Myth and reality of Govt of India's renewal energy talk: Solar rooftops, parks

By Shankar Sharma*

Whereas, the recent announcement about 1 crore households to be fitted with rooftop SPV systems is a great step in the right direction, questions are being raised as to why such a target could not have been much more ambitious, such as 15- 20 crore houses by 2035-40, along with some financial contribution by the house owners, which could also have reduced the financial burden of the state.

If most of this large number of houses are also equipped with suitably sized energy storage battery systems and interactive gadgets to effectively interact with the state/ national grids, the electricity demand/ supply scenario in the country will undergo a transformatively positive change for the future.

Humongous amounts of money could be saved in this approach in the form of saved land diversion, dedicated power lines and substations, the need for pumped storage plants/ large size energy storage facilities etc.

At the same time the massive size of a solar park in Gujarat (final capacity of 30,000 MW), even though it is in the Kutch area, should also have evoked multiple concerns; especially from the ecological and operational perspectives.

A land based solar power park, with a capacity of 30,000 MW, may need a permanent diversion of more than 150,000 acres of land (@ 5 acres per MW) plus for all other supporting infrastructure such as scores of dedicated power lines to evacuate the generated power (for only 8-10 hours a day), and roads, substations, township etc.

The destruction of habitat for various kinds of creatures in such a vast area, even though it is not deemed as a fertile land, will have long term implications to the region and the country. Sudden loss of power due to multiple tripping of lines, or due to solar storms, or due to quick appearance of cloud cover, or due to some kind of terrorsit attack can make this power source of some concern to the grid operators.

It is in this context that the desirability of seeking to have roof top SPV systems on most of the households and other kinds of buildings in the country, should be diligently addressed. Have we diligently considered all the costs & benefits to the larger society of the two technological options even within this RE sector? Can the distributed kind of REsources, such as solar rooftops on most buildings, be the best possible option for the country?

Can our country afford to divert such large tracts of land, however arid or infertile land it may be, to the power/ energy sector in addition to multiple demands for such land diversions from other sectors of the economy; especially when there are better options such as distributed kinds of REsources?

Such a diligent approach to our power sector scenario should be carefully adopted now so as to minimise the overall cost to the society in the long term.

---

*Power & Climate Policy Analyst. This article is based on the author's representation to the Secretary, Power & NRE, and Secretary, MoEF&CC

Comments

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.

'Anti-poor stand': Even British wouldn't reduce Railways' sleeper and general coaches

By Anandi Pandey, Sandeep Pandey* Probably even the British, who introduced railways in India, would not have done what the Bhartiya Janata Party government is doing. The number of Sleeper and General class coaches in various trains are surreptitiously and ominously disappearing accompanied by a simultaneous increase in Air Conditioned coaches. In the characteristic style of BJP government there was no discussion or debate on this move by the Indian Railways either in the Parliament or outside of it.

Why convert growing badminton popularity into an 'inclusive sports opportunity'

By Sudhansu R Das Over the years badminton has become the second most popular game in the world after soccer. Today, nearly 220 million people across the world play badminton. The game has become very popular in urban India after India won medals in various international badminton tournaments. One will come across a badminton court in every one kilometer radius of Hyderabad.

Faith leaders agree: All religious places should display ‘anti-child marriage’ messages

By Jitendra Parmar* As many as 17 faith leaders, together for an interfaith dialogue on child marriage in New Delhi, unanimously have agreed that no faith allows or endorses child marriage. The faith leaders advocated that all religious places should display information on child marriage.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Ayurveda, Sidda, and knowledge: Three-day workshop begins in Pala town

By Rosamma Thomas* Pala town in Kottayam district of Kerala is about 25 km from the district headquarters. St Thomas College in Pala is currently hosting a three-day workshop on knowledge systems, and gathered together are philosophers, sociologists, medical practitioners in homeopathy and Ayurveda, one of them from Nepal, and a few guests from Europe. The discussions on the first day focused on knowledge systems, power structures, and epistemic diversity. French researcher Jacquiline Descarpentries, who represents a unique cooperative of researchers, some of whom have no formal institutional affiliation, laid the ground, addressing the audience over the Internet.

Article 21 'overturned' by new criminal laws: Lawyers, activists remember Stan Swamy

By Gova Rathod* The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Gujarat, organised an event in Ahmedabad entitled “Remembering Fr. Stan Swamy in Today’s Challenging Reality” in the memory of Fr. Stan Swamy on his third death anniversary. The event included a discussion of the new criminal laws enforced since July 1, 2024.

Hindutva economics? 12% decline in manufacturing enterprises, 22.5% fall in employment

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* The messiah of Hindutva politics, Narendra Modi, assumed office as the Prime Minister of India on May 26, 2014. He pledged to transform the Indian economy and deliver a developed nation with prosperous citizens. However, despite Modi's continued tenure as the Prime Minister, his ambitious electoral promises seem increasingly elusive.

Union budget 'outrageously scraps' scheme meant for rehabilitating manual scavengers

By Bezwada Wilson* The Union Budget for the year 2024-2025, placed by the Finance Minister in Parliament has completely deceived the Safai Karmachari community. There is no mention of persons engaged in manual scavenging in the entire Budget. Even the scheme meant for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers (SRMS) has been outrageously scrapped.

Search This Blog