Energy Transformation in India for Sustainability.

Article written for knowledge pack on Theme: Unlocking Sustainability: G20 Presidency Paves the way for an ESG Driven new world order.

Sub Theme: Governance of Energy Transformation through Sustainable Sources

?"We are running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe.” - Elon Musk

?Abstract:

?Global warming and climate change is the buzz word talked in every summit, conferences, seminars, meetings as well as all professional talk. The adverse impact of global warming is visible in last decade and it is accelerating at very high rate. The time have come to convert all talk and knowledge in to an action to reduce emission of greenhouse gases. In this article, the present issue of environmental sustainability is discussed along with various practical stages of energy transformation with focus on action taken by Government of India and people of India.?I am sure, the article will motivate each individual to act and support environmental sustainability.

?Preface:

?Scientist have identified seven greenhouse gases with very high degree of global warming potentials. They are Carbon dioxide, Methane, HFC, PFC, N2O, SF6, NF3. Due to rapid industrialisation and to meet human greed, concentration of these gases increases in atmosphere at very high rate. These gases absorb the reflected sun heat in earth atmosphere and do not allow it to escape back. This lead to increase in temperature of the earth. This increase in temperature is called global warming which lead to melting of Glaciers, heavy rainfall and flood on one location of the world where as severe draught in other location of the world, Wild Forest fire at one location and severe cyclone at other location. Agriculture season have shown huge variation due to change in precipitation pattern. Top priority actions are required to avoid irreversible change of climate.

?Governance to reduce Greenhouse Gas emission:

?In order to mitigate impact of greenhouse gas on climate change, it was agreed in one of Conference of Parties in Kyoto in 1997 to reduce an emission of Greenhouse gases, which is called Kyoto Protocol. It came in force in 2005. India have developed National action plan for Climate change in 2008 consisting of 8 nos of missions, which include mitigating measures, adaptive measures as well as financial instruments to implements the action decided.

?To review and control the emission of GHG, Conference of parties meet every year as well as every 5 years, they review the progress of action taken by various countries. 21st COP met in 2015 at Parris set an objective to limit increase in global temp by less than 2 deg C as compared to preindustrial era as further increase in temp can be irreversible. They voluntarily agreed that they will pursue effort to limit Global temp increase below 1.5 Deg C as compared to pre-industrial era. India is the third largest Greenhouse gas emitter but is the only country who met the commitment made in COP 21 well in advance and made further commitment in COP 26 at Glasgow in 2021 as follows.

1.????India will reach non fossil energy capacity of 500 GW by 2030

2.????India will meet 50% of energy requirement from renewable energy by 2030

3.????India will reduce the total projected carbon emission by additional 1 billion tonnes from now onwards till 2030

4.????By 2030, India will reduce carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45%

5.????India will achieve target of net zero by 2070.

Greenhouse gases emission reduction – Strategy of India:

?Most of the greenhouse gases are produced due to industrial activities and to reduce the impact, many of the industries are voluntarily committing for reducing GHG and showcase them as a green company. Out of these gases, Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas which is emitted by every human and every human activity apart from industrial activities.?Carbon Dioxide contribute the most for Global warming.

?Governance for Greenhouse gas reduction as well as mitigation and adaption of Climate change for environmental sustainability, prime Minister Modi have given call of mission LiFE in COP 26. i.e. life style for an environment and reduce individual impact.?Niti Aayog have called for the ideas for mission LiFE in first quarter of 2023 and awarded the top 5 ideas and recognized top 75 ideas.

?India’s strategy towards climate change is multipronged as given below.

1.????Mitigation by providing Clean & efficient energy systems, Enhancing Energy Efficiency in Industries, Promoting waste to wealth conversion, Sustainable transportation network and Planned afforestation.

2.????Adaptation by supporting Agriculture, Coastal regions & islands, Disaster Management plan and action, Protecting Biodiversity, State plans on Climate change, Knowledge management & Capacity building

3.????Providing financial resources for clean energy, e.g. National Funds, Cess on coal, National Adaptation fund, Productivity linked incentives, Other funds, tax holiday & incentives for low carbon growth, Cut subsidies & increased taxes on fossil fuels, Tax free infrastructure bonds.

Recently, India updated its Energy Conservation Act 2001 and included Environmental Sustainability aspect in addition to Energy Conservation.

Industries and Individual Action plan for Energy Transformation through sustainable sources:

Energy reduction as well as energy transition to low carbon / zero carbon energy is need of the hour. The energy transition also to be sustainable for common man, therefore, I am proposing five step approach for reduction of energy and carbon foot print by each individual as well as business houses.

1.????Energy Conservation:

Any reduction of GHG /Carbon must start with energy conservation. i.e. use energy only when it is required. It is always easy to stop use of energy?and reduce CO2 emission. Some of the examples are, turn on light, fan, AC etc. only when it is required. We can use IoT or automation too to achieve this goal. e.g. motion sensor for conference room, light sensor for public lights, timer based operation of AC, lights etc.?are practical examples being practiced by many.

