optimization.
• Double- Down on Public-Private Sector Collaboration: Collaboration between public and private sectors, including risk-sharing as low-carbon solutions mature, will attract the diversified, resilient sources of capital needed for multi-year and multi-decade investments into energy systems.
• Ensuring adequate support from developed to developing countries in the form of finance, technology and in capacity building.
• The Government of India should:
• Develop a holistic strategy on renewable energy, encompassing both supply and use, for electricity, heating and cooling as well as transport to fully harness India’s large untapped potential.
• Adapt the design of competitive auctions by SECI to ensure India can meet the 2022 renewable electricity targets.
• Adopt a medium- to long-term target for renewable electricity for the period beyond 2022 to give investors certainty.
• Support further growth of distributed renewable energy – notably the solar PV rooftop market – by strengthening and clarifying incentives to implement business models that offer customers standardised solar PV rooftop systems, based on international and national best practice experience.
• Ensure compliance with RPOs imposed by state regulators.
• Strengthen the financial viability of DISCOMs.
• Maximise India’s significant potential for sustainable bioenergy, comprising implementation of the policy on transport biofuels to scale up conventional and advanced biofuel production while ensuring sustainability criteria are met, realising the potential to scale up bioenergy in the sugar and cement industries, and scaling up EfW, using best practice throughout the supply chain

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2022/mar/04/sustainable-growth-possible-only-with-sustainable-energy-resources-pm-modi-2426293.html

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/energy/

https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1222_web.pdf

https://www.iea.org/commentaries/energy-is-at-the-heart-of-the-sustainable-development-agenda-to-2030

https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2020-06/India_Green_Stimulus_Report_NITI_VF_June_29.pdf

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/budget2019-20/economicsurvey/doc/vol1chapter/echap09_vol1.pdf

https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s13705-019-0232-1.pdf

 

NEWS IN BRIEF: PRELIMS SPECIAL

Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav

• Union Government Launched ‘Kanya Shikhsa Pravesh Utsav’ campaign to bring back out of school girls to the formal education and/or skilling system.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), launched a campaign ‘Kanya Shikhsa Pravesh Utsav’ to bring back out of school adolescent girls in India to the formal education and/or skilling system.
• The campaign was launched with the objective of increasing the enrolment and retention of girls between 11-14 years of age in school.
• The initiative intends to build on the existing schemes and programmes like Schemes for Adolescent Girls, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and National Education Policy to work on a comprehensive system for out of school girls.
• The campaign will target more than 400,000 out of school adolescent girls as primary beneficiaries.
• It will create awareness and also increase investment in health, education, protection, skill building including financial literacy.
• It will empower young women and girls, and promote gender-equality among India’s children and youth.

 

https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=PM-Modi-lauds-Kanya-Shiksha-Pravesh-Utsav-Abhiyan&id=436806

 

Nari Shakti Puraskars, International Women Day

• The President of India awarded 29 individuals with Nari Shakti Puruskar for the years 2020 and 2021 at a special ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi on 8th March, 2022.
• Awards (14 each for the year 2020 and 2021) presented to 29 individuals in recognition of their exceptional work in rendering distinguished services towards empowerment of women, especially vulnerable and marginalized women.
• Nari Shakti Puraskar is the highest civilian honor for women in India.
• It is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to individual women or to institutions that work for women empowerment.
• The awards are presented by the President of India on International Women's Day (8 March), at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
• The awards were instituted in 1999 under the title of Stree Shakti Puraskar and were renamed and reorganized in 2015.
• The Nari Shakti Puraskar is given in 6 institutional categories and 2 categories for individual women.
• The idea for an International Women's day arose around the turn of the 20th century out of a long-standing movement for women to participate equally in society.
• The first International Women's Day was observed on March 19, 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. That day, more than one million women and men showed their support by participating in public events.
• Over time, International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration.
• It was expanded by the United Nations in 1975 with the International Women's Year.
• By 1977, the United Nations had adopted a resolution designating March 8 as International Women's Day.

https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=International-Women%26%2339%3Bs-Day%3A-Prez-Ram-Nath-Kovind-presents-Nari-Shakti-Puraskars-for-2020-and-2021&id=436770

Special Entrepreneurship Promotion Drive for Women "SAMARTH"

• On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2022, the Union Ministry of MSMEs has launched a Special Entrepreneurship Promotion Drive for Women "SAMARTH".
• The initiative aims to develop entrepreneurship culture among women by offering several additional benefits for women in the schemes implemented by the Ministry.
• Following benefits will be available to aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs:
  • 20% Seats will be allocated for women in free Skill Development Programs organized under skill development schemes of the Ministry.
  • 20% of MSME Business Delegations sent to domestic and international exhibitions will be dedicated to women owned MSMEs.
  • 20% Discount on annual processing fee on Commercial Schemes.
  • Special Drive for registration of women-owned MSMEs under Udyam Registration.
• Through this initiative, the Ministry of MSME will provide Skill Development and Market Development Assistance to women and more than 7500 women candidates from rural and sub- urban areas will be trained in the FY 2022-23.
• Thousands of women will get marketing opportunities to showcase their products in domestic and international exhibitions.
• Single Point Registration Scheme.

