Gopinath's blog

India can be a great power using more renewable energy

2012-01-20T11:41:00.001+05:30

New Delhi, Jan. 17 -- India can be a great power, ushering in a game changing third industrial revolution by utilising its renewable energy resources and collaborating with power producers and suppliers, says American economist and author Jeremy Rifkin.

"With the second industrial revolution, which was ushered in through internal combustion engine and heavy use of crude oil, being on life support, this is the right time for India to use its renewable natural resources to start the third industrial revolution," Rifkin, president of Washington-based Foundation on Economic Trends, told IANS.

Rifkin was in New Delhi for the release of a report, Mega Trends of the Emerging Third Industrial Revolution in India, prepared in collaboration with FICCI Young Leaders (FYL).

"India is the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy sources and if properly utilised, India can realise its place in the world as a great power," said Rifkin.

"But political will is required for the eventual shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy."

According to Rifkin, the country can leapfrog into the third industrial revolution by creating infrastructure that allows individual buildings, houses and villages to generate energy by utilising renewable sources like solar, wind and geothermal energy.

"Imagine houses in villages producing energy through solar power and then selling the same energy through internet or distribution companies, this will give level-playing field to the rural areas in terms of industrialisation."

"It will take about 20 years for a juvenile infrastructure for third industrial revolution and another 20 years for a mature infrastructure," he said.

The report, which identifies India's transit to a post-carbon economic era, claims that if 20 percent of all energy needs be sourced from renewable sources, it would create jobs and industries that in the long term will lower the cost of generating energy through these methods.

"It's just like the case of personnel computers. Earlier they were very expensive but with mass production and usage the cost of one (personnel computers) has come down," said Rifkin, who has advised the European Union and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on this concept of Third Industrial Revolution.

Some of the mega trends mentioned in the report include less dependence on fossil fuels, new business models in sharing of energy, new and intelligent technologies, collaborative eduction for preparing a workforce of 21st century. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Indo-Asian News Service. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

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Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://in.linkedin.com/in/gopimysore
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

Indian innovator harnesses sea waves for power

2012-01-11T11:38:00.001+05:30

NEW DELHI: An Indian innovator has come up with a technology that tweaks gravity power to harness sea waves for clean and affordable energy, a source more readily available than wind or solar power and, unlike fossil fuels, inexhaustible.

The non-polluting technology, aptly named 'Gravity Power House' (GPH), is an offshoot of Gravity Power Tower, (GPT) both conceptualised, designed and developed by B. Rajaram, alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, which have also been granted US patents in May 2010 and October 2011.

The technology is based on a simple concept, the conversion of kinetic energy, which an object or medium possesses owing to its motion, into potential deliverable energy to drive wheels on road and rails. Some of the most visible examples of gravity power are water-driven turbines to produce electricity and huge slings that hurled 150-kg projectiles 300 metres away to breach enemy defences, in ages gone by.

"Steady supplies of coal, river water, uranium and thorium for nuclear, hydro and thermal power plants cannot be guaranteed all the time. Wind or solar energy have climatic limitations. Only gravity and sea alone are inexhaustible, unlike other raw materials,"Rajaram told IANS from Hyderabad.

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Geneva, a United Nations agency, also approved and published the patent specifications for GPT. WIPO has been set up to encourage creativity and innovation and to protect intellectual property rights, globally.

Delegates at the Paris Conference on Transportation in May 2011 debated whether GPT could be tweaked to harness sea and show a way out of the current energy crisis. The Fukushima nuclear disaster in March last year, the worst since Chernobyl, also cast doubts on the future of nuclear energy. Besides, solar, wind and tidal energy, which require heavy subsidies, were not making much headway.

Accordingly, Rajaram outlined the concept at the Paris Conference. He told delegates that the non-polluting technology would deliver power round the clock, without being dependent on land or heavy investment, nor generate harmful byproducts tied with thermal and nuclear plants, nor upset coastal ecosystems.

"K. Kasturi Rangan, member, Planning Commission, has also backed my proposal on gravity power house, affirming its scientific validity but raised queries about the delivery mechanism. I subsequently configured the engineering equipment as a floating module to provide clean energy," Rajaram told the IANS.

The basic unit of the GPH is a dome-shaped sub-module, with a built-in water turbine. Driven by the cyclic motion of sea waves in the shallow region, the turbine's twin cast iron masses capture their kinetic energy and work to transmit them continuously to drive the generator, to produce electricity. Each dome, anchored to the sea and housed in a steel and plastic structure, has a two-by-two metre base and a height of 12 metres, said Rajaram.

Five such domes, estimated to cost Rs.10 lakh each, make up a single floating module which delivers a minimum of 100 kw during commercial production. Dozens of modules, anchored at a depth of three metres in a straight line, within 50 to 100 metres of the shore, will make up a gravity power house. Every 100-metre section can deliver between one and five megawatts of power. If required, the GPH can be towed away to another location.

These floating modules will have gaps between them to permit free movement of the fishing boats and sea water. Using even a sixth of India's 6,000 km shoreline, GPHs could potentially generate 100 gigawatts of power at a cost of Re.1.60 per unit. A typical 200 MW plant will cost about Rs.1,000 crore. The moment the module is floated, it starts generating power.

The prototype for the first commercial unit is expected to cost Rs.50 lakh, which covers the development, testing and standardisation stages for production, which might take between three and six months. Bids have been invited for the proposal, which will close by Jan 31.

--
Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://in.linkedin.com/in/gopimysore
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

Longevity

2011-12-29T11:42:00.001+05:30

This is a transcript of a TED talk by Dan Buettner on TED.com. You can read the transcript of the talk with the link for the video.

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_buettner_how_to_live_to_be_100.html

Wish you all a long and healthy 2012!

Raj

Something called the Danish Twin Study established that only about 10 percent of how long the average person lives, within certain biological limits, is dictated by our genes. The other 90 percent is dictated by our lifestyle. So the premise of Blue Zones: if we can find the optimal lifestyle of longevity we can come up with a de facto formula for longevity.

But if you ask the average American what the optimal formula of longevity is, they probably couldn't tell you. They've probably heard of the South Beach Diet, or the Atkins Diet. You have the USDA food pyramid. There is what Oprah tells us. There is what Doctor Oz tells us.

The fact of the matter is there is a lot of confusion around what really helps us live longer better. Should you be running marathons or doing yoga? Should you eat organic meats or should you be eating tofu? When it comes to supplements, should you be taking them? How about these hormones or resveratrol? And does purpose play into it? Spirituality? And how about how we socialize?

Well, our approach to finding longevity was to team up with National Geographic, and the National Institute on Aging, to find the four demographically confirmed areas that are geographically defined. And then bring a team of experts in there to methodically go through exactly what these people do, to distill down the cross-cultural distillation.

And at the end of this I'm going to tell you what that distillation is. But first I'd like to debunk some common myths when it comes to longevity. And the first myth is if you try really hard you can live to be 100. False. The problem is, only about one out of 5,000 people in America live to be 100. Your chances are very low. Even though it's the fastest growing demographic in America, it's hard to reach 100. The problem is that we're not programmed for longevity. We are programmed for something called procreative success. I love that word. It reminds me of my college days.

Biologists term procreative success to mean the age where you have children and then another generation, the age when your children have children. After that the effect of evolution completely dissipates. If you're a mammal, if you're a rat or an elephant, or a human, in between, it's the same story. So to make it to age 100, you not only have to have had a very good lifestyle, you also have to have won the genetic lottery.

The second myth is, there are treatments that can help slow, reverse, or even stop aging. False. When you think of it, there is 99 things that can age us. Deprive your brain of oxygen for just a few minutes, those brain cells die, they never come back.Play tennis too hard, on your knees, ruin your cartilage, the cartilage never comes back. Our arteries can clog. Our brains can gunk up with plaque, and we can get Alzheimer's. There is just too many things to go wrong.

Our bodies have 35 trillion cells, trillion with a "T." We're talking national debt numbers here. (Laughter) Those cells turn themselves over once every eight years. And every time they turn themselves over there is some damage. And that damage builds up. And it builds up exponentially. It's a little bit like the days when we all had Beatles albums or Eagles albums and we'd make a copy of that on a cassette tape, and let our friends copy that cassette tape, and pretty soon, with successive generations that tape sounds like garbage. Well, the same things happen to our cells. That's why a 65-year-old person is aging at a rate of about 125 times faster than a 12-year-old person.

So, if there is nothing you can do to slow your aging or stop your aging, what am I doing here? Well, the fact of the matter is the best science tells us that the capacity of the human body, my body, your body, is about 90 years, a little bit more for women. But life expectancy in this country is only 78. So somewhere along the line, we're leaving about 12 good years on the table. These are years that we could get. And research shows that they would be years largely free of chronic disease, heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

We think the best way to get these missing years is to look at the cultures around the world that are actually experiencing them, areas where people are living to age 100 at rates up to 10 times greater than we are, areas where the life expectancy is an extra dozen years, the rate of middle age mortality is a fraction of what it is in this country.

We found our first Blue Zone about 125 miles off the coast of Italy, on the island of Sardinia. And not the entire island, the island is about 1.4 million people, but only up in the highlands, an area called the Nuoro province. And here we have this area where men live the longest, about 10 times more centenarians than we have here in America. And this is a place where people not only reach age 100, they do so with extraordinary vigor. Places where 102 year olds still ride their bike to work, chop wood, and can beat a guy 60 years younger than them. (Laughter)

Their history actually goes back to about the time of Christ. It's actually a Bronze Age culture that's been isolated. Because the land is so infertile, they largely are shepherds, which occasions regular, low-intensity physical activity. Their diet is mostly plant-based, accentuated with foods that they can carry into the fields. They came up with an unleavened whole wheat bread called carta musica made out of durum wheat, a type of cheese made from grass-fed animals so the cheese is high in Omega-3 fatty acids instead of Omega-6 fatty acids from corn-fed animals, and a type of wine that has three times the level of polyphenols than any known wine in the world. It's called Cannonau.

But the real secret I think lies more in the way that they organize their society. And one of the most salient elements of the Sardinian society is how they treat older people. You ever notice here in America, social equity seems to peak at about age 24? Just look at the advertisements. Here in Sardinia, the older you get the more equity you have, the more wisdom you're celebrated for. You go into the bars in Sardinia, instead of seeing the Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendar, you see the centenarian of the month calendar.

This, as it turns out, is not only good for your aging parents to keep them close to the family -- it imparts about four to six years of extra life expectancy -- research shows it's also good for the children of those families, who have lower rates of mortality and lower rates of disease. That's called the grandmother effect.

We found our second Blue Zone on the other side of the planet, about 800 miles south of Tokyo, on the archipelago of Okinawa. Okinawa is actually 161 small islands. And in the northern part of the main island, this is ground zero for world longevity. This is a place where the oldest living female population is found. It's a place where people have the longest disability-free life expectancy in the world. They have what we want. They live a long time, and tend to die in their sleep, very quickly, and often, I can tell you, after sex.

They live about seven good years longer than the average American. Five times as many centenarians as we have in America.One fifth the rate of colon and breast cancer, big killers here in America. And one sixth the rate of cardiovascular disease. And the fact that this culture has yielded these numbers suggests strongly they have something to teach us. What do they do?Once again, a plant-based diet, full of vegetables with lots of color in them. And they eat about eight times as much tofu as Americans do.

More significant than what they eat is how they eat it. They have all kinds of little strategies to keep from overeating, which, as you know, is a big problem here in America. A few of the strategies we observed: they eat off of smaller plates, so they tend to eat fewer calories at every sitting. Instead of serving family style, where you can sort of mindlessly eat as you're talking, they serve at the counter, put the food away, and then bring it to the table.

They also have a 3,000-year-old adage, which I think is the greatest sort of diet suggestion ever invented. It was invented by Confucius. And that diet is known as the Hara, Hatchi, Bu diet. It's simply a little saying these people say before their meal to remind them to stop eating when their stomach is [80] percent full. It takes about a half hour for that full feeling to travel from your belly to your brain. And by remembering to stop at 80 percent it helps keep you from doing that very thing.

But, like Sardinia, Okinawa has a few social constructs that we can associate with longevity. We know that isolation kills.Fifteen years ago, the average American had three good friends. We're down to one and half right now. If you were lucky enough to be born in Okinawa, you were born into a system where you automatically have a half a dozen friends with whom you travel through life. They call it a Moai. And if you're in a Moai you're expected to share the bounty if you encounter luck,and if things go bad, child gets sick, parent dies, you always have somebody who has your back. This particular Moai, these five ladies have been together for 97 years. Their average age is 102.

Typically in America we've divided our adult life up into two sections. There is our work life, where we're productive. And then one day, boom, we retire. And typically that has meant retiring to the easy chair, or going down to Arizona to play golf. In the Okinawan language there is not even a word for retirement. Instead there is one word that imbues your entire life, and that word is "ikigai." And, roughly translated, it means "the reason for which you wake up in the morning."

For this 102-year-old karate master, his ikigai was carrying forth this martial art. For this hundred-year-old fisherman it was continuing to catch fish for his family three times a week. And this is a question. The National Institute on Aging actually gave us a questionnaire to give these centenarians. And one of the questions, they were very culturally astute, the people who put the questionnaire. One of the questions was, "What is your ikigai?" They instantly knew why they woke up in the morning. For this 102 year old woman, her ikigai was simply her great-great-great-granddaughter. Two girls separated in age by 101 and a half years. And I asked her what it felt like to hold a great-great-great-granddaughter. And she put her head back and she said, "It feels like leaping into heaven." I thought that was a wonderful thought.

My editor at Geographic wanted me to find America's Blue Zone. And for a while we looked on the prairies of Minnesota, where actually there is a very high proportion of centenarians. But that's because all the young people left. (Laughter) So, we turned to the data again. And we found America's longest-lived population among the Seventh-Day Adventists concentrated in and around Loma Linda, California. Adventists are conservative Methodists. They celebrate their Sabbath from sunset on Friday till sunset on Saturday. A "24-hour sanctuary in time," they call it. And they follow five little habits that conveys to them extraordinary longevity, comparatively speaking.

In America here, life expectancy for the average woman is 80. But for an Adventist woman, their life expectancy is 89. And the difference is even more pronounced among men, who are expected to live about 11 years longer than their American counterparts. Now, this is a study that followed about 70,000 people for 30 years. Sterling study. And I think it supremely illustrates the premise of this Blue Zone project.

