CATEGORIES

TRANSITIONING TOWARDS CLEAN ENERGY

Dramatic steps have been taken to reduce emissions and transition to cleaner sources of energy. Apart from efforts for steep reduction in climate change consistent with the Paris Agreement, it is equally import to reduce air pollution and provide universal electricity access to people. David Turk, IEA, in conversation with TCA Avni for Energy Future talks about challenges and progress to meeting clean energy transition goals.

TRANSITION POTENTIAL TO NATURAL GAS IN THE MSME SECTOR IN INDIA'S NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION

The industrial sector is a consumer of energy and a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and consequently the target of many government policies to transition to cleaner fuels. The micro, small and medium enterprises, however, are constrained by a number of unique challenges. In this article, Jonathan D Syiemlieh discusses the challenges and opportunities in transitioning these enterprises to natural gas.

GREEN STEEL FOR A GREEN ECONOMY

The ‘harder to abate’ sectors – a categorization that includes the iron and steel sector – account for around 40% of the total carbon dioxide emissions from today’s energy system, and these emissions will increase as emerging economies continue to develop unless steps are taken to promote ‘green steel’. In this article, Will Hall, Thomas Spencer, and Sachin Kumar discuss short- and long-term actions for the iron and steel sector, covering the technological solutions and possible policy options that could help drive a sustainable transition.

INDIA'S ENERGY TRANSITION The Challenge with Decision-Making at a Time of Rapid Change

India has set ambitious targets towards the achievement of the dual goals of climate action and sustainable development through its nationally determined contributions and energy access commitments. As India starts a new decade of energy transition, it is an opportune time to assess where India stands in achieving its targets as well as to identify the key challenges being faced during this transition. Parul Kumar and Bharath Jairaj discuss these issues and offer insights into solutions that can help India achieve its goals.

$110 TRILLION RENEWABLES STIMULUS PACKAGE COULD CREATE 50 MILLION JOBS

As the world continues to grapple with the worst global pandemic in living memory, economists everywhere are warning that we are witnessing the unravelling of something far grimmer than the 2008 financial crisis.

Tata Power Plans To Have 700 EV Charging Stations By 2021

Tata Power is planning to increase its network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to 700 by next year, a top company official said.

Women In The Solar Workforce

It is important to evaluate where we are in terms of women’s participation in the renewable energy (RE) workforce. While there is a consensus regarding lower female participation in the RE workforce, the efforts towards the achievement of SDGs 5 and 7 are invisible due to their presence in the informal sector. In this article, Arunima Hakhu discusses the gender and employment in the RE sector and highlights that women self-help groups are crucial for the uptake of solar solutions in the informal sector.

WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN INDIA'S CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION: A Look at the Rooftop Solar Sector

The energy sector workforce in India is characterized by an underrepresentation of women. Given both the high number and diverse types of jobs that the rooftop solar sector generates, it is well positioned to adopt a gender-inclusive approach to employment, which will attract highly skilled women in particular. In this article, Shaily Jha, Sasmita Patnaik, and Yoko Nobuoka emphasize the need to improve gender diversity and encourage more women to be a part of rooftop solar sector’s workforce.

WOMEN AS AGENTS OF CHANGE IN CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION

Globally, the energy sector continues to remain the most gender-imbalanced sector. Efforts towards planned engagement and inclusion of women throughout the energy sector are still lacking. In this article, Fawzia Tarannum talks about gender mainstreaming or participation of women in clean energy transition, which can propel social and economic transformation in their communities.

WOMEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF ENERGY FUTURE: FROM EVIDENCE TO INCLUSIVE POLICIES

The benefits of inclusion of women in the energy value chain are increasingly recognized. Involving women at different levels of the energy supply chain promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment. In this article, Mini Govindan highlights the approaches adopted towards involving women in energy supply chain to encourage gender equality in employment and improve the effectiveness of the supply chain.

ORGANIC PHOTOVOLTAICS: Towards Development of Low-cost Green Solar Cell Technology

Solar power industry is developing rapidly in India. Among the key challenges faced by the solar PV community is to find a balance between manufacturing commercially viable solar panels to meet growing consumer requirements and optimize the manufacturing technology following an environmentally sustainable design. In this article, Raavi Sai Santosh Kumar focuses on the development of green solar cells and the possibility to employ eco-friendly green organic molecules in the device fabrication.

WORLD SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT 2020

World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS), the annual flagship event of TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), was held from 29 to 31 January 2020.

