PHM https://developmentinitiatives.org The Potters House Maroochydore Wed, 22 Jan 2020 07:15:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.3.15 https://developmentinitiatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/cropped-favicon-1-32x32.png PHM https://developmentinitiatives.org 32 32 India Supports Its Commitment to a Below 2 Degrees Paris Agreement Pledge with a Range of Programs https://developmentinitiatives.org/2020/01/22/india-supports-its-commitment-to-a-below-2-degrees-paris-agreement-pledge-with-a-range-of-programs/ Wed, 22 Jan 2020 06:09:43 +0000 https://developmentinitiatives.org/demo/?p=3945

The Indian Government is one of the signatories to both the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, committing itself to stay below 2 degrees Celsius by a slew of initiated measures through public policies, lifestyle changes, and sectoral transformations. The Indian Prime Minister’s recent address during the Climate Summit in September indicated his country’s continued commitment to stay the course through  a set of action plans that takes the country’s climate agenda further, notwithstanding its domestic challenges and lack of corresponding financing by the West.

The three specific developments that occurred in India over the last three months related to Indian climate change policy are outlined below.

1) New Public Policy on Electric Vehicles 

Power ministry issues revised norms for Electric Vehicles (EV) charging infra to boost e-mobility

To promote EVs, the Indian government approved amendments in guidelines and specifications for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. These revised guidelines and specifications shall supersede the earlier guidelines and standards issued by the Ministry of Power on December 14, 2018.

To address the range of issues of EV owners, a phased installation of a network of charging infrastructure throughout the country has been planned to ensure that at least one charging station should be available in a grid of 3 km X 3 km in the cities and one charging station at every 25 km on both sides of highways and roads.

It has also been envisaged that in the first phase (i.e. 1-3 years), all existing expressways connected to mega cities (with a population of over four million as per Census 2011) and important highways connected to mega cities may be taken up for coverage, while in the second phase (3-5 years), big cities such as state capitals and Union territory (UT) headquarters may be covered for distributed and demonstrative effect.

To address the concerns in inter-city travel and long range and/or heavy duty EVs such as buses and trucks, it has been stated that fast-charging stations shall be installed at every 100 km on each side of the highways and roads.
(https://beeindia.gov.in/content/e-mobility)

Introduction of a new set of guidelines to provide charging infrastructure for electric vehicles portends well both as an incentive for new entrants in this market and also for people willing and open to buy e-vehicles.

2) Extreme Weather Events
Indian Rivers Crossed Highest Flood Levels in India 

Climate change has impacted India severely. Extreme rainfall events and widespread floods have increased manifold over the last several decades.

States like Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat received 36, 30, 22, and 31% more rainfall than normal between June 1 and September 18, 2019. This is the highest among the big states of India.

Moreover, a rise in average global temperatures led to a worrying trend of no rain for long periods and then a sudden bout of excessive rainfall causing extreme weather events, particularly floods. Such floods take lives, destroy homes, and agricultural yields as well as result in huge revenue losses.

Kerala was reeling under a seasonal rainfall deficit of 27% until August 7. But between August 1 and 7, Kerala saw a 22% excess rainfall and then on August 8 it received 368% more rainfall than normal, which led to floods, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) records.

By August 13, the incessant rainfall in the state reduced the seasonal deficit to 3%. The floods ended up killing more than 100 people and displacing 1.9 lakh.

Floods are also a result of gross mismanagement of dams and lack of coordination between states.

3) New Research Studies, Investments, and Findings
Launch of The UNEP Report “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment, 2019

India has so far committed a mammoth $90 billion investment in the renewable energy sector and is fast emerging as a leading investor for green energy projects, according to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

A new UNEP Report “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2019″ highlights a ranking of countries, including India, based on their renewable energy investments between 2010 and the first half of 2019. The report also points at the capital costs attributed to some of the largest projects financed in 2018 to highlight the highly competitive nature of the Indian solar market. This included the NLC Tangedco photovoltaic (PV) plant and Adani Karnataka portfolio.

The report also noted that auctions in 2017 and 2018 delivered highly competitive tariffs for wind projects in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, and the commissioning of these from 2019 onward is expected to expand the market to 5-6 GW annually. India is starting to develop an offshore wind market, with the government eyeing up to 1 GW of projects along the coast of Gujarat. However, the UNEP study pointed out investors are waiting for more clarity on the power offtake mechanism, the amount of subsidy, and the conditions for site permissions.

The finding of the UNEP Report shows that the Indian government, private sector, and financial and banking sector need to coordinate and synchronize to take effective measures to transition towards renewable energy for a climate clean up exercise. If India wants to achieve a safe and sustainable future, it needs to do a lot more now in terms of creating an enabling-regulatory environment and infrastructure that encourage investment in renewable.