This is a heterogeneous community. It's white, black, Hispanic, Asian. The only thing that they have in common are a set of very small lifestyle habits that they follow ritualistically for most of their lives. They take their diet directly from the Bible.Genesis: Chapter one, Verse [29], where God talks about legumes and seeds, and on one more stanza about green plants,ostensibly missing is meat. They take this sanctuary in time very serious.

For 24 hours every week, no matter how busy they are, how stressed out they are at work, where the kids need to be driven,they stop everything and they focus on their God, their social network, and then, hardwired right in the religion, are nature walks. And the power of this is not that it's done occasionally, the power is it's done every week for a lifetime. None of it's hard. None of it costs money. Adventists also tend to hang out with other Adventists. So, if you go to an Adventist's party you don't see people swilling Jim Beam or rolling a joint. Instead they're talking about their next nature walk, exchanging recipes, and yes, they pray. But they influence each other in profound and measurable ways.

This is a culture that has yielded Ellsworth Whareham. Ellsworth Whareham is 97 years old. He's a multimillionaire, yet when a contractor wanted 6,000 dollars to build a privacy fence, he said, "For that kind of money I'll do it myself." So for the next three days he was out shoveling cement, and hauling poles around. And predictably, perhaps, on the fourth day he ended up in the operating room. But not as the guy on the table; the guy doing open-heart surgery. At 97 he still does 20 open-heart surgeries every month.

Ed Rawlings, 103 years old now, an active cowboy, starts his morning with a swim. And on weekends he likes to put on the boards, throw up rooster tails.

And then Marge Deton. Marge is 104. Her grandson actually lives in the Twin Cities here. She starts her day with lifting weights. She rides her bicycle. And then she gets in her root-beer colored 1994 Cadillac Seville, and tears down the San Bernardino freeway, where she still volunteers for seven different organizations. I've been on 19 hardcore expeditions. I'm probably the only person you'll ever meet who rode his bicycle across the Sahara desert without sunscreen. But I'll tell you, there is no adventure more harrowing than riding shotgun with Marge Deton. "A stranger is a friend I haven't met yet!" she'd say to me.

So, what are the common denominators in these three cultures? What are the things that they all do? And we managed to boil it down to nine. In fact we've done two more Blue Zone expeditions since this and these common denominators hold true.And the first one, and I'm about to utter a heresy here, none of them exercise, at least the way we think of exercise. Instead, they set up their lives so that they are constantly nudged into physical activity. These 100-year-old Okinawan women are getting up and down off the ground, they sit on the floor, 30 or 40 times a day.

Sardinians live in vertical houses, up and down the stairs. Every trip to the store, or to church or to a friend's house occasions a walk. They don't have any conveniences. There is not a button to push to do yard work or house work. If they want to mix up a cake, they're doing it by hand. That's physical activity. That burns calories just as much as going on the treadmill does. When they do do intentional physical activity, it's the things they enjoy. They tend to walk, the only proven way to stave off cognitive decline, and they all tend to have a garden. They know how to set up their life in the right way so they have the right outlook.

Each of these cultures take time to downshift. The Sardinians pray. The Seventh-Day Adventists pray. The Okinawans have this ancestor veneration. But when you're in a hurry or stressed out, that triggers something called the inflammatory response, which is associated with everything from Alzheimer's disease to cardiovascular disease. When you slow down for 15 minutes a day you turn that inflammatory state into a more anti-inflammatory state.

They have vocabulary for sense of purpose, ikigai, like the Okinawans. You know the two most dangerous years in your life are the year you're born, because of infant mortality, and the year you retire. These people know their sense of purpose, and they activate in their life, that's worth about seven years of extra life expectancy.

There's no longevity diet. Instead, these people drink a little bit every day, not a hard sell to the American population.(Laughter) They tend to eat a plant-based diet. Doesn't mean they don't eat meat, but lots of beans and nuts. And they have strategies to keep from overeating, little things that nudge them away from the table at the right time.

And then the foundation of all this is how they connect. They put their families first, take care of their children and their aging parents. They all tend to belong to a faith-based community, which is worth between four and 14 extra years of life expectancy if you do it four times a month. And the biggest thing here is they also belong to the right tribe. They were either born into or they proactively surrounded themselves with the right people.

We know from the Framingham studies, that if your three best friends are obese there is a 50 percent better chance that you'll be overweight. So, if you hang out with unhealthy people, that's going to have a measurable impact over time. Instead, if your friend's idea of recreation is physical activity, bowling, or playing hockey, biking or gardening, if your friends drink a little, but not too much, and they eat right, and they're engaged, and they're trusting and trustworthy, that is going to have the biggest impact over time.

Diets don't work. No diet in the history of the world has ever worked for more than two percent of the population. Exercise programs usually start in January; they're usually done by October. When it comes to longevity there is no short term fix in a pill or anything else.But when you think about it, your friends are long-term adventures, and therefore, perhaps the most significant thing you can do to add more years to your life, and life to your years. Thank you very much.

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Gopinath S Bangalore
91 99161 29728
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com
http://in.linkedin.com/in/gopimysore

India: Journey from weakest grids to smart grids

2011-12-22T10:46:00.001+05:30

Smart grids are essential to ensure a much easier and transparent way of power consumption.In an interview with CIOL, William Ash - strategic program manager, IEEE Standards Association, talks about the growth, investment, implementation, challenges and major policies that can optimize utility of smart grids.

What is the business case for smart grids?

India is home to one of the weakest electric grids in the world and is not designed for high-capacity, long distance power transfer. But with the implementation of smart grid technologies, it will address some of the significant challenges like stopping power thefts, achieving higher quality and reliability of power with lesser blackouts, efficiency, creating a fresh pool of skills and knowledge.

Perhaps smart grid technology can help reduce electricity transmission and distribution losses by 5-10 per cent annually. But there is much more involved in adopting smart grid, like there is a serious problem of theft of electric power, which needs to be addressed. Regulatory controls are needed. An intelligent grid is identified among the most important solutions to meet increasing demand for power and to ensure better energy efficiency. A smart grid will also enable the exploitation of huge potential it has in generation of renewable sources of energy.

Aren't smart grids expensive? How much does a smart meter cost?

Smart grid does come with a cost. But if we consider the opportunity/issues that will be addressed with the implementation of smart grid technology costs are relative compared to the benefit. A major benefit is to supply energy to the 20 per cent of the India population that currently does not have energy or the ability to reduce theft and increase efficiency. The smart metering technology cost varies depending on the technology and various levels of controlling and monitoring.

What are the major policies that can optimize utilization of smart grids?

The Government of India has identified distribution reforms as a key area to bring efficiency and commercial viability into the power sector. It has introduced multiple policies in the smart grid area including establishment of the Smart Grid Task Force, APDRP, R-APDRP initiative for distribution reform, DRUM India - Distribution Reform Upgrade, Management in four pilot sites (North Delhi, Bangalore, Gujarat, Maharashtra), BESCOM project in Bangalore towards Integration of renewable/distributed energy resources into grid, KEPCO a $10 Billion Smart Grid project in Kerala and others.

The Government of India has also announced a dozen of pilot projects for the country. In short, favorable government policies/investments and their implementation along with customizing successful US and western solutions to the Indian context can definitely help in optimizing development of smart grids in India.

What is the significance of standards in smart grids and how standards can help connect collaborative environment to the smart grid?

As the implementation of Smart Grid transforms India's energy scenario, the role of industry standards and system architectures has become more critical. System architectures and standards can provide a foundation that brings together the electrical and communication infrastructure, and forge a path to evolve technology to meet constantly changing needs. Together, they can provide a framework for development, a roadmap for progress, and a catalyst for continued industry investment.

In a system as vast and diverse as Smart Grid, technical standards must be integrated across a variety of technology areas, including communications, IT, service delivery and power. Standards development is the engine that drives creation and deployment of Smart Grid, and conformance, interoperability, and performance which are vital to the success of India's energy.

A common smart grid framework or architecture and technical standards are recognized as essential to realizing the potential benefits of the smart grid. IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) is at the forefront of the global smart grid initiative.

IEEE-SA is leveraging its strong technical foundation to develop Smart Grid standards, share best practices, publish developments and provide related educational offerings to advance technology and facilitate successful smart grid deployments throughout the world. IEEE-SA is collaborating with government and industry bodies, corporations and utilities as well as academia and we are keen to partner with multiple stakeholders as well as engage India's technical community to play an active role in development of global standards for Indian Smart Grid.

Listed below are some examples of smart grid standards that IEEE-SA is working on:

IEEE C37.118TM: PMU performance specifications and communications

IEEE 1547TM Series: Interconnections between utility and DR and storage

IEEE 1686TM -2007 - Substation IED functions and features

IEEE 1588TM - Time management and clock synchronization

IEEE P1703TM - End Device Tables communication over any network

IEEE 1901TM - Broadband communication over Powerline MAC and PHY protocols

IEEE 802 Family - Standards developed by LAN/MAN Standards Committee

IEEE 2030TM - Guide for Smart Grid Interoperability of Energy, IT, and Electric Power Systems and End Use applications

IEEE 1159.3TM - Applications using power quality data

IEEE C37.111TM -1999 - Applications using transient data from power system monitoring

IEEE C37.232TM - Naming time sequence data files for substation equipment

IEEE C37.2TM -2008 - Protective circuit device modeling numbering scheme

IEEE 1379TM -2000 Substation Automation - IEDs and RTU

How much is the Indian investment or India's involvement in terms of Smart grid surge?

India, in the last few years, experienced an impressive rate of economic growth. However, with its electrical grid, India loses money for every unit of electricity sold because it has one of the weakest electric grids in the world.

For India to continue its path of aggressive economic growth, it needs to build a modern, intelligent grid. It is only with a reliable, financially secure Smart Grid that India can provide a stable environment for investments in electric infrastructure, a prerequisite to fixing the fundamental problems with the grid.

Without this, India will not be able to keep pace with the growing electricity needs of its cornerstone industries, such as high tech and telecommunications sectors.

The surge in enthusiasm for Smart Grid in the country is good and in fact a positive, forward looking sign, but if it is not implemented with discipline and cooperation, it will struggle to even reach mediocrity. Industry standards are among the most important foundational elements and form the basis of a "plug-and-play" architecture. Smart Grid needs standards and practices that integrate intelligent equipment across not just a network, but across multiple diverse industries.

As India is still a developing economy, what lessons can it learn from emerging economies leapfrogging to smart grid systems?

India is among the largest and most promising markets in the world. A leader in the community of technology-developing countries, India boasts of world's second largest engineering and technology professionals' pool. Engaging India and its technical professional community is a must.

IEEE-SA is actively growing its engagement in India to educate, promote and help evangelize IEEE standards interests in this important country.

While India's growing technological prowess is acknowledged widely, there are many technical professionals who are not aware of the importance of standards in technology development and innovation, nor actively participate in the standards process.

As India becomes the R&D/IT/design hub for multiple industries and verticals it is vital that IEEE engages the Indian technical community in standards development. IEEE looks forward to building the initial momentum in the smart grid technical arena. This is surely a boon not just for the country but for its large and growing community of technical professionals.

In countries like US, Europe and Australia, utilities are constantly implementing smart technologies into their grids. Among the developing economies, China is planning to increase the renewable energy proportion to 10 per cent of the total energy use by 2010, and 15 per cent by 2020. We also could see signs of active smart grid initiatives in Brazil, Africa and Middle East.

What are the major challenges faced in implementation or improvisation of smart grids?

Smart Grid is not going to be an easy task since the Indian power sector poses a number of barriers. Few key challenges are losses in transmission and distribution, power theft, inadequate grid infrastructure and low metering efficiency among others.

Transmission and distribution losses:Voltage and Var Optimization can reduce losses in electricity transmission and distribution, using real-time information, online system modeling, optimization software, and discrete device controls. The power industry has reached a stagnation point, and needs a complete switch to the next generation, that is automation. Moreover, as the technology is considered premium, its implementation in the Indian industry has been a bit slower than expected. In spite of the monetary issues, power utilities need to begin with basic automation systems, eventually upgrading to advanced systems. Seeing the growing power demand and market competence, this is the only way forward for the domestic power industry.

Power theft:Power theft has been a big issue in India. Overhead lines should be insulated and the LT overhead wires used for distribution of power should be replaced with insulated cables so that theft of energy by hooking can be minimized. The conventional energy meters should be replaced with digital temper-proof meters and prepaid card is also another solution to eradicate theft of energy.

Inadequate grid infrastructure: To continue along its path of aggressive economic growth, India needs to build a modern, intelligent grid. It is only with a reliable, financially secure Smart Grid that India can provide a stable environment for investments in electric infrastructure, a prerequisite to fixing the fundamental problems with the grid. Without this, India will fail to create an environment for growth of its high tech and telecommunications sectors.

Low metering efficiency:The commercial losses are mainly due to low metering efficiency, theft and pilferages. This may be eliminated by improving metering efficiency, proper energy accounting and auditing and improved billing and collection efficiency. Fixing of accountability of the personnel/ feeder managers may help considerably in reduction of AT&C loss.

Most of the companies are developing smart grid solutions, but are failing to adopt standards which quickly find them heading down to dead-end paths, in such a situation how will IEEE fill in the gap?

Smart Grid is a strategic area of focus for IEEE-SA globally and IEEE-SA has more than 100 standards and standards in development relevant to Smart Grid. India is ranked the third largest market for Smart Grid investments after US and China. There is initial momentum in this area with the formation of the Smart Grid Task Force.

But India lacks a collaborative environment that works towards setting global standards so that Smart Grid can use interoperable technologies and become a reality faster and it is this gap that IEEE-SA aims to address as among the world's leading and most credible standards setting body. It is critical that India invests in collaboration and the creation of standards in this initial stage.

A fragmented approach will result in loss of economy of scale and delay in the emergence of the Smart Grid industry. With this, IEEE-SA is dedicated to working with industry professionals and government officials and academia to work toward realization of the Smart Grid and as technology and markets continue to evolve. India will continue to be a focus area for the IEEE-SA as it engages with other nations.

IEEE-SA is actively growing its engagement in India to educate, promote and help evangelize standards interests in India.

IEEE-SA has initiated steps towards engaging India and its professional technical community with initiatives such as formation of a Standards Interest Group (SIG) for India that will provide a platform for the Indian technical community in global standards development including those for Smart Grid; Outreach programs like Smart Grid workshops deliberating the technical and economic challenges and the role of standards in the Indian context.

Given the broad spectrum of technologies that will make up the Smart Grid, a wide variety of industry players such as manufacturers and power/utility companies see the opportunity to participate.