 

https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=MSME-Minister-Narayan-Rane-launches-Special-Entrepreneurship-Promotion-Drive-for-Women---%E2%80%9CSAMARTH%E2%80%9D&id=436763

SLINEX (Sri Lanka–India Naval Exercise)

• The Ninth Edition of India - Sri Lanka Bilateral Maritime Exercise SLINEX (Sri Lanka–India Naval Exercise) is scheduled at Visakhapatnam from 07 Mar to 10 Mar 2022.
• SLINEX (Sri Lanka India Naval Exercise) are a series of naval exercises between the Indian Navy and the Sri Lanka Navy. The first SLINEX exercise took place in 2005.
• Sri Lanka Navy will be represented by SLNS Sayurala, an advanced offshore patrol vessel and the Indian Navy by INS Kirch, a guided missile corvette.
• SLINEX aims to enhance inter-operability, improve mutual understanding and exchange best practices and procedures for multi-faceted maritime operations between both navies.

https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=Ninth-edition-of-India-Sri-Lanka-Naval-Exercise-SLINEX-begins-in-Visakhapatnam&id=436715

'DONATE-A-PENSION' SCHEME

• The Union Labour and Employment Ministry launched the “Donate a Pension” scheme.
• It is an initiative under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM) pension scheme.
• Under this scheme, citizens can donate the premium contribution of their immediate support staff including domestic workers, drivers and helpers. So it allows any citizen to pay the premium amount on behalf of an unorganised worker.
• Workers in the unorganized sector with the age group of 18 to 40 years can register themselves and deposit a minimum of 660 to 2400 rupees every year depending on their age.
• After they attain 60 years they will receive the minimum assured pension of three thousand rupees per month.
• The unorganised workers mostly engaged as home based workers, street vendors, mid-day meal workers, head loaders, brick kiln workers, cobblers, rag pickers, domestic workers, washer men, rickshaw pullers, landless labourers, own account workers, agricultural workers, construction workers, beedi workers, handloom workers, leather workers, audio- visual workers and similar other occupations whose monthly income is Rs 15,000/ per month or less and belong to the entry age group of 18-40 years.
• They should not be covered under New Pension Scheme (NPS), Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) scheme or Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
• Further, he/she should not be an income tax payer.”

https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=Govt-launches-Donate-a-Pension-programme&id=436728

 

Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA)                                               

• Bangladesh, India, Nepal moving ahead on Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) of the sub-regional Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) project. Bhutanese parliament has decided not to endorse the plan over sustainability and environmental concerns.
• In 2015, Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal signed the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement
• World Bank has analysed the pact and said that a “trust deficit” between the two countries was a major reason why there was no seamless movement of cargo between the two countries.
• Major gaps that need to address in the MVA include inadequate transport infrastructure, protective tariffs and nontariff barriers
• It will promote safe, economical efficient and environmentally sound road transport in the sub-region and will further help each country in creating an institutional mechanism for regional integration.
• Asian Development Bank has supported the project as part of its South Asian Subregional Economic Cooperation programme.

https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=India%2C-Bangladesh%2C-and-Nepal-finalise-MoU-for-implementation-of-BBIN-Motor-Vehicles-Agreement&id=436842

 

Land Pooling Policy

• The Centre has decided to amend the Delhi Development Act, 1957 for effective implementation of the land pooling policy, which is aimed at meeting the city’s housing requirement in a planned way.
• Land pooling is an activity where a group of landowners handover their land parcels to the government collectively for infrastructure development.
• Once the development is complete, the land is handed over to the original owners, after deducting some portion as the cost for the same.
• The primary benefit of land pooling policy is that the ownership remains with the original titleholder.
• It reduces the chances of legal disputes and compensation disbursements.
• However, the land pooling policy requires a certain percentage of landowners to give consent for the procedure.
• Discontent among a certain section of landowners is a common challenge in this activity.

 

https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=Over-4-lakh-registrations-completed-by-DDA-under-PM-UDAY-scheme%3A-Hardeep-Singh-Puri&id=436827

 

National Land Monetisation Corporation

• The Cabinet has approved the formation of National Land Monetisation Corporation (NLMC) to handle the sale of surplus land and buildings of the government, its agencies, and Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).
• NLMC will be a wholly owned central government entity.
• The special purpose vehicle will be set up by the Department of Public Enterprise and the Ministry of Finance.
• NLMC will be a lean organization with minimal full-time staff, hired directly from the market on contract basis.
• Flexibility will be provided to the Board of NLMC to hire, pay and retain experienced professionals from the private sector.
• NLMC's board will include senior central government officers and eminent experts, with the chairman and non-government directors appointed via a merit-based selection process.

https://newsonair.com/2022/03/09/union-cabinet-approves-setting-up-of-national-land-monetization-corporation-for-undertaking-surplus-land-monetization/