Source: ClimateScorecard
]]> India Climate Leader 2019: Sunita Narain https://developmentinitiatives.org/2020/01/22/india-is-taking-steps-forward-to-make-use-of-its-extensive-renewable-energy-resources/ Wed, 22 Jan 2020 05:55:45 +0000 https://developmentinitiatives.org/demo/?p=3940

Sunita Narain, Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment

Sunita Narain is a Delhi-based environmentalist and author. She is currently the Director General of the Center for Science and Environment (CSE: https://www.cseindia.org/) and Editor of the biweekly magazine, Down To Earth (https://www.downtoearth.org.in/).

Narain plays an active role in policy formulation on issues of environment and development in India and globally. She was a member of the Indian Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change and has been awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour.

In 2005, the Centre for Science and Environment was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize under her leadership. In 2016, Time Magazine listed her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Narain’s work is to research the interaction between food and the environment. Her interest is to ensure that countries in the Southern world do not adopt highly chemical intensive agricultural systems as they do not have the capacity to mitigate and manage the toxic fallout on the environment and human health.

Professional Career

Narain began working with the Centre for Science and Environment in 1982, working with the founder Anil Agarwal while completing her studies at the University of Delhi. In 1985, she co-edited the State of India’s Environment report and then went on to study issues related to forest management. For this project, she travelled across the country to understand people’s management of natural resources.

In 1989, Narain and Agarwal wrote ‘Towards Green Villages’ on the subject of local democracy and sustainable development. In her years at the Centre, Narain has studied the relationship between Environment and development, and worked to create public consciousness about the need for sustainable development. In 2012, she wrote the 7th State of India’s Environment Reports, Excreta Matters, an analysis of urban India’s water supply and pollution.

Over the years, Narain has also developed the management and financial support systems needed for the Centre, which has over 100 staff members and a dynamic program profile. In the early 1990s, she became more involved in global environmental issues and she continues to work on these issues as a researcher and advocate. Her research interests are wide-ranging: from global democracy, with a special focus on climate change, to the need for local democracy, where she has worked both on forest-related resource management and water-related issues.

In 2008, Narain delivered the K R Narayanan Oration on “Why Environmentalism Needs Equity: Learning from the environmentalism of the poor to build our common future”. Narain also appeared alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the documentary Before The Flood and talked about the impact of climate change on the Monsoon in

India and how it affects farmers’ communities.

Narain’s efforts in combating climate change are conjoined with evidence based research in working with businesses and multi-stakeholders; she advocates the point that any action undertaken by stakeholders has to be well thought through to avoid any potential fall outs that may negatively affect people and the planet.

One of her key efforts most recently has been to combine her knowledge, experience, and know how to demonstrate the benefits of organic food and its impact on health and climate through town hall meetings. These meetings provide cooking demonstrations by leading chefs in front of large audiences from all walks of life as an effort to share insight with the general public on issues of food, health, and climate change.

Quote by Sunita Narain post COP 25 held in Madrid and what it entails for countries like India: 

“So, what should be done? There is nothing wrong with setting a net-zero target, per se. But the objective should be to incentivise countries to do more at home and then to buy whatever remains through global trading systems. But this means setting a base price on carbon trading — below this rate (say $100-150 per tonne) projects would not qualify.

This would mean that only those projects would be funded that would be transformational, and not transitional, in the developing world. Countries like India could leapfrog to much cleaner futures. We could avoid first polluting and then cleaning up. This is the future we seek. But for this to happen, for once, climate agreements must walk the talk; not just talk the talk.”

Source: ClimateScorecard
]]> India Is Taking Steps Forward To Make Use Of Its Extensive Renewable Energy Resources https://developmentinitiatives.org/2019/11/07/india-policy-recommendations/ Thu, 07 Nov 2019 19:36:00 +0000 http://themes.webdevia.com/admiral/?p=183

The renewable energy sector in India has been growing steadfastly in the last few years, with the country now home to some of the largest solar and wind installations in the world. The sector received a major boost after 2015 following the government’s decision to create 175 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy capacity in the country by 2022. The new target redefined the scale and scope of the sector, especially for wind and solar which comprise 60 GW and 100 GW (the original goal for solar was 20 GW), respectively, of the goal. Over the last few years, the government has launched a series of supportive policies and schemes to encourage the building up of renewable capacity in the country. The dramatic fall in the price of photovoltaic cells by more than 50% over the last 5 years in domestic markets has further been spurring the demand and investments in renewables sector. With fast expanding demand and a steep fall in prices, the market size of the renewables is further set to expand and deepen.