But to prepare for what could be a monumental market opportunity, they need a collaborative environment. IEEE-SA provides such an environment. In addition to standards development, education and creating awareness is also important for us in India. IEEE-SA is focused on increasing its engagement in fast growing markets like India, more so in the past two years. We have started raising awareness of our comprehensive standard development capabilities in India.

Wire News provided by

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Equity: The next frontier in climate talks by Sunita Narain

2011-12-20T10:43:00.001+05:30

EDITORIAL: Equity: The next frontier in climate talks
by Sunita Narain
======================================================

In 1992, when the world met to discuss an agreement on climate change, equity was a simple concept: sharing the global commons—the atmosphere in this case—equally among all. It did not provoke much anxiety, for there were no real claimants. However, this does not mean the concept was readily accepted. A small group of industrialised countries had burnt fossil fuels for 100 years and built up enormous wealth. This club had to decide what to do to cut emissions, and it claimed all countries were equally responsible for the problem. In 1991, just as the climate convention was being finalised, a report, released by an influential Washington think tank, broke the news that its analysis showed India, China and other developing countries were equally responsible for greenhouse gases. Anil Agarwal and I rebutted this and brought in the issue of equitable access to the global commons. We also showed, beyond doubt, that the industrialised countries were singularly responsible for the increased greenhouse gases.

In 1992, it was accepted that the occupied atmospheric space would need to be vacated to make room for the emerging world to grow because emissions are an outcome of economic growth. This acceptance recognised the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities in reducing emissions. A firewall was built to separate those countries that had to reduce emissions to make space for the rest of the world to grow. That year in Rio de Janeiro, the world was talking about drastic cuts of 20 per cent below the 1990 levels to provide for growth as well as climate security. Even in that age of innocence, the negotiations were difficult and nasty. The US argued its lifestyle was non-negotiable and refused to accept any agreement specifying deep reductions. In 1998, the Kyoto Protocol set the first legal target for these countries much below what the world knew it needed to do.

Two decades later, the idea of equity has become an even more inconvenient truth. By now there are more claimants for atmospheric space. Emerging countries have emerged. China, which in 1990, with over a quarter of the world's population, was responsible for only 10 per cent of annual emissions, contributed 27 per cent by 2010. So, the fight over atmospheric space is now real. While the rich countries have not reduced emissions, the new growth countries have started emitting more. In 1990, the industrialised countries accounted for 70 per cent of the global annual emissions. In 2010, they accounted for 43 per cent but this is not because they have vacated space. The new growth countries—China in particular—have only occupied what was available. Emission reductions proposed 20 years ago have still not been committed or adhered to. In fact, in most already industrialised countries emissions have either stabilised or increased. In coal and extractive economies, like Canada and Australia, emissions have risen by 20 per cent and 46 per cent respectively.

The world has run out of atmospheric space and certainly of time. Will the rich, who contributed to emissions in the past and still take up an unfair share of this space based on their populations, reduce emissions? Or will the emerging countries be told to take over the burden? This is the big question, and an inconvenient one at that.

And mind you climate change is not the problem of the present but past contributions. The stock of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has a long life. This means that any discussion on how the carbon cake will be divided, must take into account those gases emitted in the past and still present. So while China accounts for 27 per cent of the annual emissions, in cumulative terms (since 1950) it still accounts for only 11 per cent. Similarly, India contributes 6 per cent to the annual global emissions, but is only responsible for 3 per cent of the stock. The rich countries, with less than a quarter of the world's population, are responsible for some 70 per cent of this historical burden. This stock of gases is responsible for an average global temperature rise of 0.8°C and another 0.8°C in future, which is inevitable. To keep temperature rise below 2°C, the world needs to cut emissions by 50-80 per cent below the 2000 levels by 2050. Now equity is no longer a moral idea, but a tough challenge. It is for this reason that global climate negotiations reached their nadir in Durban. It is for this reason that the US and its coalition are hell bent on erasing any mention of historical emissions from all texts. It is for this reason that the rich world is pointing to the emission growth in China and India, and dismissing their need for development as their obdurate right to pollute.

It is also an idea that is difficult to sell in a world distrustful of idealism and any talk of distributive justice. Even climate change negotiators do not really believe this form of climate-socialism can happen. They will tell you that the world is never going to give up space, that the world is too mean to give money or technology to poor nations for transition to low-carbon growth.

But this is because they forget that climate change is the market's biggest failure. We cannot use the market for its repair. To avoid catastrophic changes it is essential to reach a collaborative agreement, which will be effective. And cooperation is not possible without fairness and equity. This is the pre-requisite. Take it because we must.

Post your comments on this editorial online at http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/equity-next-frontier-climate-talks

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Durban climate talks: What it means for India? - Share link via NDTV.com

2011-12-16T11:18:00.001+05:30

Durban climate talks: What it means for India?

At the recently concluded UN climate change talk in Durban, the world agreed to a new global climate change regime by 2020 to bring down emissions to save the planet. But cutting carbon emissions will be a tough task for India in the years to come as the country needs to balance its development trajectory with transition to a low carbon economy.

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Message from Gopinath S :

Here is the NDTV report on Durban meet.
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India Embraces Solar Power, Says Price Will Equal Thermal Power in Five Years

2011-12-13T11:03:00.001+05:30

Economic South Asian superpower India has firmly embraced solar power, advancing the target date by five years for selling solar-generated electricity at the same rate as electricity generated by fossil fuel plants, from 2022 to 2017.

According to government officials, the reason for moving the date forward is plummeting tariffs in the latest solar development projects, a trend that they believe is likely to continue.

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Joint Secretary Tarun Kapoor said, "The prices will come down further next year and will continue to fall. Earlier, our aim was that solar power will achieve grid-parity by 2022, but looking at the upbeat response from the industry, we have now reduced our target to 2017. Some big names from India have proved that a large investment will soon be possible in solar projects, as huge as 2,000 megawatts. There are other reasons as well. Internationally, the price of solar cells has come down and with improved technology, the cost of operation as a whole has been reduced, thereby increasing the efficiency."

All is not yet completely sunny for India's solar energy drive, however. Kapoor noted that several solar projects benefiting under a state program offering favorable tariffs to build 20,000 megawatts of capacity have already been delayed, adding that developers may lose contracts if deadlines are missed, commenting, "Two of the projects are behind schedule. In a few months, we should have a clear picture."

The pair of miscreants are Entegra Ltd., whose majority shareholder is MW Corp Pvt., which has yet to begin building a 10 megawatt solar-thermal plant in Rajasthan and Enterprise Business Solutions, cited for delays in an October deadline to build a 5 megawatt photovoltaic plant in Punjab.

Entegra Ltd. is disputing New Delhi's claims of sluggish performance, with its Chairman Mukul S. Kasliwal commenting that his firm faced problems raising financing for its $38 million development but that the company expects to complete the Rajasthan facility plant by its 2013 deadline. Shifting responsibility for delays to the Indian government, Kasliwal commented in an interview, "We haven't started because we're not going to do something that doesn't make sense financially. Had we been allowed to function as an SPV (special purpose vehicle), then we would've finished financing long ago."

Despite the travails of Entegra Ltd and Enterprise Business Solutions, other members of India's burgeoning solar energy community are optimistic about the government's latest pronouncements. Azure Power CEO Inderpreet Wadhwa, whose company has secured government contracts to establish solar projects to generate up to 35 megawatts said, "Solar has the same potential as personal computers had in 1970's. Technology innovations and improvements in manufacturing would drive down costs further."

Support for India's solar ambitions comes from some heavyweight fiscal analytical groups. Ernest and Young partner Sanjay Chakrabarti observed, "The extent of price reduction since 2008 has been very sharp. Although solar prices will continue to drop the fall in future may not be so sharp."

Kapoor is under no illusions however as to why foreign companies are closely following India's interest in solar energy, noting wryly, "The only reason is that India is an emerging market and one of the few countries where solar energy is encouraged at such a massive level."

And that emerging market is potentially lucrative indeed, as last year the Indian government launched its "National Solar Mission," whose objective is to establish India as a global leader in solar energy, by creating the policy conditions for its diffusion across the country as quickly as possible.

The program's goals are nothing if not ambitious, as the government had initially hoped to boost the nation's solar capacity by the equivalent of about 18 nuclear power plants by 2022, at date that's now been brought forward by five years.

Investors, anyone?

By. John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com

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National power grid to be ready by 2014

2011-11-23T10:15:00.001+05:30

Utpal Bhaskar, utpal.b@livemint.com

New Delhi

To improve transmission of power across the country, India plans to connect all regional grids into a national grid by 2014.

Of the five regional grids in the country—northern, southern, eastern, north-eastern and western—all except the southern one are interconnected.

"By 2013-14, all the grids will be interconnected for synchronous operations," said power secretary P. Uma Shankar.

This will enable the transfer of huge amounts of electricity from one part of the country to another as required.

"A national grid will help in meeting power demands across the country by seamless transmission of power," said another government official, requesting anonymity.

The average frequency of the northern, eastern, north-eastern and western interconnected grids this fiscal year is 49.86Hz; the southern grid's frequency is 49.8Hz.

Grid frequency is a critical aspect of power system operations. Global standards require that grid frequency be kept close to 50Hz, but power-short India has had a history of frequency fluctuating from below 48Hz to above 52Hz, which led to innumerable grid collapses in the 1980s and 1990s.

The huge potential for thermal power generation in the East and an equally large hydropower potential in the North-East have necessitated the development of a national grid. Since the national grid will enable faster trades in power sales, it will reduce costs, some of which may be passed on to consumers in the form of lower tariffs.

The government is spending Rs.1.4 trillion to build the national power transmission grid that will increase the country's inter-regional transmission capacity to 32,000 megawatts (MW) by 2012 from 23,800MW now.

Of this, Rs.75,000 crore is needed for regional and national grids.

A national grid will also help towards interlinking countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), which groups India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the Maldives. The Saarc grid envisages meeting electricity demands in the region, as well as boosting economic and political ties.

India already has power grid links with Bhutan and Nepal, and plans to develop power transmission links with Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

India has a power generation capacity of 182,345MW and plans to add 100,000MW during the 12th Plan period (2012-17).

India's central transmission utility—Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd (PGCIL)—operates 86,000 circuit kilometres of transmission lines.

Rural load dispatch centres (RLDCs), which fall under the purview of PGCIL, are responsible for maintaining grid discipline and supervising optimum scheduling and delivery of electricity in their regions. The country has 33 state load dispatch centres, five RLDCs and one national load dispatch centre.

Sub-stations are an important part of the electricity network and play a critical role in the generation, transmission and distribution system. They increase or decrease the electricity voltage for transmission and distribution purposes.

The 116 major sub-stations that are responsible for the flow of power across states fall under the purview of PGCIL.

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An energised industry

2011-11-17T10:21:00.001+05:30

Nov 14th 2011, 16:05 by The Economist online

What are the world's biggest sources of renewable energy and where are they located?

EFFORTS to tackle climate change include heavy investment in renewable sources of electricity around the world. Solar power saw the biggest leap in 2010, with the installed base jumping 70% compared with 2009 to 40 gigawatts. Wind power also grew strongly, adding 24% of generating capacity. Yet the biggest source of renewable electricity, hydropower, and the smallest, geothermal, both only added 3% to capacity. Finding usable sources of either is becoming increasingly hard or costly. The region that saw the biggest growth in renewable energy projects was power-hungry Asia. Investment in renewables also saw the biggest leap since 2007, with $243 billion spent, a 30% increase over 2009.

Maldives outlines plans to become first carbon neutral

2011-10-12T10:54:00.001+05:30

The Maldives has made "significant progress" towards becoming the world's first carbon neutral country, according to the its President, Nasheed Mohamed. Speaking at the Six Senses SLOWLIFE Symposium at Soneva Fushi resort last week, President Nasheed outlined several landmark achievements of the last 12 months.

The government has drafted a carbon neutral energy plan, targeting a 60% reliance on solar energy by 2020, which will achieve an 80% cut in carbon emissions without raising electricity costs. Part of the process requires electricity consumers to become generators. A Maldivian hotel chain became the first enterprise to sign a contract with the state government under which it will supply solar power to the grid.

Transport will also figure heavily in carbon neutral efforts. The country's Transport Ministry is developing a new import regime whereby the electric car will be available at one third of the price of petrol-fuelled vehicles, and new policies will encourage the uptake of renewable energy and marine transport. This move will be given financial backing with a government pledge to spend 2% of national income on renewable energy deployment.

While the President does not expect to change the world, he hopes to act as an example to larger nations. "If we can demonstrate a low carbon development strategy that can be copied elsewhere, it will be a step in the right direction," he said.

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Rural electricity

2011-10-04T12:13:00.001+05:30

Electricity is generated using an old bicycle and bullock cart

Power shortage is nothing new to India.

"Though our country claims to have developed in terms of science and technology, erratic power supply or complete breakdown for hours together has almost become routine today," says Mr. Chandrakant Pathak, inventor and manufacturer of non conventional energy equipment in Pune.

"Almost all States face electricity shortage in terms of a low voltage or complete breakdown and calls to the local EB office rarely fetch a proper response.

Helpless situation

"If this be the case for urban dwellers, think about the farmers living in remote villages. They need power for irrigating their crops, or lighting their cattle sheds. What can they do?" he asks.

To address such signifant problems, Mr. Pathak developed a method for generating electricity using an old bicycle and bullock cart. By using these 'devices' the innovator says "farmers can overcome the power shortage problems they face."

Explanation

Explaining how to generate power from a bicycle, Mr. Pathak says: "Take any bicycle and remove the mudguard and tyre-tube from the rear wheel. Attach a double stand to the cycle so that it remains stable in one place.

Fix a V shaped belt (commonly available in automobile shops) from the rear rim and connect it to the dynamo or alternator kept on the carrier of the bicycle.

A 12 volt dynamo, alternator or brushless D.C. generator are easily available in the market.

An hour of pedalling generates about 36 watts (12 volt X 3 amp) that can power three C.F.L. lamps (4 watts) approximately for three hours or three L.E.D. lamps (two watts) for five to six hours."

Called Vanarai

This portable device named Vanarai can be easily carried to the field or placed near any water body (5 to 7 mts from ground level) and the pump can discharge 30 to 40 litres of water per minute.

Regarding power generation from bullocks the innovator says, "for a moment, bullocks can provide approximately 15 horse-power energy."

The power generating machine from two bullocks consists of differential gear box and pulleys and is kept at the centre.

The bullocks are made to rotate around the machine in the same way as the earth rotates around the sun. They complete two rounds in approximately one minute.

