Context

• Today, India is the world’s third largest producer of renewable energy, with about 42 per cent of our installed electricity capacity coming from non-fossil fuel sources. 
• Source-wise representation of installed capacity of electricity generation in percentage is given below:

Solar Power

• According to the estimates of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), 5000 trillion kWh energy is incident over India’s land area every year, with most parts receiving 4-7 kWh per sq. m per day. 
• Solar energy has many advantages among which the abundance in supply, ability to generate power on a distributed basis, and ability for capacity addition in short time leads are prominent. 
• Estimates by National Institute of Solar Energy suggest that covering three per cent of the waste land area with solar photovoltaic modules can generate about 748 GW power. 
• In 2010, Government of India launched National Solar Mission (NSM) with active participation of States to promote sustainable growth while addressing the energy security challenges. This can also contribute significantly to our effort to tackle the challenges of climate change.

Wind Power

• The study conducted by National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) identified seven states viz. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh with significant potential for power generation from wind. 
• India, having a natural advantage of 7500 km long coastline, has the potential of harnessing offshore wind energy. 
• In 2015, Government of India notified National Offshore Wind Energy Policy with the primary objective of exploring and promoting deployment of offshore wind farms in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the country, including those under Public Private Partnership. 
• The NIWE has identified potential zones for offshore wind energy of 36 GW and 35 GW off the coasts of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu respectively.

Hydropower

• Since 2019, Government of India has been recognising Large Hydro Power Projects (LHPs) having capacity of more than 25 MW as part of renewable energy. 
• According to the assessment made by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), India has the potential of economically exploitable hydro-power to the tune of 148 MW. 
• However, only less than 30 per cent of this is presently exploited despite having long life, low cost and high efficiency among many other advantages.

Bio Fuels

• Ethanol and biodiesel are the two most common types of biofuels in use today. Ethanol is a renewable fuel that can be made from various plant materials, collectively known as “biomass.” 
• The Government has been implementing Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme wherein the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) sell petrol blended with 10 per cent ethanol. 
• Biodiesel is a liquid fuel produced from renewable sources, such as new and used vegetable oils and animal fats and is a cleaner-burning replacement for petroleum-based diesel fuel. 
• Presently, biodiesel is produced from imported palm-stearin oil in the country. However, we are phasing it out by using used cooking oil as the feedstock. 
• The National Policy on Biofuels announced in 2018 is aimed at accelerated promotion of biofuels with indicative targets of achieving 20 per cent blending in Petrol by 2030. The target year was recently advanced to 2025-26.

Biogas 

• Biogas is one of the most popular and versatile forms of renewable energy deployed extensively in rural India to serve many purposes. 
• Biogas plants generate the high calorific value gas by decomposition of organic materials such as cattle dung, agricultural wastes, poultry droppings, night soil and municipal wastes. 
• Most commonly, biogas in its raw form is used as clean fuel for cooking, lighting, motive power and generation of electricity. It is also used in diesel engines to substitute diesel up to 80 per cent, however, 100 per cent replacement of diesel may be achieved by using Biogas Engines. 
• The digested slurry from biogas plants, a by-product, is used as a nutrient enriched organic manure for improving crop yield and also maintaining soil health. 

Green Hydrogen

• Hydrogen is used as an energy source in industry, mobility and thermal applications. It is produced by splitting water through electrolysis using an electric current. 
• When the electricity used for hydrogen generation is sourced from renewable resources, that is without emitting carbon dioxide, it is called green hydrogen. 
• The Government has launched the National Hydrogen Mission to make India a green hydrogen hub which will help in meeting the target of production of 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030 and the related development of renewable energy capacity. 

Ocean and Geo-thermal

• Ocean energy refers to energy derived from Wave Energy, Tidal Energy, and Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion. The technology development in these areas is at the research and development stage. 
• The estimated theoretical power potentials for Tidal and Wave energy are 12,455 MW and 41,300 MW respectively. 
• Geothermal Energy is a source of heat stored in the earth’s crust, which is manifested on the surface as hot springs. In India, Geological Survey of India (GSI) has estimated that a tentative power potential of 10 GW could be extracted from geothermal energy.

Government Initiatives

1. PM-KUSUM:

• The Government of India approved the PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan) Scheme in 2019 with the objective of installation of solar pumps and grid connected solar and other renewable power plants in the country. It was launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.  
• Under the scheme, farmers are provided subsidies for setting up stand-alone solar pumps and to solarise their grid-connected pump sets. 
• This scheme enables farmers to set up solar power generation capacity on their barren lands and to sell it to the power grid.

2. National Solar Mission: 

• It is implemented by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy with the objective of increasing the share of solar energy in the total energy mix. 
• The cumulative targets under the mission for Grid Connected Solar Power Projects consist of 40 GW Grid connected Rooftop projects and 60 GW large and medium size land-based solar power projects. The combined target is now set at 100 GW. 

3. Rooftop Solar Programme:

• With an objective to achieve 40 GW of rooftop solar (RTS) capacity in the country, the Government of India has launched the Rooftop Solar Programme.
• The Programme envisages increasing the RTS capacity in the residential sector by providing Central Financial Assistance and incentives to DISCOMs.

4. GOBARdhan: 

• Government India has launched a dedicated GOBARdhan (Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan) scheme in 2018 with twin objectives to make the villages clean and generate clean power from organic wastes. 
• The scheme aims to increase income of farmers by converting biodegradable waste into compressed biogas (CBG). Technical and financial assistance under the scheme is attracting entrepreneurs for establishing community based CBG plants in rural areas. 

5. FAME India Scheme:

• The Department of Heavy Industry (under the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises) formulated a Scheme viz. Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in 2015.  
• The objective of the FAME India scheme is to promote manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technology and to ensure sustainable growth of the same.  
• The scheme encourages adoption of Electric and hybrid vehicles by offering upfront incentives on purchase of Electric vehicles and establishing a necessary charging Infrastructure for electric vehicles.  

6. International Solar Alliance (ISA):

• ISA is an inter-governmental organisation established as a joint effort by India and France in 2015 on the sidelines of the 21 Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris. 
• Its objectives are scaling up solar energy, and reducing the cost of solar power generation through aggregation of demand for solar finance, technologies, innovation, research and development, and capacity building. 
• The ‘Towards 1000’ strategy of ISA aims to mobilise USD 1,000 billion of investments in solar energy solutions by 2030 to provide energy access to 1,000 million people by installing 1,000 GW of solar energy capacity. 
• This would help mitigate global carbon emissions to the tune of 1,000 million tonnes of CO2 every year. 

Way Forward

• The major hurdle in expanding and popularising renewable energy sources is its less competitive position in terms of ease of maintenance and useful life as compared to conventional energy sources. 
• For example, regular cleaning of solar panels, replacing batteries for off grid-system, extent of area to place solar panels, considerable labor to fix failure in high-mounted wind turbines and the disposal of damaged panels and accessories are a few areas where the science can help. 
• Research and development have to be augmented in the direction of generating more energy with less space. 
• There should be international cooperation, synergy and harmony in tapping the renewable resources by way of exchange of technology, sharing the benefits of advancements in scientific research and space technology, in assessing the global risks and making informed choices.