?2.????Energy Efficiency improvement:

Second step in reducing energy is by improving efficiency of equipment. i.e. perform similar work at low energy usage. Use of LED lights and national Ujala yojna is glorious example demonstrated by India. BEE have also given?star rating for efficient equipment as well as implemented PAT Scheme for major energy consuming industries to improve energy efficiency. Due to technological advancement, new technologies are more efficient and it will be worthwhile to review availability of high efficiency equipment, not only to reduce energy but for economic operation.

?3.????Use of low Carbon alternate fuel:

Third step to reduce impact of energy use on climate is to change over to alternate fuel having lower carbon foot print. Here also Pradhan mantri Ujjwala yojna demonstrated by India to replaced wooden Chula to LPG Chula is glorious example of replacing high pollution energy to low carbon foot print energy. India has gone ahead with 20 %?bio ethanol blending in petrol and going for 7% bio diesel blending for diesel are the example to use low carbon alternate energy. There are several incentives given by Government of India to increase demand of Electric vehicle as well as development of infrastructure in many cities to use of metro, BRTS and electric bus etc are also the examples of use of low carbon alternate energy as well as use of energy efficient vehicle.

?4.????Use of Renewable Energy:

Solar, Wind, Hydro, Geo Thermal as well as Bio energy are considered renewable as it is generated from natural and sustainable sources. Every industry is increasing their share of renewable energy by providing either on site renewable energy generation plant or off site renewable energy generation plants. International solar mission launched by India have given fruits in reducing cost of Solar power and make it affordable. Therefore, every house hold and small scale industries are expected to meet their electricity requirement. To promote further there is subsidy on house hold solar power and excess power can be exported to grid by net metering. All farmers are also motivated to put up solar power panel to run their pumps as well as export power to grid to generate revenue.

?Second easy availability of Renewable energy is Bio energy, produced from agricultural waste, Bio mass, MSW, Cow dung etc. Today, there are many municipal corporations producing compressed bio gas, dairy producing CBG as well as many refineries are producing bio diesel from vegetable oil. Blending of Bio Ethanol in Petrol and Bio Diesel in Diesel is also accepted and pursued norm by Government of India.

?5.????Zero Carbon Energy – The ultimate goal to achieve net zero:

Thus major thrust by India is to reduce energy consumption as well as reduce carbon foot print of energy consumed. But India is not ending its effort at lower carbon foot print. To achieve net zero carbon by 2070, India have launched national mission on Hydrogen.?

?Hydrogen is the fuel with zero carbon dioxide emission while usage. Hydrogen is not new for the industries but generation of hydrogen by steam methane reforming generate Carbon dioxide which is vented to atmosphere. Therefore, present hydrogen produced at industries is considered grey Hydrogen. If such carbon dioxide is captured and sequestered to underground while production of hydrogen, it is considered blue hydrogen.?

If hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water using electricity produced from renewable source like solar, wind, hydro, bio etc, the hydrogen is considered green hydrogen with almost nil carbon foot print. At present, the cost of such green hydrogen is 3 to 4 times than that of conventional grey hydrogen or fossil fuel. In order to bring hydrogen fuel to the reach of common man and to make it economical, India has launched national mission on Hydrogen with plan to become Hydrogen hub. At present, green hydrogen is not sustainable due to economics but after getting advantage of economies of scale, government incentives through PLI and other schemes as well as many focused research to reduce cost, it is expected that India will be able to produce sustainable and economical green?Hydrogen by 2030 to meet her mission net zero carbon.?

Conclusion:

The need of the hour for sustainability is to reduce Greenhouse gas emission through energy transition, to keep global warming below 2 deg C. Today many areas of Greenhouse gas reduction are from sustainable source which must be adopted quickly by each individual and industries. Some of the area are technically sustainable but economically unsustainable. We need to accelerate our effort on R & D to make them economically sustainable instead of stopping our effort under pretext that it is not from sustainable source as it is essential for survival.

" Instead of mindless and destructive consumption, we need mindful and deliberate utilisation”. Narendra Modi at COP 26.

1 The author is Founder and Chief Consultant, Innov8 ProTech Solutions, The Sustainability and Management Consultant. Formerly, he was Sr. Vice President (Head- Technical, Energy, QAQC) at Reliance Industries Ltd. He is also a member of the IIChE Chemical Process Safety, Energy and Environment Committee from 2018 to 2023.

Since last five years, he is consulting for Energy and Water Management, Green company advisor and branding for Sustainable Manufacturing as well as Process Safety and Risk Management.

The author holds following degrees and certifications.

(B.E. (Chem.), C. EA, F.CMA, IGBC AP, ISO50001:2018 Auditor, ISO45001:2018 internal Auditor, Early Professional in Climate change and Environment Sustainability), Finalist of Indian Climate Change Champion League 2020.

Email: [email protected]; Mob: +919374715109, ?www.dhirubhai.net/in/joyshahcecma