"Any bullock cart having wooden, iron or rubber tyre wheels is useful for this purpose," he explains.

A brushless D.C. generator of 12 Volt capacity can be fitted on the backside of the cart and helps in charging batteries.

A pulley fitted on the inner side of the wheel is connected to another one on the generator. A V belt speed is attached to the pulley generating a voltage of 12 volt D.C. and 4-5 amp current.

Suitable

"A centrifugal water pump of 3 hp can be run by using this energy machine," says Mr. Pathak.

This mechanism is especially useful in irrigation or for supplying water to a village. Besides this a small flour mill or grass chopping machine can be run using this energy.

"Similarly we can float a small wooden platform in the canals for irrigation purpose with a rope tied to it. Using bearing and shaft, a small turbine wheel can be put on the floating platform. It will run on flowing water. If a pulley or small gear box is fixed to the shaft of turbine wheel, 200 watts of power can be generated," he says.

Best innovator

"Prof Anil Gupta and the National Innovation Foundation, Ahmedabad are encouraging us till date in terms of referring enquiries, documenting our work and also honouring us during their annual award ceremony as as the best innovator award," says Mr. Pathak.

For more details contact Mr. Chandrakant Pathak can be reached at No. 144, Narayan Peth, Pune:411030, email : mtc1964@rediffmail.com, phone:020- 24452620, mobile: 9890907920.

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Lanka’s first Dendro power plant commissioning soon

2011-09-22T10:33:00.001+05:30

Nimal Wijesinghe A'pura Additional District group correspondent

Sri Lanka's first dendro based power project will be commissioned soon at the hamlet of Kattimuruchchana in Thirappane Divisional Secretariat division in Anuradhapura district.

The Labunoruwa, Kattamurichchana Dendro power plant is expected to provide 2.5 MW of green electricity to the national grid by using gliricidia (Albesia) wood fuel. The plant was initiated and processed during the past three years by the Human and Community Youth Organization (HCDYO) at Labunoruwa in Thirappane under the patronage of Helios Thirappane Biopower Project Pvt Ltd incorporated with the Helios Renewable Energy Pvt and Emergent Venture India (EIV). The initial investment is Rs 380 million. Project Development Engineer P.R. Wijewardane told the Daily News that the construction work of Sri Lanka's first Dendro based power plant is completed.

This project will be upgraded to a capacity of 2.5 MW by April next year to provide 2,500 KW to the National grid, he said.

Around 1,000,000 Gliricidia saplings have been planted in Thirappane area with 3,000 farmer families participating in the cultivation process.

"The Kattamarichchan plant requires 110 tons of Gliricidia wood fuel per day. The annual wood fuel requirement is nearly 33,000 tons valued at Rs 110 million. The farmer families involved in the project will get an additional income of Rs 10,000 monthly per family through wood fuel sales. Organic fertilizer processing project and a plant based on Gliricidia leaf is being established with the assistance of the Agrarian Services Development Authorities.

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REGION: South Asian countries to work on power links

2011-09-17T10:07:00.001+05:30

DHAKA: South Asian nations agreed on Thursday to work to promote closer energy links for electricity grids and power generation, a senior energy official said. Energy ministers from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) — bringing together Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — finished their meeting on Thursday. "To implement the decision a framework will be finalised by October this year," said Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad, Bangladesh secretary for power division. Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told the meeting that SAARC members were politically committed to solve electricity shortages.

She said that in this spirit Bangladesh was working on the SAARC grid interconnection between Bangladesh and India. "As this interconnection is established, it would be easier to establish connectivity with other SAARC member countries," she said. She added that Bangladesh planned to produce 20,000 megawatts of electricity by the year of 2021.

Mohammad Mejbahuddin, secretary of the energy and mineral resources division, said that Bangladesh is working on power links with India and Myanmar. "If we can utilise hydro power potential in Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar we could be self reliant on clean energy," he said. "The politico-economic developments in the world have placed energy security under the global spotlight," Mejbahuddin said. He said that energy price peaks had wreaked havoc with Bangladesh's economic stability. Azad confirmed that Bangladesh would be able to import electricity from India by the early of 2013. He told reporters after the fourth SAARC energy ministers meeting that in the region "we have natural gas, hydro power, coal and the expertise to generate renewable energy and if we can explore those potentials and can share effectively then will be able to reduce poverty, the ultimate goal of the nations." reuters

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An open letter to Anna from Rajdeep Sardesai

2011-08-27T11:25:00.001+05:30

Dear Anna,

I write this to you neither as a fawning cheerleader nor a cynical journalist, but a proud Indian like you. Let me applaud you at the very outset for having brought corruption to the national centre stage. You have worked tirelessly for more than two decades in exposing corruption in Maharashtra, but Ralegan Siddhi is a long way from Delhi, which is perhaps why television channels hadn't featured your contribution prominently till now. An opinion poll we did just a month ago suggested that more people had heard of yoga guru baba Ramdev than a tireless fakir-like crusader from a Western Maharashtra village.

Why not get the government to commit to a special session of parliament in six to eight weeks on an amended Lok Pal bill so that a new, well-considered law becomes a Diwali gift to the nation? AFP

All that has now changed. Your latest fast has made you a household name. You've brought a mighty Indian state to its knees. You've encouraged millions of anonymous Indians to come out on the streets and get a voice. You've exposed a political class, suffering from a grave moral crisis, to the wider world. You've empowered those who've felt lost in a new India where wealth is the sole presiding deity. You've become a symbol of change and hope at a time when a scam culture has assaulted the conscience of the nation.

You've even shown that the Marathas, a community that has failed to conquer Delhi since losing the third battle of Panipat in 1761, can indeed take the national capital by storm. But in every battle there must come a time when you must call a halt. That time may well be approaching.

Gandhi, the greatest Indian of them all, from whom you claim to derive inspiration, never went on a fast unto death by refusing medication. For Gandhi, the idea of fasting was a form of self-purification, a fast could not be undertaken as he said, "out of anger. Anger is a short-term madness." Yes, there is anger in the streets today, an almost volcanic eruption of a lava that has been simmering for decades. Your genius lies in being able to channelise that popular anger against corruption into a well-defined goal of a strong anti-corruption law and, importantly, doing so in a peaceful manner. The real danger though now is that a peaceful, non-violent movement runs the risk of being overwhelmed by what Dr Ambedkar, the great constitutionalist described a fast unto death as, by the "grammar of anarchy."

There have been some signs of this in the last 48 hours that are truly worrying. The gherao of the homes of members of Parliament may be visually appealing, but it encourages an anti-politician 'sab neta chor hai' rhetoric that could further destroy faith in parliamentary democracy. The increasingly strident language being used by certain members of Team Anna – a term which creates the regrettable impression of you being surrounded by a coterie – is to be best avoided at a time when a rational dialogue is called for.

Only two days ago, a colleague of mine was assaulted in the heart of the capital by a drunk biker gang waving the tricolor and chanting 'I am Anna' slogans. The frenzy being built up in the media by hyper-ventilating news channels and demagogic acolytes could easily transform a genuine peoples movement into a lumpen expression of mob fury. It's a transformation that could end up destroying the hard-earned credibility of your struggle.

Ram Lila is not Mumbai's Azad Maidan nor is it the village square in Ralegan Siddhi. This is not some battle to stop the local thug from shutting his liquor shop. Here, there are multiple agendas that require dexterous negotiation and not mere sloganeering. The sight of gangster Abu Salem's girlfriend Monica Bedi parading Mumbai's streets with an Anna cap should convince you of the dangers of reducing the fight against corruption to a well-choreographed prime time tv spectacle.

It is true no fast can be called off till the primary goal has been achieved. If that goal is to have the Jan Lok Pal bill passed exactly as you desire then that is a maximalist position which is never easy to accommodate overnight. Gandhi himself often spoke of the 'beauty' of compromise. Without doubt the fact that you have forced an obdurate government to fast-forward the Lok Pal bill and accept most of your proposals is itself a major achievement. But to ram through a bill that has been hanging fire for decades within the space of a few days without a sustained and truly inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders would be self-defeating.

Yes, one recognizes you have little trust in a discredited government that only ten days ago, arrogantly and foolishly, first defamed, then arrested you and now salutes you. A flip-flop government sorely missing a strong political authority has taken refuge in parliamentary procedure when the simpler way out to atone for their sins would have been an unqualified apology for your arrest followed by a withdrawal of the government bill and a fresh start to the pre-legislation consultation. Yes, you are hurt, and rightly so, by the government's attitude, but this is the moment to show your heart is much bigger than the petty minds who reside in official bungalows. It's time for practicality, not prestige. Why not, for example, get the government to commit to a special session of Parliament in six to eight weeks on an amended Lok Pal bill so that a new, well-considered law becomes a Diwali gift to the nation? Till then, call off the fast, continue the agitation.

Post-script: I have framed a picture of our meeting earlier this week. The caption reads: "When zero met hero!". India is not Anna, nor is Anna India, but you are now an icon for millions. Please don't allow a personality cult to shadow your ultimate gift of common sense.

Rajdeep Sardesai is editor in chief, IBN 18. You can email him at rajdeep.sardesai@network18online.com.

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Energy exchange completes 3 yrs, gets 1,000 open access consumers

2011-08-05T10:50:00.001+05:30

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Posted: Aug 04, 2011 at 0117 hrs IST

First smart grid electricity at Rukubji

2011-08-02T10:22:00.001+05:30

First smart grid electricity at Rukubji

The Humboldt State University team with those of BPC and DoE who built the first smart grid at Rukubji

1 August, 2011 - Homes in Rukubji, Wangduephodrang have been installed with the smart grid, which will empower them to stabilise their own electricity grids and curb damaging voltage drop situation known as brownouts.

The smart grid is a low-cost, prototype system designed by a team from Humboldt State University and faculty advisors from Arcata, California. It won them a US $ 75,000 technology design award from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The team, together with Bhutan Power Corporation and Department of Energy officials, installed the smart grid over a period of six weeks in June and July this year. Rukubji has about 100 households who receive electricity from their 24-year old, 40kW micro-hydroelectric plant built by a Japanese government grant.

A crucial function of the GridShare is indicating the status of the grid, which is accomplished with an indicator installed in each kitchen. The indicator displays a green LED, when there is enough electricity available for high power appliances. A red LED indicates limited power and, if a rice cooker is used while the red LED is lit, the GridShare cuts off power until the rice cooker is unplugged.

Residents say the red and green LED lights are helpful indicators, empowering them to shift usage of high power devices to off peak times. They have attempted load shifting in the past with limited success due to lack of information, which the LED lights are now providing.

The GridShare program encourages electrical load shifting, using a three-pronged approach: education, indication, and enforcement. The education campaign focused on why Rukubji was experiencing brownouts and facilitated the village to work together to address these issues.

The GridShare devices indicate the state of grid to consumers and block use of large appliances during brownouts.

It enables Rukubji residents to restrict their use of high-powered electrical appliances, such as rice cookers and water boilers, to periods of low demand. This helps stem disruptive brownouts during peak hours of usage in the early morning and evening.

In the process of installing GridShare

It is part of a multi-year effort working with the village of Rukubji and surrounding communities, like Bumiloo, Sangdo, and Tsenpokto, to establish the pilot GridShare project. The team will continue to monitor the devices for at least next six months. They will evaluate their capacity to stabilise the electric system and assess residents' satisfaction.

In addition, the team led a student education program in classes four, five and six students of Rukubji School about electricity, brownouts and load shifting. They also held a community education program to brief more than 100 residents about the installations, to educate the village on the GridShare program and respond to questions and concerns.

Chhejay Wangdi, manager of the Bhutan Power Corporation's (BPC) Electricity Service Division in Wangduephodrang, said, "Presently, we don't face many brownout problems, but we never know what could happen in the future. It will be good to have options for managing electric grids in the years ahead."

Chhejay Wangdi said the adaptive regulation of GridShare has more benefits compared with BPC's limited electric grids. "In Bumthang, before the grid arrived, during brownouts we had to cut power to entire parts of the village. With the smart grid devices, houses can keep their lights on," he said. "Both BPC and customers will be happy if they can keep their lights on all the time."

The project demonstrates the potential of smart grid technology at the village-scale. HSU students and faculty advisors say it holds the promise of improving renewable energy mini-grids in thousands of communities worldwide.

Meanwhile, Chhejay Wangdi said BPC intends to link nearby village of Bumiloo to the national grid, while the main village of Rukubji will remain connected to existing micro-hydroelectric system.

This will relieve Rukubji's currently overloaded system with national grid serving as backup. Rukubji will then have extremely reliable power with two sources of electricity.

Contributed by Chhimi Dorji

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WB funding for transmission line between India and Nepal

2011-07-19T10:36:00.001+05:30

REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, July 16: The World Bank and the Government of Nepal signed an agreement on Saturday for financing the implementation of the Nepal India Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (NIETTP).

According to a press statement, the agreement was signed by Lal Shanker Ghimire, Joint Secretary and Chief of the Foreign Aid Coordination Division, Ministry of Finance, and Andras Horvai, World Bank Acting Country Manager for Nepal.

Ellen Goldstein, the World Bank Country Director for Nepal and Bangladesh, in the statement said the landmark project is one of the several joint efforts that Nepal and the World Bank are making to help relieve the chronic shortage of electricity and will contribute to removing the infrastructure barriers which stand as the key challenge for development.

The action plan includes development of the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission link, a key component of the NIETTP and the first major cross-border transmission line between India and Nepal to be developed on a commercial basis.

Upon completion of the project, Nepal is expected to significantly reduce load shedding with consequent positive impact on trade and industry. The assistance package is part of a $202 million project, which is also supported by the private sector and development partners, as well as the governments of Nepal and India.

World Bank´s contribution in the project comprises of $84 million in credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the concessionary lending arm of the World Bank Group and an IDA grant of $15 million.

"The project will provide Nepal with at least 100 MW of additional electricity imported from India to meet its power needs," said Goldstein. "It will also develop key segments of the backbone high voltage system to help expand access to electricity across Nepal."

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India's first renewable energy based smart mini-grid system commissioned

2011-07-06T11:03:00.001+05:30

OUR BUREAU Jul 4, 2011, 02.28pm IST

NEW DELHI: India has commissioned a first of its kind Renewable Energy Based Smart Mini-Grid System at TERI Retreat in Gurgaon.

"The country must have strong safeguards so that it gets the best technology and also develops it indigenously", said Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy.

" Renewable energy is important as it reaches unreachable areas," said Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Minister of Power. He said that smart mini-grids will be very useful for stand-alone projects in villages and inaccessible areas.

