Renewable Energy

Kerala Government has became the first state government in India to establish an Energy Management Centre (EMC) at the state level, aiming primarily to remould and instrumentalise energy sector as a catalyst in promoting a development process which is economically and ecologically sustainable.

Organizers: Focal Point Media

Venue:  Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi

The depletion in natural resources and fossil fuels have not just necessitated the need for renewables, but have also made them an inevitable part of the energy and clean technology sector. India, being a country where there is abundant sunshine, has been able to harness the power of the sun. With the National Solar Mission and government subsidies in the sector, things are now looking up for solar power.

It presents a summary of recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of energy service delivery through a decentralized program, which currently finds a critical place in the Government‘s energy policies and electrification targets.

The pilot phase of the Village Energy Security Programme has shown several lessons and the need for improvements.

 The Committee took evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in January, 2011.

Introduction: Energy versus emissions: The big challenge of the new millennium
By Rakesh Kalshian
To maintain its economic growth rate of 8-10%, India needs all the energy it can get. But the momentum of economic growth overrides crucial environmental concerns.

Hotting up: The science and politics of climate change
By Aditi Sen
The world is hotting up. Climate systems are changing. The 1990s were the hottest decade ever, sea levels rose by 10-20 cm during the 20th century, and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are 31% higher than in 1750.

The Centre for Science and Environment, a non-profit institution known for its rigorous and scientific policy research and advocacy on environmental issues is looking for a Team Head to steer its Renewable Energy Programme.

This report by Him Dhara, an environmental research and action collective, deals with the Asian Development Bank financed hydropower projects in Himachal Pradesh, which are leading to obstruction of the rivers and their consequent disappearance for harnessing energy and making ‘judicious’ use of the water. Within the hydro sector the attention has turned to the Indian Himalayan region which is estimated to have seventy nine per cent of the total hydropower potential of the country.

The technology of ‘run of the river’ (ROR) used to tap “the flow of rivers” in high gradient zones to generate power has given impetus to setting up of hydro-projects in the Himalayan states. In India, the mountainous region of the Himalayas offered the “perfect setting” for such projects, with the availability of several flowing water sources that could be tapped before they reached the plains. Of the Himalayan states, after Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh is second in line with a hydropower potential of about 21000 MW. The installed capacity has increased twenty fold (from 326 MW to 6370 MW) in the last ten years indicating the frenzied pace of hydropower development in the state.