Skip to main content

India 'ignores' renewable energy, approves $3.9 billion hydro projects off China border

By Shankar Sharma* 

Our bureaucrats, ministers and political leaders do not seem to believe in learning from our past mistakes and from the best practices reported from all over the world in order to efficiently meet our legitimate demand for electricity/ energy. The enormous social and environmental costs associated with large size dam based hydel power plants seem to have been completely ignored by our authorities, even though we have a plethora of examples of huge societal level associated costs in our own country.
In order to be seen as very responsible, they may quote the reason for properly utilising river water from the eastern Himalayas through Tibet and China, in the case of hydel power plants in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. But they conveniently ignore very many benign options to meet the growing demand for electricity; such as distributed solar and other renewable energy (RE) projects.
Australia, which has very little hydro power share in its energy basket, is reported to be witnessing a scenario wherein the rooftop solar alone is soon set to eclipse total coal power capacity, as such installations reach more than 20GW. “It’s understandable that we lead the world in per-capita uptake of solar”, said one industry leader in Australia.
At more than 1.2kW of per capita solar rooftop installation, this scenario in Autsralia must be a hugely relevant lesson for India. Such a per capita solar rooftop capacity, can meet more than the entire residential need for electricity in India; and will also have surplus to meet many other essential needs such as street lightsing, municipal applications etc.
Along with the effective usage of distributed solar power for agricultural pumping needs (which is also techno-economically very attractive with mostly rooftop solar), the solar power alone can meet most of the basic need of electricity needs of our people in India. The special characteristics of such widepsread usage of solar rooftop scenario in Australia is the correspondingly vast deployment of energy storage battery systems.
Hence, the very need for large size hydro, coal, nuclear, and even the solar and wind power parks, as is being pursued by our authorities in India, can be and should be techno-economically challenged in India. In this larger context, the social and environmental costs, and, hence, the resultant overall societal level economic costs of such large size power projects to our people should be unacceptable from any perspective.
Without diligently considering the vast potential existing in the country in the distributed king of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass, and in the appreciable ability of energy storage batteries to supplement such RE potential, our authorities are implementing scores of high cost and high impact conventional technology power plants based on large size hydro, coal, nuclear. Scores of them are also being planned. The associated social and ecological consequences on our communities can be catastrophic, to say the least.
Australia is reportedly witnessing a scenario wherein rooftop solar is soon set to eclipse total coal power capacity
The latest decision by the Government of Karnataka to invite bids to procure 1,000 MW of power from pumped storage projects is the example of many such irrational and ghastly decisions in our country, which will lead to the accelerated depletion of our natural resources, but which have not been challenged by any section of our society including the elite institutions such as IITs, IIMs, IISc, NIAS or central universities; or even by research organisations or NGOs.
Without a diligently prepared national energy policy as to how our country's energy/electricity demand for 2040/50/60 will be met, the ongoing policies of continuing to build more of conventional technology power plants should not be acceptable to our people. Since our communities seem to have exhausted all other options (such as representations, public protests and legal cases) on social and environmental grounds, civil society groups should consider this option of effectively questioning the techno-economic credibility of the ongoing policies.
Since the conventional technology power generation technologies such as the ones based on large size hydro, coal, nuclear and gas are also against net zero carbon target for the planet (and for India too), our arguments can be based on very strong grounds even from the climate change perspective.
It will be useful to initiate a rational debate on various views on whether there is a credible case of a class action at the Supreme Court of India on these grounds. Since the associated concerns are common for all sections of our society and at all corners of the country, many civil society groups, and hundreds of concerned individuals may join such a class action from all corners of the country.
---
*Power and climate policy analyst based in Karnataka

Comments

Anonymous said…
What's wrong with pumped storage? It's exactly a battery of GW scale, which would help in accommodating more solar and wind.
It's made using local resources (no imported Lithium like in batteries), it can last minimum 50 years without any replacement, and with little refurbishment it can easily last 100+ years (even the best batteries last only 10-12 years and has to be replaced completely) and it costs less than half of what batteries cost!

TRENDING

Reducing emission? India among top nations whose coal as energy source going up

By NS Venkataraman*  The State of the Global Climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that the year 2023 was the warmest year on record, with the global temperature of 1.4 degree celsius above pre-industrial 1850-1900 base line.

Lockdown 'total failure' of science more than of politics: Open letter on 4th anniversary

Counterview Desk  In an open letter to fellow academicians, scientists and medical practitioners in India, marking the fourth anniversary of India's lockdown (25 March 2024), the Managing Committee* of the Universal Health Organisation (UHO) has insisted on the need to "repair two years of immense damage to science".

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Magnetic, stunning, Protima Bedi 'exposed' malice of sexual repression in society

By Harsh Thakor*  Protima Bedi was born to a baniya businessman and a Bengali mother as Protima Gupta in Delhi in 1949. Her father was a small-time trader, who was thrown out of his family for marrying a dark Bengali women. The theme of her early life was to rebel against traditional bondage. It was extraordinary how Protima underwent a metamorphosis from a conventional convent-educated girl into a freak. On October 12th was her 75th birthday; earlier this year, on August 18th it was her 25th death anniversary.

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

'Wrong direction': Paris NGO regrets MNC ArcelorMittal still using coal-based steel

By Rajiv Shah  A new report by Paris-based non-governmental research and campaigning organization, Reclaim Finance, has blamed the MNC ArcelorMittal – formed in 2006 following the takeover and merger of the western European steel maker Arcelor (Spain, France, and Luxembourg) by Indian-owned Mittal Steel – for using use “climate destructive” metallurgical coal for its projects in India.

Attack on foreign students: Gujarat varsity's reputation, ranking at stake, say academics

Counterview Desk  Expressing anguish over the attack on international students in Gujarat University hostels, a letter claimed to have been signed by 122 current and former academics has asked the Gujarat Vice Chancellor, Dr Neerja Gupta, to provide emotional support to the attacked students and to ensure their physical safety.  

Poor private sector engagement 'impacting' carbon pricing policy in Global South

Counterview Desk  The joint report by Environmental Defense Fund and Observer Research Fund, "Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects", delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South.  The report claims to provide insights and recommendations for effective carbon pricing strategies in diverse economies.  A note: The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF) have launched the Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects” report. The report delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of various carbon pricing instruments currently in existence, providing valuable i