A Smart Mini-Grid (SMG), or Micro-Grid, is an intelligent electricity distribution network, operating at or below 11 KV, where the energy demand is effectively and intelligently managed by diverse range of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) such as solar PV, micro-hydro power plants, wind turbines, biomass, small conventional generators such as diesel gensets etc in combination with each other through smart control techniques.

"Renewable energy is important as it reaches unreachable areas," said Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Minister of Power. He said that smart mini-grids will be very useful for stand-alone projects in villages and inaccessible areas.

Advanced sensing, communication and control technologies are used in smart grids these days for not only generation and transmission of power but also distribution and utilization of electricity in a more intelligent and effective manner.

Such an application will not only foster the effective inter-connection and utilization of multiple renewable energy resources but would also help in advancing access to energy to the last mile in the most optimum way by improving the efficiency of the overall system.

The Smart Mini-Grid system has a great potential in large commercial and industrial complexes, hospitals, shopping malls/ complexes, apartments, residential complexes, educational institutions, remote un-electrified as well as electrified locations to ensure maximum flexibility, reliability and safety.

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NTPC goes for joint venture to set up power exchange

2011-06-16T11:38:00.001+05:30

NTPC has formed a joint venture company, National Power Exchange Ltd (NPEX), to set up a power exchange. It will be a third exchange after Power Exchange India Ltd (PXIL) and India Energy Exchange and is expected to be operational within a year, officials said.

The joint venture with NHPC, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has already received in-principle approval from the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to begin. NTPC officials said the implementation time may, however, vary depending on terms of CERC approval and other factors.

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1000 MW power link between India and Sri lanka

2011-06-16T11:30:00.001+05:30

PGCIL to set up undersea power line from Lanka

Mansi Taneja / New Delhi June 16, 2011, 0:41 IST

State-run transmission firm Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) will provide consultancy services to the Sri Lankan government for setting up an undersea power transmission line between the two countries. The project, estimated to cost Rs 2,500-3,000 crore, is to be jointly implemented with the Ceylon Electricity Board, the largest power company of Sri Lanka.

Globally, transnational undersea power transmission lines have been laid till date only between Britain and France, for transmission of 2,000 Mw of electricity.

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India's Husk Power Systems Converts Rice Husks into Energy

2011-03-18T19:39:00.001+05:30

Environmental Entrepreneurs: India's Husk Power Systems Converts Rice Husks into Energy

Husk Power Systems sees electricity as a critical element in addressing poverty. "Access to better lighting improves people's lives", says Sinha. Photo credit: flickr/Acumen Fund

A renewable energy company provides clean electricity and job opportunities to India's rural poor.

Renewable energy entrepreneur Manoj Sinha grew up in Bihar, one of India's poorest states, where 85% of the 80 million inhabitants are not connected to the electric grid. He spent his childhood studying by candlelight, before leaving Bihar to earn degrees in electrical engineering and business. Sinha's early experiences, combined with the knowledge that his cousins continued to live in Bihar without a reliable light source, inspired him to start Husk Power Systems, a business that brings affordable electricity to India's rural villages.

Turning Waste Into Light

Sinha, along with four friends from university - Gyanesh Pandey, Ratnesh Yadav and Charles W. Ransler, decided to create a clean, renewable and inexpensive source of electricity for Bihar's villagers. Pandey and Yadav had also grown up in Bihar, and saw electricity as a critical element in addressing poverty in their home state. "Access to better lighting improves people's lives", says Sinha. "Students will not study in insufficient lighting, but that changes with electricity".

Because so many inhabitants live in poverty in rural villages along Bihar's "Rice Belt," very little ever goes to waste, with the exception of rice husk, a major rice byproduct. Husk Power's founders devised a method of using this husk to produce clean, affordable electricity for local villages.

Electricity from Husk Power Systems costs less than half of what many families previously paid for kerosene lamps, and has far fewer environmental and health hazards.

To produce electricity, piles of rice husk are fed into small biomass gasifiers, where gas produced from the husks is used to fuel an internal combustion engine. The operation's byproduct is rice husk ash which can be sold for use in concrete. Although using rice husk ash in concrete produces emissions, it decreases the amount of high-carbon Portland cement used, and thus the overall emissions of concrete production. Electricity generated from the plants is then sold to families in surrounding villages at the cost of about $1.75 a month. This price is less than half of what many families were previously paying for kerosene lamps, and has far fewer environmental and health hazards than those created by burning traditional fuel sources such as kerosene, wood or dung.

Simplifying the Electricity Process

To lower costs, Husk Power uses bamboo poles to hang wires overhead. Photo credit: flickr/Acumen Fund

Husk Power can offer power to rural Indians at low prices because they have focused their research and development investment on simplifying electricity production and transmission as much as possible. "What we do well is combine many pieces together in a way that works efficiently and lowers overhead and expenses," says Sinha. For example, when wiring a village for electricity, Husk Power uses readily available and inexpensive bamboo poles to hang wires overhead instead of spending money and time to dig holes and run wire underground.

The simplification of the electricity model also allows Husk Power to employ local villagers, who do not need training beyond that provided at Husk's local facility. The company has employed over 300 local residents to run its current sixty plants producing electricity, and intends to train 2,500 more people in the next two years.

Growing beyond Bihar

The market opportunity for clean electricity serving India's rural poor was recently estimated at $2 billion by the World Resources Institute and the Centre for Development Finance at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (CDF-IFMR). Sinha and his colleagues now use this figure as a benchmark for their own growth. They aim to grow their business to bring clean electricity to Indian villagers beyond Bihar, and are planning 2,000 new plants that will serve millions of customers by 2014.

Manoj Sinha. Photo credit: Husk Power Systems

In order to continue their expansion, Husk Power needs investment to open additional plants and train staff. Sinha will travel to New York City in April for the New Ventures Global Investor Forum, where he will present Husk Power's business model to a group of international investors. He hopes that new investors will challenge Husk Power to grow even further than they are currently planning. "We need aggressive people to push for extremes," he says. "We need people to say, 'So you're planning 2,000 new plants, why not 5,000?'"

Manoj Sinha will be attending the New Ventures Global Investor Forum: Green Opportunities in Tomorrow's Markets in New York City on April 6 along with five other innovative New Ventures environmental entrepreneurs. Whether you are looking for a potential investment deal or hope to be inspired by the power of entrepreneurship to help solve our environmental challenges, join us for the Global Investor Forum. Visit the New Ventures website for more information and registration information.

Special thanks to all of our event sponsors and in particular our Gold Sponsors Alcoa Foundation and Fundación AVINA.

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How to approach environmentalism (by Sunita Narain)

2011-01-20T10:27:00.001+05:30

EDITORIAL

2010 was a loud year for the environment. High profile projects—from Vedanta to Posco and Navi Mumbai airport to Lavasa—hit the headlines for non-compliance with environmental regulations. While 2009 was the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy, it was only last year that we were all outraged by the disaster. The realisation of how every institution—the judiciary, parliament and government—had miserably failed to provide justice to the victims shocked us deeply.

It was also in 2010 that allegations of "rigging" of climate change science took the world by storm. The sceptics had their moment of glory as they ridiculed science and picked holes in its analysis. And even though most of what they had to say was proven wrong, the damage has been done. Even as extreme weather has hit parts of the world,we are not certain anymore if this variation is the growing impact of climate change. Then in December at the meeting in Cancun, the world took the final step to deny the problem of climate change. It agreed to do nothing to reduce its emissions at the scale and pace needed.

The question is what is the cacophony adding up to. Where is it leading us?

Take the issue of projects that have been cancelled or held up because of environmental reasons. It would not be wrong to say that virtually all infrastructure and industrial projects—from mining to thermal and hydel and nuclear power to cement or steel—are under attack today from communities who fear loss of livelihoods. These communities are at the forefront of India's environmental movement. They are its warriors.

For them the environment is not a matter of luxury; it is not about fixing the problems of growth, but of survival. It is fixing growth itself. They know that when the land is mined and trees are cut, their water source dries up or they lose grazing and agricultural land. They know they are poor. And they are saying, loudly and as clearly as they can, that what others call development will only make them poorer.

This is what I call environmentalism of the poor. The fact is today development projects take local resources— minerals, water or land—but cannot provide employment to replace the livelihoods of all those they displace. It is for this reason that the country is resonating with cries of people who are fighting development itself.

Where do we go from here? I would argue we need to listen to these voices, not dismiss or stifle them in the name of anti-growth dissent or Naxalism. This can be done by strengthening the processes of democracy that ensure people have a say in development. For instance, the Forest Rights Act demands that the gram sabha (village assembly) in tribal areas must give its written consent to a project before it is cleared. Public hearings held during the environmental impact assessment provide the platform for people to voice their concerns. In most cases today the effort is to rig and undermine these processes.Public hearings and even video recordings of the events are faked or the public is kept out through use of force. But what is worse is that the final project clearance process does not demand that these voices are not just heard but heeded too. In most cases one will find the concern raised by people is brushed aside as projects are rammed through in the name of industrial development. This must stop.

There is no doubt we need industrial and infrastructure projects, but these cannot be built against the will of people. We will have to reinvent the way we work with people and we will have to reinvent the way to development. We will have to do more with less.Frugality and innovation will have to be our way to growth. Our challenge is to provide the gains of development to vast numbers of people. This requires inventing growth that is both affordable and sustainable.

But what all this adds up to, in my view, is to define a new chapter of environmentalism in the world. I say this because it is only now that we are being forced to confront some tough questions on how to be or not to be an environmentalist. We are learning that techno-fix solutions, of cleaning up pollution even as we continue to emit more, are not good enough. The rich world has failed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions through its investment in efficiency. It now needs to find ways to reinvent growth without fossil fuels and to grow within limits. The world failed us in Cancun because the rich are still not prepared to accept the writing on the wall: there are limits to growth, unless we can grow differently.

We in urban and middle-class India must learn this lesson quickly. We cannot afford this environmentalism of costly solutions that want to put band-aids on what is so badly broken. We must understand that our future lies in being part of the environmentalism of the poor, as this movement will force us to seek new answers to old problems.

The bottom line is that in this New Year we must embrace a new

philosophy: unless we rock the boat we will not have a boat at all.

--
Gopinath S
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Deal won, stakes lost (Editorial by Sunita Narain)

2011-01-04T10:31:00.001+05:30

Deal won, stakes lost

====================================

Last fortnight (see 'The endgame at Cancun',

http://downtoearth.org.in/node/2381) we discussed the clandestine endgame afoot at Cancun to change the framework of the climate change negotiations to suit big and powerful polluters. Since then Cancun has concluded and a deal, in the form of a spate of agreements, has been gavelled into existence by the chair. Commentators and climate activists in the Western world are ecstatic. Even the critics say pragmatism has worked and the world has taken a small step ahead in its battle to fight emissions that determine its growth.

Let's assess the outcome at Cancun to see if this is indeed a step forward. It is well-accepted that to keep the world below the already dangerous 2°C temperature increase, global emissions need to drop to

44 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent(mix of greenhouse gases measured in CO2e) by 2020—against the roughly 48 billion tonnes of CO2e emitted currently. In other words, the world has already run out of atmospheric space and has to cut emissions fast and drastically.

That's why at the Bali climate conference in 2007 the target placed on the table was for the industrialised countries to cut emissions 20-40 per cent by 2020, over their 1990 levels. The actual number was to be finalised at subsequent meetings. So what does Cancun do? It mouths some platitudes that the industrialised countries will scale up their mitigation efforts but does not specify a target.

Instead, it endorses an arrangement that emission reduction commitments of industrialised countries will be decided on the voluntary pledge they make.They will tell us how much they can cut and by when. The US, which has been instrumental in getting the deal at Cancun, is the biggest winner. If its target to reduce emissions were based on its historical and current contribution to the problem, the country would have to cut 40 per cent by 2020, over the 1990 levels.

Now it has pledged that it will cut zero percentage points in this period. The Cancun deal legitimises its right to pollute.

This is not all. Under the Cancun deal, all countries, including India and China, are now committed to reduce emissions. India's pledge to reduce energy intensity by 20-25 per cent by 2020 is part of this global deal. After all, all countries must be part of the solution. It is also in our best interest to avoid pollution for growth.

But surely nobody can agree that the burden of the transition should shift to the developing world. But this is what has happened at Cancun. If you compare the sum of the "pledges" made by the industrialised countries against the "pledges" made by developing countries, including China and India, a curious fact emerges. While the total amount the rich will cut comes to 0.8-1.8 billion tonnes of CO2e, poor developing countries have agreed to cut 2.3 billion tonnes of CO2e by 2020. In other words, emission reduction promised by the industrialised world is pathetic.And the principle of equity in burden-sharing has been completely done away with.

Let us be clear, Cancun makes no pretence that global equity is a principle best trashed into the world's dustbin. Just consider. All previous drafts of this agreement stated that developing countries would have equitable access to the global carbon budget. This has been crucially diluted in the Cancun agreement. It reads in a fuzzy and meaningless way that there will be "equitable access to sustainable development". We have surrendered our demand to apportion the global atmospheric space based on our right to development.

This is not the worst. For a moment let's say India should be willing to pay this price for the glo¬bal common good. But the pledges will add up to practically nothing in terms of averting the worst of climate change. With the Cancun deal in force, the world is in for a 3-4°C temperature rise. We are most vulnerable. Already, when world average temperatures have increas¬ed by just 0.8°C, our monsoons are showing signs of extreme variability leading to floods and droughts.

Then how can a weak and ineffective deal on climate change be good for us?

But the spin masters want us to believe otherwise. The Western media is hailing Cancun as the much-needed breakthrough. That's because the Cancun deal protects the interests of the rich polluters. It is their prize.

What has the developing world got in return? There is no commitment to cut emissions needed to avert climate change. No money is promised either. The agreement provides for the creation of a green fund and repeats the de¬cision to give US $30 billion as fast track funding by

2012 and US $100 billion by 2020. But this is fictional money to cajole and bribe. The fact is that the rich world is saying openly it cannot pay because of recession. It now wants the developing world to look for these funds in the private sector. The technology deal is even weaker. It only says that it will set up a technology centre. The tricky issue of preferential access to intellectualproperty rights over low-carbon technologies has been skipped altogether.

The fact is we hate being hated in the rich man's world. Cancun was about our need to be dealmakers on their behalf—even if it costs us the earth.

