How sustainable are we towards the Electricity we consume?

We must have always realized that sustainable living will not only help mother earth in reducing carbon footprint but also save us money too. There are so many examples we read and our community encourage us adopt, few of them are using bicycle instead of motorcycle, using Public transport instead of Car, using daylight as much as possible, replacing disposable cups with mugs, leading a minimalistic life and so on.

What about electricity that we use at our homes and offices? Are you aware of how greener is the electricity being supplied to us? Can I influence in this space as an individual?

India is a third biggest consumer of electricity in the word[link], just next to China and US. But interesting fact is the per-capita electricity consumption is 140 Watt/person vs that of 1377 Watt/person of US and 309 Watt/ Person of China. This tells us that India’s future electricity need is going be increased multi-fold in next few decades as lifestyle improves and new innovations and technologies unfolds in the area of convenience, one of the examples is emergence of Electric Vehicles.

On the other side 72% of India’s electricity is being produced from Coal as on 2017[link] and It is responsible for 40% of carbon dioxide emissions. Besides CO2. burning coal produces pollutants like mercury, sulfur dioxide, which is linked to acid rain, and particulate matter, which causes respiratory illnesses. Even by 2040, Coal is going to be the major source of electricity in India.

What are the greener sources of electricity?

I can think of Wind, Water (Hydro-electric), Geothermal, biomass and Solar.

But as an individual, can I adopt these renewable sources of electricity?

Of course, not all. Sources such as Wind, Water, Geothermal are generally huge set up which normally set up by governments involving huge investment, as an individual I can influence these decisions the least. Biomass is something that can be adopted by the people in rural locations and potential is far too less.

How about SOLAR? The Whopping yes.

Solar Energy is one source of energy which can be adopted by anyone at any scale depending one's need.

A huge organization can install megawatt capacity project and a small household individual can install a solar system to run his daily needs of life. A farmer can use Solar installation to run his pump to water his farm. a shopkeeper can run his shop with a Solar roof top installation.

Is Solar system installation for household or commercial use is cheaper than existing Power distribution from local Electric Grid?

My answer to this question is yes. In fact, the electricity generated from Solar system is free of cost, of course with one-time fixed investment for installation of the system in the beginning. The amount of returns on the investment is more than double than the bank fixed deposits of the money invested on today’s date and far more risk free, guaranteed returns in comparison to any kind of investment in today’s date.

Coming back to the subject of my post, along with all those things we adopt in our daily life to save the mother earth, there is also one more underestimated area of electricity where you can contribute by adopting to Solar Power in whatever smaller or bigger way.

Please do share your comments thoughts and feedback

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