RESHAM SUTRA: WEAVING NARRATIVES OF SUSTAINABLE EMPOWERMENT

Silk products are gaining market interest across the world. In fact, silk and cotton textile production has emerged as a major generator of employment in India. This article discusses the success story of Resham Sutra, an innovative start-up, by Kunal Vaid, which has created a range of machines for the silk industry. With their highly efficient spinning and reeling machines for silk yarn production, being primarily powered by solar energy, they hope to empower women in the wild silk industry in India.

GREEN AND EFFICIENT POWER TO EVERY HOUSEHOLD

Cygni Energy is an IIT Madras incubated start-up founded by Venkat Rajaraman in 2014 with the aim of providing green and efficient power to every household. Cygni Energy in association with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras has developed 48V inverter less DC technology. The Solar DC Inverterless system, consisting of DC solar generation, the DC powerline, DC appliances, and battery, is a landmark innovation with the potential to be rapidly deployed in every home and office in India as well as in homes across the world. The efficiency of the system eliminates the typical conversion losses by 40–45% associated with the traditional AC devices and contributes to building energy security.

GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN ENERGY SECTOR

Concerted actions are required at multiple levels of policymaking, implementation, budgeting, and monitoring to promote equal participation of women in the energy sector. Gender- sensitive policies and practices are necessary to create opportunities for women across energy value chains, including at workplace and marketplace. Suhela Khan, Country Programme Manager WeEmpower Asia at UN Women, in conversation with TCA Avni for Energy Future talks about enhancing women’s access to sustainable energy and developing their leadership and entrepreneurial skills in renewable energy.

MANAGING INDIA'S CLEAN ENERGY WASTE: A ROADMAP FOR THE SOLAR AND STORAGE INDUSTRY

With the increasing penetration of distributed renewable energy sources such as solar PV and energy storage into the Indian electricity sector, it is necessary to prepare for managing the waste generated from these technologies. The reduce, reuse, and recover approach offers multiple socio-economic benefits besides being environmentally benign. In this article, Akanksha Tyagi takes a closer look at the management of clean energy waste.

RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

To rid electric grid of carbon, shore up green energy support

TRANSFORMING PV WASTE TO A RESOURCE

Growing resource consumption comes at a cost of the environment. As the global deployment of PV approaches terawatt levels in an increasingly resource-constrained world, resource efficiency strategies adopted for PV manufacturing combined with end-of-life high-value recycling are essential to promote a circular economy and transform PV waste into valuable secondary raw materials for other industries. In this article, Karen Drozdiak, Andreas Wade, and Sujoy Ghosh describe how First Solar continues to proactively invest in the improvement of the recycling technology to increase resource efficiency and drive down recycling prices for its customers.

ENERGY WASTE NEXUS: End-of-Life Management of Lithium-Ion Batteries

To become competitive in the electric vehicle field and transition towards full electric mobility, India needs to overcome resource efficiency challenges and create a sustainable electric vehicle ecosystem, which includes securing its supply of rare elements, including lithium. In this article, Mehar Kaur emphasizes the need for domestic manufacturing, battery reuse, and recycling of LIBs.

POTENTIAL AND MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENERGY GENERATION FROM AGRO AND LIVESTOCK WASTE IN INDIA

India has a huge potential for installation of anaerobic digestion based biogas plants for cooking, electricity, and transport fuel applications in both rural and urban areas owing to the availability of large quantities of animal wastes, wastes from forestry and agriculture, industrial wastes, kitchen wastes, and so on. Over the years, a number of projects of different capacities and applications have been taken up for developing the technical know-how, manpower, and necessary infrastructure. In this article, Sunil Dhingra focuses on energy generation from agro and livestock waste in India.

Commercialization of Compressed Biogas in India

Biomethane is a promising renewable energy option for substitute of natural gas for grid and vehicular applications. It can be easily compressed to increase its utility as compressed natural gas and directly fed to transportation vehicles. With increased awareness, technical knowledge and support, this technology can be applied worldwide for waste management, energy security, and climate change mitigation. Rimika Madan Kapoor, Virendra Kumar Vijay, and Vandit Vijay discuss the biogas production technology from organic waste in India and how it can be expected to grow in future.

BEE NUDGES INDUSTRY TO ADOPT ISO 50001

ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO SUSTAIN ENERGY EFFICIENT CULTURE

SUSTAINABILITY AS A FRAMEWORK, APPROACH, AND COMMITMENT

Companies play a critical role in achieving sustainable development and addressing challenges, such as climate change, the exploitation of natural and non-renewable resources, and the impact of humanity on our environment and ecosystem. Sustainability divisions in corporates help enable companies to achieve sustainability targets and reduce their environmental impacts. Hitesh Kataria, Manager in the Group Sustainability division of the Mahindra Group, in conversation with TCA Avni for Energy Future talks about the efforts taken by the Group to utilize waste, tackle carbon emissions, and reduce energy consumption.