—Sunita Narain

Post your comments on this editorial online at http://downtoearth.org.in/node/2760

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Global Warming Reduces Available Wind Energy

2010-11-30T22:08:00.001+05:30

Global Warming Reduces Available Wind Energy

November 26th, 2010 by EBR_EBdaily

A switch to wind energy will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions — and reduce the global warming they cause. But there's a catch, says climate researcher Diandong Ren, a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin in a paper appear in the AIP's Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy: rising temperatures decrease wind speeds, making for less power bang for the wind turbine buck.

The prevailing winds in the "free" atmosphere about 1,000 meters above the ground are maintained by a temperature gradient that decreases toward the poles. "For example, Wichita, Kansas is cooler, in general, than Austin, Texas," Ren says. "The stronger the temperature contrast, the stronger the wind." But as the climate changes and global temperatures rise, the temperature contrast between the lower latitudes and the poles decreases slightly, because polar regions tend to warm up faster. And as that temperature contrast becomes weaker, so too do the winds.

Wind turbines are powered by winds at lower altitudes — about 100 meters above the ground — where, Ren says, "frictional effects from local topography and landscapes further influence wind speed and direction. In my study, I assume that these effects are constant — like a constant filter — so wind speed changes in the free atmosphere are representative of that in the frictional layer."

Ren calculates that a 2-4 degree Celsius increase in temperatures in Earth's mid to high-latitudes would result in a 4-12 percent decrease in wind speeds in certain high northern latitudes. This means, he says, that with "everything else being the same, we need to invest in more wind turbines to gain the same amount of energy. Wind energy will still be plentiful and wind energy still profitable, but we need to tap the energy source earlier" — before there is less to tap.

Source: Science Daily

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India leads in energy efficiency: Survey

2010-10-01T11:01:00.001+05:30

India Blooms News Service

New Delhi, Sept 30 (IBNS) Business leaders throughout India give a higher priority to energy efficiency in their facilities than do those in any other major country, according to the Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator (EEI).

This year's survey results provide a look at how business leaders in India are prioritizing and investing in energy efficiency compared to last year and to other regions around the world.

According to the survey, 85% of business leaders in India consider energy management very or extremely important. This is a drop from 94% last year but significantly higher than in other parts of the world in 2010 -- 52% in the U.S., 58% in Germany, 61% in the U.K. and 79% in China.

In addition, nearly all respondents in India are planning to make capital (87%) and operating (93%) investments in energy efficiency over the next 12 months, up from 64% and 72%, respectively, in 2009.

Globally, a smaller percentage are planning to make capital (63%) and operating (70%) investments in efficiency compared with India, although global investment plans are up from 54% and 62%, respectively, in 2009.

"Despite the recession, decision-makers have put efficiency high on their agendas for 2010, especially those in India and China," said Pramoda Karkal, vice president and managing director, Building Efficiency, Johnson Controls, India.

"In our business we help buildings to operate efficiently and profitably, and we see these benefits being recognized in new markets and regions worldwide."

Although there is broad consensus that improving energy efficiency helps control rising energy costs, reduces a company's environmental footprint, and increases the value of buildings, Karkal noted that there are still several barriers preventing global implementation.

The most commonly cited barrier to improving energy efficiency in India is a lack of technical expertise to identify opportunities, followed by a lack of internal capital budget. Limited capital availability ranked first in the United States and Europe, according to this year's EEI.

"In India and throughout the world, new financing and procurement models are needed to stimulate energy investments," said Karkal. "These models need to be scalable and bring private capital, technical expertise and performance guarantees to the market."

Installing onsite renewable energy systems is the top greenhouse gas reduction strategy for 24% of respondents in India, compared to only 4% in the United States. India leads the world in the percentage of respondents considering solar photovoltaic technology (73%) or biomass (36%) in new construction or retrofit projects.

Additionally, 95% of India respondents believe significant legislation mandating energy efficiency and/or carbon reduction is at least somewhat likely to be enacted in the next two years in India.

The Johnson Controls EEI tracks energy management priorities and investment plans among decision-makers responsible for managing commercial buildings and their energy use. This is the second year Johnson Controls has conducted the EEI survey in India.

This year's study included 311 respondents from a variety of regions and industry segments. India results are part of a global survey of more than 2,800 executives across Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States conducted in June 2010.

Global EEI survey results will be presented on Thursday during an event at the Shangri La in Delhi.

--
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Can clean energy companies close India’s energy gap?

2010-10-01T10:58:00.001+05:30

A new report from the World Resources Institute and partners claims that the market for clean energy products among India's rural poor is potentially worth $2.11 billion per year. $2.04 billion of this market is for decentralized renewable energy such as that produced by biomass kilns or small-scale hydro-electricity plants. The clean energy enterprises surveyed in the report have also seen annual gross revenue grow by an average of 36 percent per year since 2004.

India has one of the fastest growing economies in world, due to expand by 8 percent in 2010, and its energy demands will more than double by 2030. At the same time 400 million people in the country have no access to electricity. The result is a severe energy shortage, in particular in rural areas.

The report concentrates on India's BoP (Bottom of the pyramid) population which consists of households who spend less than $75 a month on goods and services but make up 60 percent of the population, higher in rural areas. BoP households spend approximately $4.8 billion per year on energy, mainly on fuels like firewood, kerosene and dung which are harmful to health and the environment. Studies have found that indoor air pollution from these fuels contributes to 4-6 percent of all disease-related deaths in India.

Decentralized renewable energy (DREs) resources are mainly small hydro-electric and biomass projects where the electricity is distributed using company-owned mini grids (a local grid based on energy resources available in a specific area) or undersupplied existing grids. Biomass gasifiers produce electricity from wood chips or crop residues. Their generating capacity is in the range of 25kW to 100kW which can supply a village of 500-1200 households. The cost is generally 8-12 Indian rupees per kilowatt which makes prices comparable to diesel generator-based electricity.

Small-scale hydro plants built along mountain streams are even cheaper, at 2-2.5 Indian rupees per kilowatt, and they produce more energy. Plants generate from 100-1000 kW. However, the upfront construction cost of 50 million rupees ($820,000) up is massive in comparison to biogas and hydro power is not suitable for all areas.

One interesting point is that the success of DREs relies heavily on being able to predict demand efficiently. Demand estimation and demand response are crucial to the integration of renewables into the utility grid and will be one of the major issues for smart grid vendors. Could India and similar countries be a secondary market for tech startups targeting the smart grid?

Other technologies covered in the report were solar energy systems for individual households, solar lanterns and energy-efficient cooking stoves, all of which have a much smaller current market than DREs, but which is expected to grow considerably in the future.

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REC could boost investment in renewable energy, says FitchEC could boost investment in renewable energy

2010-09-16T10:21:00.001+05:30

REC could boost investment in renewable energy, says FitchEC could boost investment in renewable energy, says

fe Bureau
Posted: Wednesday, Sep 15, 2010 at 2235 hrs IST
Updated: Wednesday, Sep 15, 2010 at 2235 hrs IST

New Delhi: India's move to introduce renewable energy certificate (REC) scheme should help improve cost economics of renewable energy projects and attract investments to the sector. However, there are still many regulatory and institutional challenges to be tackled to make the scheme successful, says the international credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings.

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has laid out REC norms in a bid to promote green energy. Under the scheme, an REC is issued to renewable power generators for each 1 mw of electricity generated. Generators can sell the certificate in the market and generate additional revenue. Discoms failing to meet their renewable energy target can buy RECs as an option.

"The Indian government is promoting the addition of renewable energy capacity via the introduction of an REC scheme. The proposal should benefit the sector by improving cost economics and enhancing credit quality, which should, in turn, attract new capital," Fitch says in its special report on the Indian renewable energy released on Tuesday.

However, developing a successful REC scheme would be a challenge, given the constraints in the Indian power market like high commercial losses of state electricity boards and their weak financial health.

India has envisaged the target of meeting 15% of its electricity requirement from renewable sources by 2020 under the national action plan on climate change. But cost of generating electricity from renewable sources tends to be higher compared with fossil fuel-generated electricity.

In case, discoms are not all allowed to pass through high cost of renewable energy to consumers, their financial health might further weaken.

Further, there is risk that flexibility envisaged for current renewable generators to opt out of the scheme and instead sell power at a preferential rate may lead to inadequate supply of RECs, making the market volatile.

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Electrifying India with rice husk

2010-09-14T10:23:00.001+05:30

Electrifying India with rice husk

Manisha Pande | 2010-09-13 10:10:00

Having grown up in Baithania village of Bihar, Gyanesh Pandey knows how erratic electricity supply can be. Today, the 34-year-old, along with his friend Ratnesh Yadav, has found a way to generate electricity with rice husk. Husk Power Systems, founded by the duo in 2007, is helping power rural India with the use of biomass gasification technology to convert rice husk into combustible gases, which then drive a generator to produce clean electricity at affordable rates.

In the last three years, Husk Power Systems has generated electricity in 200 villages, a single plant can catering to up to four villages, depending on the size and consumption. Villagers have to pay an initial connection charge of Rs 100. Pandey adds: "We have initiated a pre-paid system of billing, where, on an average, for two CFLs and charging a mobile phone, user pays about Rs 80 per month."

He lists that for more than 125,000 villages in India, access to electricity is a distant dream and more than 25,000 have been declared economically impossible to reach via conventional methods. "Electricity was always an election issue in Bihar, but, sadly, that is what it remained and not much has been done," Pandey, an engineering graduate who rejected an opportunity to work in the US semiconductor industry, notes. Husk Power Systems now employs about 270 people across villages where it has set up plants. Once the plant is set up, the villagers take care of the rest of the operations and ensure its smooth run on their own.

The government noticed what Pandey and his partners were doing and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy extended their subsidy scheme to fit the needs of the project. Pandey expects the revenue generation for 2010-11 to be about Rs 2.5 crore and is ready to set up 2014 electricity generator plants by 2014. "We call it 2014 by 2014 and would like to light up 5,000 villages across India," he says. Husk Power Systems is also competing with nine other businesses across the world that have been chosen by BBC World News for its World Challenge 2010 competition, which identifies people and businesses bringing economic, social and environmental benefits through innovation at the grassroots level.

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Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://in.linkedin.com/in/gopimysore
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

We have only one home – our one planet – and it is in peril!

2010-07-26T12:36:00.001+05:30

India joins leading economies in clean energy commitments

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Posted July 22, 2010 in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming

Tags:: carboncaptureandstorage, carbonemissions, climatechange, energyefficiency, greenhousegases, renewableenergy, solarpower, windpower

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On Tuesday I had the opportunity to attend a major event in Washington D.C. – the first ever Clean Energy Ministerial - where India joined a number of countries in making significant commitments on clean energy. India took a leadership role on one of the most promising programs announced yesterday, the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliances Deployment (SEAD) Initiative. Being in a room with over a thousand people including international leaders on climate and energy felt encouraging, since the event saw seventeen of the world's major economies make a public statement about how serious they are about tackling climate change and accelerating clean energy deployment.

Through SEAD, India and the United States will be co-leaders of a multi-country effort that aims to transform the global appliance market by helping governments improve incentive and labeling programs, strengthen efficiency standards, share best practices with respect to super-efficient appliances, and foster continued gains in efficiency through strategic R&D. SEAD will create global incentive programs focused on lighting, televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, and electronics and could potentially eliminate the need in India for about 300 mid-sized power plants by 2030.

SEAD's initial focus will be on televisions and lighting – two globally traded products that together account for about 15 percent of household electricity use. Over time, additional products such as refrigerators will also be considered. SEAD partners will develop advanced market commitments for LED lights that will give solid-state lighting products access to government procurement funds once they meet quality, performance and cost-effectiveness criteria. To accelerate the adoption of strong appliance efficiency policies, SEAD will develop toolkits for policymakers to facilitate stronger measures in countries wishing to employ them, such as a Municipal Advanced Street Lighting Policymaker Toolkit. SEAD partners will also establish the SEAD Global Efficiency Awards to recognize the most efficient appliances sold and under development in global markets.

The Indian delegation (Deputy Chairperson of India's Planning Commission Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and Director General of India's Bureau of Energy Efficiency Dr. Ajay Mathur, both of whom are playing a leading role in implementing India's National Action Plan on Climate Change) also signed on to three other programs under the Global Energy Efficiency Challenge.

(1) Global Superior Energy Performance (GSEP) Partnership: an effort to help large buildings and industrial facilities measure and reduce their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions over time.

(2) International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN): an effort to promote global development and deployment of smart grid technologies through high-government dialogue, focusing on technologies that have the highest potential to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy.

(3) Capacity Building for Developing Country Policymakers: A network of Clean Energy Solutions Centers will be set up to help governments of developing countries drive transformational low-carbon technologies.

By signing onto four of the five initiatives under the Energy Efficiency category, the Indian delegation at the Ministerial sent a strong signal that it understands the quick gains that can accrue from energy efficiency, and is prioritizing its resources in this area. This is also consistent with India's own National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency. Many of us in the room noted that India did not sign on to the fifth element of the energy efficiency challenge – the Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI). This is understandable, given that access to electricity, power distribution and supply reliability have to be prioritized before a country the size of India embraces electric vehicles.

It will be interesting to hear from the Indian leadership why India did not sign up to participate in the other initiatives announced at the Ministerial, under the two categories of Clean Energy Supply (creation of a Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group; a Sustainable Development of Hydropower Initiative; a Bioenergy Working Group; and a Carbon Capture, Use and Storage (CCUS) Action Group) and Clean Energy Access (a Solar and LED Energy Access Program and a Women's Initiative to encourage women to pursue careers in clean energy and lend their innovative power to future clean energy technologies). While the rationale is clearer for some (such as CCS, which is still a relatively unproven technology with very low CO2 abatement for extremely high cost, and thus is not cost-effective for a country like India), it is less obvious for others (such as the projects pertaining to solar and wind energy, given that India is actively ramping up its renewable energy capacity, is already a global leader in renewable energy, and also has an ambitious solar mission as part of it National Action Plan).

While the announcements about the various initiatives were well received, many of the Ministers and other experts at the event emphasized (such as British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne and Google Director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives Dan Reicher) that it was now imperative to actually translate all the commitments into real action, and that member countries should "Just Do It". We hope this will indeed happen. Countries have already lost valuable time in moving from an initial articulation of some of these initiatives (for instance, the SEAD program was first announced under the Climate-REDI program in December 2009 by DoE and also by the White House, and re-launched again this week at the Ministerial, seven months later, with the public announcement containing no reference to what progress, if any, was made over seven months).

