India Energy Policy: India Must Move from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Nuclear Power

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July 28 – The only sources that can ensure that India has ample energy for the forthcoming years are solar power and nuclear power, Shyam Saran, a special envoy of the Indian prime minister, said on July 26, while speaking on “Climate Change: Will India’s Growth Story Confront a New Constraint?.” These sources can help reduce India’s dependence on imported coal, oil and gas, apart from minimizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Saran added.

While criticizing industrialized countries, Saran said that these countries are primarily responsible for almost all the carbon-dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, being added to the Earth’s atmosphere since the Industrial Age. He pointed out that the carbon emission contribution from these industrialized countries continues unabated, despite their resolution at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Saran stressed that India’s energy demand is going to scale significantly, given the number of projects in hand. The rising energy demand means that the country’s power generation level must shoot up from 160,000 megawatts currently to roughly 800,000 megawatts in 2030-2031. “Meeting this level of energy requirement necessitates the pursuit of all available fuel options and forms of energy,” Saran added.

 

While pitching for nuclear energy as an alternative source, Saran said that if India is able to import both nuclear reactors and uranium fuel, the contribution of nuclear energy to the country’s total energy mix could jump to 6.3% in 2030-2031, from the existing 1.5%. Saran commented that an acceptance and a decided shift from fossil fuels to non-fossil fuels, such as nuclear, and from nonrenewables to renewables, such as solar energy and bio-mass, were of importance to India for it to control the climate and secure its energy production.

 

Alternatio Cirqui, EconomyWatch.com Energy Correspondent