In 2014 the renewable energy sector began to take flight in India. Some of the key country goals included finding the right energy mix through policy ecosystem and by involving the private sector. Five years down the road, renewable capacity in India has reached 73 gigawatt (GW), accounting for over 20% of the country’s total. Solar has performed particularly well: in 2017-18 alone, around 10 GW of solar was installed equaling the entire installed base. The capacity growth was driven by a sharp fall in tariffs, with both solar and wind auctions attracting bids that were lower than the cost of power from coal-based plants. (https://shaktifoundation.in/report/the-state-of-renewable-energy-in-india-2019/)

While 2018 left us with a sense of success, a lot still needs to be done to maintain the momentum. Indeed, 2018 has seen a reversal of some of the positive trends. Installations dropped to ~6.6 GW in the months between January to September. Tariffs went up as the government introduced a safeguard duty on imported PV modules. Solar auctions were cancelled or retendered for a lower size due to lack of developer interest and discoms’ demand for lower tariffs. Some of this slowdown is a temporary phenomenon, since the longer term trends — such as declining PV module costs — remain in place. But there are also some policy and implementation hiccups that need to be addressed to ensure the sector continues to grow strongly.

Fact Sheet on renewable sources of energy in India 

Table 1: Installed grid interactive renewable power capacity in India (excluding large hydro) as of June 30, 2019

________________________________________________________________________

Sources of renewables  MW Percentage share

of total MW

________________________________________________________________________

Wind Power:  36,368  45.2

Solar Power: 29,549 36.7

Biomass Power: 9,806 12.2

Small Hydro Power: 4,604 5.7

Waste-to-Power: 138 0.2

________________________________________________________________________

Total 80,465 100

________________________________________________________________________

According to a 2018 Climatescope report on Emerging Markets Outlook, Energy Transition in World’s Fastest Growing Economies, India ranked second among the emerging economies to lead to transition to clean energy. Installed renewable power generation capacity has increased at a fast pace over the past few years, posting a CAGR of 19.78 per cent between FY14–18. (http://global-climatescope.org/assets/data/reports/climatescope-2018-report-en.pdf)

The focus of India’s government has now shifted to clean energy after it ratified the Paris Agreement. With the increased support of government and improved economics, the sector has become attractive for investors for large deployment of capital into this sector. As India looks to meet its energy demand on its own, expected to reach 15,820 TWh by 2040, renewable energy is set to play an important role.

Moving Forward

The Government of India is committed to increased use of clean energy sources and is already undertaking various large-scale sustainable power projects and

promoting green energy heavily. In addition, renewable energy has the potential to create many employment opportunities at all levels, especially in rural areas.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has set an ambitious target to set up renewable energy capacities to the tune of 175 GW by 2022 of which about 100 GW is planned for solar, 60 for wind and other for hydro, bio among other. As of June 2018, Government of India is aiming to achieve 225 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, much ahead of its target of 175 GW as per the Paris Agreement. India’s renewable energy sector is expected to attract investments of up to US$ 80 billion in the next four years.

It is expected that by the year 2040, around 49% of the total electricity will be generated by renewable energy, as more efficient batteries will be used to store electricity which will further cut the solar energy cost by 66% as compared to the current cost.

It is estimated that the use of renewables in place of coal will save India Rs 54,000 crore (US$ 8.43 billion) annually.

Government initiatives

Some initiatives by the Government of India to boost the Indian renewable energy sector are as follows:

  • A new Hydropower policy for 2018-28 has been drafted for the growth of hydro projects in the country.
  • The Government of India has announced plans to implement a US$238 million National Mission on advanced ultra-supercritical technologies for cleaner coal utilisation. (https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=165512)
  • The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has decided to provide custom and excise duty benefits to the solar rooftop sector, which in turn will lower the cost of setting up as well as generate power, thus boosting growth. (www.mnre.gov.in)
  • The Indian Railways is taking increased efforts through sustained energy efficient measures and maximum use of clean fuel to cut down emission levels by 33% by 2030.

Status: Moving Ahead

Take Action

India is a signatory to the Paris agreement and continues to stay the course with a slew of measures including a strong focus on renewable energy, investments in green technologies, gradually reducing dependence on fossil fuel and enabling policy frameworks to provide continuity through involvement of sub regional governments. One such measure that the Indian government in tandem with the private sector has taken up is to step up its efforts to expand the markets around renewables, scale production and deepen consumption, spur investments and deploy extensive financial capital in the area of clean energy and renewables. India has already set a target of 175 GW out of which 73 GW is already achieved with a clear focus on reducing dependence on fossil fuel. Given the size and scale of the tasks involved  these measures will need a constant oversight by domestic actors on implementation of measures as set by India.

Keeping in view the urgency of the climate challenges, call to collective action can be requested to the Indian Prime Minister as per his details below:

Renewables are key to advancing green climate while keeping emissions within permissible limits, going forward. However, India’s march towards a clean and green environment can effectively be sustained by backing the country’s current performance levels with enforceable policies for country’s Paris Climate commitment of 1.5 degrees Celsius to stay course in run up to 2030. 

Source: ClimateScorecard
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