These commitments must be honored, and we hope to see real progress by next year's Ministerial in Abu Dhabi. Time is of the essence, as Secretary Chu himself reminded all those gathered at the event when he noted at the plenary that "we have only one home – our one planet – and it is in peril".

--
Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://in.linkedin.com/in/gopimysore
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

Cabinet OKs energy efficiency plan

2010-06-28T15:17:00.001+05:30

Jun 28, 2010

Source Name:

Times of India

Source Url:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cabinet-OKs-energy-efficiency-plan/articleshow/6088416.cms

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the ambitious National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency — one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

The mission is expected to save 23 million tonne oil equivalent of fuel and avoid the need to build additional capacity of over 19,000MW.

Speaking after the Cabinet approval, the secretary, ministry of power said: ''This is a significant development for India. During the next four years, the mission will help achieve greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 98.55 million tonnes per year.'' The mission will also kick-start the country's first market-based trading in energy efficiency savings. Just like the international carbon trade, a domestic trade in energy saving certificates would facilitate this process.

Ajay Mathur, director general of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, who has also been designated the mission director said, ''The mission will help unlock the market for energy efficiency on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis, which is estimated to be around Rs 74,000 crore.''

The larger industrial units in the key fuel-guzzling sectors will be set targets to increase their efficiency levels. They will be able to partly offset such targets under the certificates they buy from those who have achieved beyond their designated targets.

This is expected to reducethe economy-wide costs of moving to a more energy efficient path.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency has already been working with the industry to set up the norms for the scheme, which will be the first of its kind in developing countries and will add towards the country's target of reducing its emission intensity by 20-25% below 2005 levels.

Besides the efficiency-trading mechanism, the mission also includes an Energy Efficiency Financing Platform, which will provide fiscal tools in aid of projects that work to reduce demand of energy. Alongside, the mission will develop two fiscal instruments to promote energy efficiency — the Partial Risk Guarantee Fund and Venture Capital Fund for Energy Efficiency.
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Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://in.linkedin.com/in/gopimysore
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

18 MW biomass power plant in Chennai

2010-06-23T10:52:00.001+05:30

Clenergen Corporation (CRGE.OB) Signs Exclusive Agreement to Acquire an 18MW Biomass Power Plant in India to Start Generating Renewable Electricity

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, Jun 21, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Clenergen Corporation /quotes/comstock/11k!crge.e (CRGE 0.91, -0.07, -6.70%) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Clenergen India Private Limited, has entered into an agreement to acquire an 18MW/h biomass power plant located 40 miles southeast of Chennai, India and related land and other assets. The plant was one of the first and largest to be built in India and was upgraded from 12MW/h to 18MW/h in 2008, with the installation of a new generator and HTC steam turbine engine. The plant site has its own substation and transmits electricity generated by the plant directly into the India national power grid. The completion of the acquisition is subject to bank approvals of the assumption by Clenergen of outstanding bank loans relating to the plant and the release of such loans by plant's current owner. It is anticipated that these approvals will be obtained within the near future. The purchase will be funded through local bank financing and a cash transfer at closing.

The plant sells the electricity it produces through short term power purchase agreements with direct end users at an average price of US $0.13-16 KW/h. Clenergen believes that, at such an average price, the plant will generate an estimated US $15 million in revenues per year, assuming a plant load factor of 80% is maintained. It is estimated that cash of surplus $3 million per annum will be generated at the projected load factor. The Company retains the option to encompass the short term power supply contracts under the 71MW/h power purchase agreement entered into with Power Trading Corporation of India.

The plant converts wood chips and other forms of biomass into steam through a combustion steam process which is then used to power the plant's steam turbine engines. Biomass feedstock supply contracts are currently in place with local vendors. It is anticipated that a cost savings of up to 30% will be achieved from the use of Clenergen's own propriety biomass feedstock which the Company plans to implement over time, as its energy crop plantations production capacity grows. In addition, recovery of exhaust heat generated by the steam turbine can add as much as 2MW/e to the output of the plant.

Commenting on the agreement, Tim Bowen, Chief Executive Officer of Clenergen Corporation, stated: "This is an important project for the Company, as it represents the start of the commercialization of the significant research and development Clenergen has taken to date. Our initial focus in India is to acquire existing biomass power plants as they give an immediate source of revenue and cash generation, which will be used to fund Clenergen's operations and the commencement of full scale commercial energy crop plantations. Trials are underway evaluating our own propriety biomass feedstock species and aim to significantly enhance the profitability of biomass power generation, by using our own feedstock in due course. The Company has an excellent management team in place in India and we expect to reach consistent and optimum generating capacity from when we complete the acquisition of this plant."

Mr.Nandhagopal, Chairman of Nandha Energy Limited, the former owner of the plant, stated: "Over the past six months, we have come to understand and appreciate the business direction Clenergen has chosen to produce renewable energy. The cultivation of energy crops offers a cost effective alternative and provides guaranteed supplies of feedstock for generating electricity. Our decision to sell the biomass power plant to Clenergen we see as being mutually beneficial in the long term".

About Clenergen Corporation

Clenergen Corporation is a publicly-traded company with its common stock quoted on the Over-the-Counter-Bulletin Board /quotes/comstock/11k!crge.e (CRGE 0.91, -0.07, -6.70%) . Clenergen offers strategic clean energy generation and supply of biomass feedstock to address the requirement for renewable and sustainable supplies of electricity. Clenergen has developed a unique modular system for gasification and localized plantation management. Clenergen also plans to provide biomass feedstock for producing wood pellets for co firing with coal to produce low emission electricity.

Clenergen Corporation intends to use proprietary and mixed biomass feedstock to implement sustainable supplies of clean energy for regional, captive end users, remote islands, and mining companies and, through government- or privately-owned power grid systems, other end users, including private homes. The "Distributed Environmental Power System" marries significant proprietary advancements in plant science with proven long standing engineering technologies to achieve this goal. For further information on Clenergen Corporation and its products and services, go to: www.clenergen.com.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"). To the extent that any statements made in this press release contain information that is not historical, these statements are essentially forward-looking. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "expect," "plan," "will," "may," "anticipate," "believe," "should," "intend," "estimate," and variations of such words. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified and, consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, those risks and uncertainties contained in this press release and those identified in the periodic reports that the company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") pursuant to the Exchange Act.

Contacts: Clenergen Corporation Jessica Hatfield 0044 (0)207 739 0028 0044 (0)207 657 3275 (FAX) www.clenergen.com

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Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://in.linkedin.com/in/gopimysore
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

Beyond Petroleum? To world leaders at the UN Climate Summit this week: Invest in the future, now

2010-06-14T10:21:00.001+05:30

It is kind of like living in two worlds at the same time.

On one hand the leaders of most of the world's countries tell us there is an urgent need to come up with a long term solution to big issues like oil spills in our oceans and climate change, but on the other hand those same leaders continue to stall and play political games when it comes to actually coming up with an agreement.

And while our politicians fiddle, from the Tar sands of northern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico; from the Arctic to Nigeria and Angola, oil corporations continue to risk the local and global environment in a desperate search for a dwindling, dirty and unstable source of energy, oil.

Right now representatives from around the world are in Bonn, Germany trying to negotiate an international agreement that will set the world on a sustainable path utilizing clean energy sources to protect our climate and create jobs.

Now is the time to invest in a clean energy future. But what does this future look like, and how do we get there? TckTckTck partner, Greenpeace International has just released a comprehensive blueprint that outlines precisely how governments can:

Create 12 million jobs by 2030 (8.7 million in clean energy sector alone)
Get to nearly 100% renewable energy globally by 2050
Prevent oil disasters from happening again by ending our addiction to fossil fuels

You can check out the full Greenpeace Energy [R]evolution report here.

Whether it is climate change, oil spills or toxic tar sands and coal, the solution is the same.

If we put the world on a path to clean energy, using technology that already exists to create energy from unlimited sources like the wind and sun, we can greatly reduce the risk that our children and their children will ever have to deal with things like the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico or the devastating impacts of climate change.

The major ingredient that has been missing in these international talks is political will. Our political leaders have said that reducing the worldwide use of dirty fuels like oil and coal is a priority, but so far their urgent words have not been turned into urgent action.

We voted these people in and there is one thing that scares a politician more than anything and that's an angry public.

So tell them you are angry. Tell them that oil spills, like the one in the Gulf of Mexico or in the Niger Delta are not okay. Tell them that ignoring the famine, drought and devastation that developing nations are already dealing with because of climate change is not okay.

Tell them that leaving these problems for our children to deal with is unacceptable.

Tell them to stand up as leaders now and act, because the time for talk is over.

--
Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://business.vsnl.com/gopinath
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

How a phone call can light up rural India

2010-06-05T13:00:00.001+05:30

How a phone call can light up rural India

Posted by Utpal Bhaskar on Thursday, June 3, 2010

Indranil Bhoumik/Mint

As soon you get out of the aircraft at the Biju Patnaik airport in Bhabaneshwar, the humidity (over 80 per cent and climbing!) hits you. Within minutes you are drenched in sweat. I am on my way to Garanayarchhara village in the Puri district near the world famous Konark temple to report on the UPA government's flagship electrification programme "Rajiv Gandhi Grameen" Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) under Bharat Nirman.

I am here to corroborate the rural electrification statistics provided by the Shram Shakti Bhavan, the seat of power (pun intended) for the union power ministry. I want to ascertain how the scheme is performing and whether the villages shown as covered under the scheme actually have access to electricity.

The scenery is idyllic with scores of coconut trees giving shade to the tiny strip of road towards my destination. While I am slated only to visit the Garanayarchhara village, an official overseeing the RGGVY work in the district insists that I also visit an adjoining village. His insistence amuses me. He explains the rationale—If I visit the Kajalapatia village, the chances are it might be energized. I try explaining out to him that I am only a lowly reporter, but he is insistent. I should have known better.

It has already been a very interesting day. As I reach Garanayarchhara, there is already a small crowd there. There are representatives from the Rural Electrification Corporation—the nodal agency for the scheme, NHPC Ltd and the contractor setting up the infrastructure. The executive engineer for Nimapada Electrical division, Central Electricity Supply Utility of Orissa (CESU) the distribution company, also join us.

While the villagers and the contractor A2Z Maintenance and Engineering Services Ltd. state that the high-tension line was only energized in the morning, the executive engineer insists that it was done last year. While the RGGVY officials watch the spectacle, I am getting worried, as tensions palpably rise with each side categorically denying the other's allegations. Then begins the wild goose chase of each side getting documents to prove their point. It later turns out that the document as insisted upon by the discom official is merely a piece of paper and does not even bear a signature.

The story repeats in the other village. The villagers are very happy as even their high-tension lines have been charged on the same day. I am later told that since the discom was aware about my visit, thanks to the innumerable phone calls I had placed to almost everyone in the state's electricity department, the lines had been charged. I think I may have hit upon a novel idea.

What months of to and fro between the central and the state governments can't accomplish, a flying visit by a news reporter can! The next time I meet the minister, I should suggest this!

--
Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://business.vsnl.com/gopinath
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

All is not well: climate negotiations in a new avatar

2010-05-06T12:02:00.001+05:30

====================================
All is not well: climate negotiations in a new avatar
(Editorial by Sunita Narain)
====================================

Climate change negotiations—cold after the freeze at Copenhagen—have warmed up again. In early April, negotiators met in Bonn, Germany, on the possible agreement that could be signed at the meet scheduled in December 2010 in Mexico. This was followed by a US-convened meet of the Major Economies Forum, better named the major emitters forum, in Washington. Next weekend, the group calling itself basic—China, Brazil, South Africa and India—is meeting in Cape Town to come up with its common position on negotiations. Then early May, German chancellor Angela Merkel has called some 45 environment ministers to come together in the castle of St Petersburg outside Bonn for another talk. All this will culminate, for now, in the meeting of the subsidiary bodies to the climate convention in early June, also in Bonn.

So, the heat is on, the US fanning the latest climate bonfire. It is demanding the now infamous Copenhagen Accord, hammered out in the wee nights of the meeting, should become the only game in town. They want the world to stop discussing the Kyoto Protocol as well as the long term Cooperative Agreement—the two tracks that bring past polluters into a legal regime and future players into a cooperative arrangement to avoid emissions growth. To stitch this deal, they have put together their very own coalition-of-the-willing, which includes a powerful section of Indian policy makers. They want no full stops to this deal. The problem is this 'deal' is bad for climate change. It is bad for us. Here's why.

One, the Copenhagen Accord is weak in its commitment to reduce emissions. It does not set hard targets for rich countries (Annex 1). Instead, it promotes a framework for future agreements based on 'pledge and review'. Industrialized countries will be allowed to voluntarily pledge their domestic targets, which will be aggregated at the global level. The target will be self-chosen and voluntary. The US has offered some 3 per cent reduction below 1990 levels, against the 40 per cent required of it. The Accord will simply legitimize its right to pollute, by saying it will do what it can domestically, with a 'review' to see if its 'pledge' is met.

This is unacceptable because we know the sum of the current 'pledges'—whatever that means—shows the world is no way close to its stated goal of capping global temperature rise at 2°C; by recent accounts, it is actually close to at least 3°C or more. Also, nobody is really asking the US to cut emissions according to its emissions in the atmosphere. In fact, discussions on tough emissions reduction by rich countries are completely off the agenda. Occasional noises are made to keep the Kyoto Protocol alive. But this is just form. The true function is to make the Copenhagen Accord supreme.

There is no way the Copenhagen Accord can be billed as a climate change agreement. It is simply an agreement to legitimize the right to pollute.

Two, the Accord will overwrite the principles of historical responsibility and equity in burden-sharing. As the world will no longer set targets based on historical and current emissions, the issue of equity in burden-sharing will simply be erased. The word 'equity' appears twice in the Accord, but as a smart ploy to fool some people. The fact is once the Accord's framework is accepted, in the words of the US' top negotiator, the "breach in the firewall between developed and developing countries" will be sealed. There will no longer be a distinction between countries that created the problem and so must take the first step to cut emissions—create ecological space—and countries that still need that space to grow. All of us will be equal in the world of polluters.

Three, since mitigation targets will no longer be on the basis of responsibility or contribution to the problem, all countries will become equal sinners, too. They will take on what emissions reduction targets they can. Since developing countries such as India are now growing in terms of emissions, the heat will be on them. The burden of a costly transition will shift to the developing world. Under the current agreement, industrialized countries are expected to cut drastically and provide money to assist developing countries avoid emissions growth. But the coalition would like this formula to be history. Buried forever.