Time To Shine Solar Energy In India

A major change in the global energy landscape over the last few years has been the transition from fossil fuels and non-renewable sources of energy to renewable and cleaner sources of energy. Over the course of this transition, several considerations have been made to ensure that it happens as smoothly as possible. Aayush Dutta, through this article, focuses on the environment and scientific considerations by governments around the world towards ensuring this transition. The environmental impact of a particular form of energy is fairly self-explanatory, that is, the effect of using solar energy on the environment, be it positive or negative. However, scientific significance is something that is fairly complex. Scientific significance, as comprehended through this article, raises questions such as how the technologies employed in various solar projects around the country change the norm of usage of solar energy in the country and how a new technology and the various kinds of new technologies lend additional efficiency to the solar energy landscape in India.

Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy 2018

The national capital of ‘Delhi’ has been already declared as a ‘Gas Chamber’ by the Chief Minister of Delhi. Hence, to deal with the situation, the State Government of Delhi released the draft of Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy on 27 November 2018. In this article, Dr Atul Agarwal discusses the measures the policy takes to address major issues, that are necessary for the growth of electric transport infrastructure in order to combat air pollution in the city. The policy aims to bring down vehicular emissions in order to improve Delhi’s air quality. For the same, the strategy seeks to drive quick adoption of electric vehicles in such a manner that the share of registration of electric vehicles will be 25% in the total registration of new vehicles by 2023.

Higher Integration Of SPV Systems Issues And Challenges

Since Photovoltaic (PV) systems have variable power generation because of variable parameters, it would be more challenging to manage distributed voltage, increasing wear and tear in electromechanical utility equipment, and configure protection system with larger distributed generation PV (DGPV) systems. Deepak Kumar Yadav and Dr Brijesh Singh highlight some of the major issues and their impacts on integrating DGPV in this article.

Dust Free Solar Panel For Efficient Electricity Production

Most areas of our country are blessed with beautiful warm sunshine and have a lot to gain in terms of solar energy. Solar power is one of the most environmentally friendly renewable energy sources. There is a huge potential and scope for generating power using shadow-free rooftop space of various buildings, solar parks, agriculture farms for solar pumps, canal top, and large industrial roofs. It is widely recognized that people depend on the sustainable urban environment for a variety of benefits. Suresh Dodia evaluates the potential of solar energy.

India Stepping Up Efforts To Add Renewables And Lower Emissions In The Wake Of Paris Agreement

India’s focus on renewable energy started more than 100 years ago with hydro plants. However, the country accelerated its commitment after signing the Paris Agreement, the landmark accord designed to combat climate change. Developed during a United Nations convention in 2015 and ratified by 185 nations the following year, the Agreement urges countries to fast-track the actions needed for a sustainable, low-carbon future. With that goal in mind, the country is continuing to target renewable energy solutions and, at the same time, lower emissions. In this article, Suresh Nagarowth talks about India’s target of finding renewable energy solutions and at the same time lowering emissions.

Microgrids - A Perspective On Technology To Bring Utility Electricity Delivery Systems

The few thousand people living in Dharanai—a small village in Bihar, India—still remember the night when the electric bulbs flickered and lit the village homes for the first time. A 100 kW solar-powered microgrid brought electric power to 450 homes, 60 street lights, and a few busi- nesses in the village. In another part of the world, a row of solar panels and a wind turbine attached to a hybrid microgrid (an inverter and a storage battery that is normally found in an electric car) enabled Olos- ho-Oibo—a small Kenyan hamlet—to experience the power of electricity. The small hybrid grid supplied enough electric power to run a dispensary serving 8000 plus people in and around the village, a school, and a church. Jyothi Mahalingam shows how the dependable microgrids are slowly changing the lives of the rural people globally.

India's Place In The Sun - The International Solar Alliance

The COP21 held in Paris, in December 2015, adopted the first-ever universal, legally-binding global climate deal with 195 countries ratifying it. The agreement sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to combat climate change by limiting global warming. During the global summit, the International Solar Alliance was launched, jointly by India and France, with more than 120 countries to boost solar power in developing nations. It was then formally inaugurated in India by the French President, His Excellency Francois Hollande together with India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in January 2016 at Gurugram, Haryana. Om Prakash Nangia, through this article, presents an overview of the ISA and its India connection.