How to un-friend fossil fuels
The energy released from fossil fuels has essentially shaped the way human life has changed and advanced in the last century. Yet, one of the biggest global challenges of our times is how to limit their consumption, as overuse threatens to make life unlivable even in the near term. The immediacy of the need for ‘green’ energy has been obvious (to most). The transition to it has been gradual, expensive and obstacle ridden.
In Fossil Free, Sumant Sinha, founder of India’s leading clean energy company ReNew Power, takes a deep dive into the ‘renewables’ or sustainable energy scenario, especially in India – pointing out the opportunities and challenges. In this data-rich tome, he does not just go into the history of fossil fuels and how they came to be indispensable to the modern way of life; in the second part of the book, he details why cleaner energy is a must and the ways to achieve the goal of being ‘fossil fuel free’.
Signs of progress towards that goal are there. “Every year since 2013 more capacity has been added from renewables than from all other energy sources combined,” Sinha notes. “Globally, renewable energy (including hydro energy) accounts for nearly one-third of the total installed electricity capacity.” Germany, a Top Five economy globally, achieved a milestone briefly in 2018 when all its electricity was generated exclusively from renewable sources. Indeed, a number of European nations are already generating a significant amount of their energy needs from renewables. Many other nations, including China, have made major headway. India has made significant strides too.
However, as the book notes, challenges remain. Considerable existing investments in fossil fuels mean there are vested interests in maintaining status quo. While ‘peak’ coal is possibly past us, even the most optimistic estimate decades more of global reliance on this ‘dirty’ fuel. Massive investment will be needed to increase green energy capacity. “At the current pace of yearly installations of renewable energy, that would require 50 years of capacity growth,” it notes. While the world is adding 150 GW of new renewable energy annually, it needs to replace the current non-renewable installed capacity of 5,000 GW.
India’s energy scenario
Of the major economies, India has the lowest consumption of energy consumption per capita – at about 1,100 kWh – leaving massive potential for growth. India has set itself a new renewables target of 450 GW by 2030. Also, as the book points out, by extrapolating demand growth, by 2032, India will need double of its current 1.5 trillion units of power. It admits that even if the renewables growth target is met, about 60 per cent of power in 2030 is likely to be from coal.
Sinha outlines the reforms needed – amongst them policies to advance green energy, improving electricity infrastructure and the way discoms function, decentralised smart grids – including microgrids, subsidies for and promotion of electric vehicles (EVs) – and its faster roll-out and more domestic manufacturing. The book outlines multiple complications, such as in pricing, distribution and tariffs. However, progress is in the air. T
echnology, such as in wind and turbines, getting higher and blades longer, the potential of rooftop solar energy, cost-reduction in renewables, better storage and grid infrastructure (the Indian government plans to spend $150 billion in renewables in the next five years) are all steps that could augment capacity significantly.
An insightful read into the energy scenario in India, there are multiple themes that both policy makers and those part of the myriad sectors involved could well take note of, if only to ensure a healthier, sustainable future.