The terms of the Copenhagen Accord are delicious because they are so simple. All countries do what they can to cut emissions. There is no international legal agreement, only a simple 'pledge' that is recorded, that is not called a 'commitment', so nobody can ever wave a red flag. What big brother will do is send inspectors, or ask for records, to check your compliance. This will be cleverly couched in the terminology of 'international consultation', so that we still believe we are not being asked to take on commitments. With this done, India's environment minister will be able to say in Parliament: "All is well".

Now, what does this changed framework do to India's efforts to cut emissions? Can India take on the cost of transition? I will return to the question, and more, next fortnight. But I can say today: All is not well.

--
Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://business.vsnl.com/gopinath
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

India missed power capacity addition yet again!

2010-04-15T10:49:00.001+05:30

By RAKESH SHARMA

NEW DELHI -- India missed its power generation capacity addition target for the third consecutive year of its current five-year plan, leading to concerns that electricity supply will remain tight.

India added 9.56 gigawatts of power generation capacity during the financial year ended March 31, meeting only two thirds of its target of 14.51 GW, Central Electricity Authority data showed Tuesday.

The country slipped its revised capacity addition target by 23% during the year ended March 2008 and 54% during the year ended March 2009 of the current five-year plan, which ends March 2012.

The world's second-fastest growing major economy after China has set a target of adding 78.7 GW of capacity during the latest plan period and another 100 GW thereafter to fight frequent blackouts in cities and to electrify millions of rural households.

The targets have remained unmet due to a shortage of capital equipment and skilled workers, delays in getting fuel, lengthy land acquisitions and water allocation processes and environmental clearances.

The federal government's flagship power equipment maker, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., which has an annual capacity to make equipment that can produce 15 GW of power, hasn't been able to keep pace with growing demand. Meanwhile, equipment purchased from China has met strong resistance from local suppliers on safety grounds.

Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said April 7 that only 61,000 MW of capacity may come up during the latest plan period, as the target was "very ambitious," adding that he was confident the 100 GW target for the next plan period will be met.

HSBC Global Research, in a note in January, said it expects India to add 49 GW of capacity and that slippage will continue in the coming years.

India's peak hour power supply in March fell short of demand of 118.47 GW by 13.3%, CEA data showed. The deficit averaged 12% in the year earlier period.

Analysts expect that, despite India's plans to accelerate capacity addition during the plan periods, the country will continue to have a power deficit even beyond 2017 due to the huge gap between demand and supply.

The power deficit during the current peak summer season is likely to result in spikes in tariffs and the sector is expected to receive strong investor interest on capex requirements for capacity building.

--
Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://business.vsnl.com/gopinath
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

In search of clean energy

2010-04-14T11:11:00.001+05:30

"Give us a policy that will drive growth". This is the prayer of K. Kasthurirangaian, National Chairman of the Indian Wind power Association (IWPA).

"Though Prime Minister keeps on speaking in support of green energy, who is going to help him translate his dreams into reality ?", he asks.

He is considered the "Pithamahan" in the green energy circles here for his unflagging zeal in promoting clean energy and his indomitable will and perseverance to bring about a change in the attitude of the Government and also the industries that will prove beneficial to the society at large.

There is nothing that he does not know regarding wind energy industry.

He has the unique distinction of being invited by the Energy Fair at Hanover, Germany, in April 2003, to talk on Indian wind power industry.

Born in an agricultural family at Mettupalayam in 1932, he graduated in Mechanical Engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore. He was an Assistant Professor at Coimbatore Institute of Technology for a decade.

"Foundry industry in Coimbatore is more than a century old. However, I also started a small foundry in 1963. But I didn't want to make pump motors as others did as I wanted to do something differently", he says.

In a chat with G. Satyamurty, Mr. Kasthurirangaian talks about his voyage in the industrial world , his association with industrial bodies , his love for clean energy and his current endeavour to contribute something substantial for wind energy sector.

"I was the first to do automobile castings here including brake and engine components".

Now they are used in more than 35 countries apart from the domestic market.

His company was the first in India to get ISI certification marking for its castings as early as 1975. Now his unit is ISO 9001:2000 certified.

One who has led several industrial associations, he is now the Chairman of the 1000-investor member strong IWPA. He is also a member of the National Council of the CII.

Despite nearing 80, his brain is razor sharp and he comes out with a coherent argument why both the Central and State Governments should chisel their policy towards promoting green energy.

""I have been a green enthusiast from the beginning and also an organic farmer. I didn't like to use energy that comes out of burning coal".

Then began his quest for wind energy, which is clean, in abundance and renewable.

His company was one among the early birds to enter the wind energy sector in 1994.

He recalls the assurance of former TNEB Chairman Appadurai in 1980s which triggered the enthusiasm of the entrepreneurs who were bent upon generating clean energy.

"He promised us: put up wind mill in any part of Tamil Nadu. Our Department will deliver it at the door step of your factory located in any part of the State".

He remembers with gratitude that the Electricity Department then collected just two per cent of the electricity generated as its service charge.

As wind mills generate 85 per cent of their total production in just six months of a year (May –October), "we were allowed to bank that energy (deposit) for the rest of the year".

"These are the two major policy initiatives which will support the industry that every State should undertake", he pleads.

"Now my foundry uses only the power from the renewable energy wind farms put up in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka".

But most of the States, where wind energy could be tapped, are unwilling to come out with anything concrete in terms of policy support.

While Gujarat wants to use gas which it has in abundance, Andhra Pradesh wants to tap both hydel and KG gas potential it has. Rajasthan wants to go in for solar power.

Only Karnataka is prepared to put up wind mills for generating 1,000 MW every year.

Tamil Nadu has all along been in the forefront.

In Tamil Nadu, the contribution of hydel is just seven per cent of the total energy production. Wind power comes next with 13 per cent. The production cost of wind energy is just about Rs. 5 crores for one MW.

"While India can produce 48,000 MW of wind energy, so far we have installed wind mills that could generate only 10,500 MW."

It is estimated that Tamil Nadu could produce 5,500 MW in the wind energy sector. Of that we have installations for producing 4,582 MW at present. Of the 200 places recommended in the country for installing wind mills, 60 are in Tamil Nadu. "Thus 40 per cent of the total wind energy installations in the country are in our State".

But, Mr .Kasthurirangaian is not satisfied.

He points out the phenomenal progress that Chinas has made in this sector. "Three years ago, China put up wind mills to generate 3,000 MW. Next year it added wind farms for 6,000 MW more. Last year, it augmented its capacity by 10,000 MW more. Now it has plans to install wind mills for another 25,000 MW. There is every possibility it will reach the No. 1 spot from the current No. 3 at the world level next year".

He is categorical that the commitment of the Central Government with regard to energy leaves much to be desired."

For example, it is squabbling over making some extra payment for buying ethanol from the sugar mills which could be mixed with petrol. This could save substantial precious foreign exchange, and after all, it is our own farmers who would benefit."

Similarly, give the electric vehicle manufacturers considerable tax breaks or tax holiday to promote them, he says.

"The Centre is talking of National Solar Mission. When is it going to think of National Wind Mission?"

He is thoroughly unhappy with TNEB for delaying payments to the wind farm companies to the tune of Rs. 150 crores for the past six months saying it has no money." This amount is a pittance for such a big organisation".

He also wonders why it pays three types of tariff for the wind farms depending upon the period in which they were installed.

"Can't this be uniform? Why are you penalising those who installed them well ahead of others?"

He doesn't want any subsidy at all." What we want is a good policy frame work that will drive growth, support and sustain this industry which will benefit the world at large," he concludes.

--
Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://business.vsnl.com/gopinath
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

India plays energy catch-up

2010-03-25T10:40:00.001+05:30

India plays energy catch-up

By Deborah Yedlin, Calgary HeraldMarch 24, 2010Be the first to post a comment

If the last 18 months were characterized by Chinese energy players inking deals around the globe and securing reserves and production, is 2010 going to bring a spate of transactions by India's oil and gas companies aimed at reaching the same goal of quenching an insatiable thirst for oil and natural gas?

The short answer is that the pace would have to pick up significantly if India's energy sector is to lay the same claim on global energy assets as China has.

At last count, the value of the deals done by Chinese national oil companies -- whether as outright purchases, joint ventures or oil-for-loans arrangements -- was sitting in the $30-billion US range.

India hasn't even come close to that number in terms of deal value, even though its consumption is on an equally impressive upward trajectory.

As things stand, India imports about 75 per cent of its oil needs, all of it from Middle Eastern sources, making it vulnerable to the political instability endemic in that part of the world.

It's ironic, then, that the Indian Oil Corp. and Oil India are bidding for a company with producing assets in Syria. The bid, if successful, wouldn't signifi-cantly diversify India from its exposure to Middle East politics.

What sets India apart from China -- as Robert Johnson, director of energy and natural resources of the Washington-based Eurasia Group, points out -- is its lack of a sovereign wealth fund that can be used to buy assets along the lines of what the China Investment Corp. has been doing. In fact, it is the only one of the so-called BRIC nations that lacks a sovereign wealth fund.

It also doesn't have the stable of national oil companies acting at the behest of the government, nor has the country undertaken an in-depth, segmented analysis to fully understand all aspects of its future energy demand picture, as China has done.

"They don't have a worldwide energy model, whereas the Chinese government recognized long ago that commodities were going to be integral to the country's growth profile and they made a concerted effort to understand the drivers behind every commodity -- not just oil and gas," said one industry player.

India's approach to the commodity plays has been largely characterized as reactionary, while the Chinese approach has been to get ahead of the curve, wherever possible.

The fact the Chinese didn't shy away from signing oil supply deals in early 2009 when oil prices were flirting with $30 per barrel certainly underscores that view. Now, with natural gas prices under pressure around the world, the focus has shifted toward that commodity. The joint bid with Royal Dutch Shell to buy Australia's Arrow Energy for its coal bed methane reserves and the partnership to develop shale gas in Sichuan province are evidence, again, that China is taking advantage of the current ebb in the natural gas cycle.

While part of these differing approaches can be explained by the differing political structures of the two countries -- it's tough to mandate that kind of focus in a free enterprise market such as India's -- the lack of action has many individuals puzzled.

From a Canadian perspective, the last time a deal was done involving an Indian energy company was in 2003, when ONGC Videsh bought Talisman Energy's 25 per cent interest in the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co. in Sudan for $750 million. They also tried to get in on the bidding for Petrokazakhstan in 2005, but were beaten out by the China National Petroleum Corp., which paid $4.2 billion.

Otherwise, the only transaction of note in recent months has been the acquisition by ONGC of Imperial Energy for $2.1 billion.

While three Indian companies were recently part of a winning consortium bidding on the two parcels in Venezuela's Orinoco basin, the 25 per cent interest they collectively ended up with pales in comparison to the scale of deals undertaken by Chinese companies. Moreover, it's not like dealing in Venezuela isn't without its risks; what's to say the assets don't revert to the government, as has happened before, when the capital investments have been completed.

The same logic holds true regarding the initiative that could see ONGC enter into partnerships with Russian energy players Gazprom and Rozneft. Meetings have been taking place in Moscow exploring these possibilities, but the risks associated with investing in Russia are not unlike those faced in Venezuela; it makes one ask whether these kinds of decisions are the ones that would advance India's presumed objective of enhancing its energy security.

What could happen, suggests Johnson, is an Indian company taking a strategic interest in the Gateway pipeline.

"The country has been adding heavy oil refiners and the same logic being applied to why China might be interested in Gateway could be applied to India, as well."

And it's not like Indian oil players haven't been kicking the oilsands tires for quite some time -- but any deal has yet to surface.

Whether it's the apparent lack of urgency, the absence of a sovereign wealth fund or a comprehensive energy strategy -- or a combination of all of the above -- it's clear India is firmly in the position of playing catch-up to what Chinese energy players have been aggressively pursuing. With India's economy continuing to grow, however, one has to conclude that it's only a matter of time before India is forced to take a more proactive approach to ensuring its energy future.

--
Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://business.vsnl.com/gopinath
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

Japanese companies eye Indian power sector

2010-03-19T10:39:00.001+05:30

Japanese companies eye Indian power sector

Katya B Naidu / Mumbai March 18, 2010, 0:39 IST

Japanese power companies, including Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and J-Power, seek to make their presence felt in India.

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Time to put ‘energy’ on your dashboards

2010-03-18T14:17:00.001+05:30

Time to put 'energy' on your dashboards

D. Murali

Investment in building management systems and energy-efficient equipment is leading the energy management initiative in India, says Murali Ramalingam, CEO, ConnectM Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd, Bangalore (www.connectm.com). "Companies are also investing in energy-efficient power sources such as solar, and wind-farm. However, the important trend that will have a sustainable impact on the energy intensity of the country's GDP is the increasing energy consciousness in the overall investment decision-making of the consumer – household or enterprise," he adds, during the course of a recent interaction with Business Line.
Excerpts from the interview.
Why has it become necessary for CXOs to focus on energy management and efficiency?
Energy management has found priority in strategy discussions of the boardrooms today. Enterprises accept it as a business need, more than a voluntary social responsibility. This is driven primarily by the already evident and further expected increase in energy cost per $ of business. Infusion of technology in the way business is done – IT, processes and infrastructure – and, the expanding demand-supply gap of energy will only fuel this further.
CXOs find it imperative to proactively address energy efficiency to improve their returns to the shareholders – by improving their product compliance to energy norms, taking control of energy spends, and aligning to the regulatory changes.
The kind of work that the Bureau of Energy Efficiency in India is doing is revolutionising the way consumers think and choose, and companies are taking that into account in the way they make, market, and maintain their products and services.
Our analysis of 600 Indian companies with revenues in excess of Rs 1,000 crore shows that energy cost averages at 5 per cent of their revenues. This is significant, and has the potential to contribute towards improving the EBITDA by 50 to 100 basis points.
The regulatory environment taking shape in the energy ecosystem globally will also drive energy management action.
Today the CXOs are championing the 'going green' objectives, as apart from the environment benefit it also achieves cost reductions on energy consumption and adds to the bottom line.
What parameters of energy management need continual monitoring at the top levels of organisations? The metrics that should be on their dashboards.
Top managements need to keep a tab on the trend of their day-to-day and their long-term energy needs.
Energy dashboards comprise building variability information such as occupancy, lux-levels, ambient and in-building temperatures, and air-quality. Further, data-centre monitoring solutions comprise 'energy monitoring dashboards' that help understand the energy consumption correlated to the various levels of computing power and storage capacity made available by the centre.
For telecommunication companies, the energy dashboard will capture and present fuel consumption in the telecom cell-sites, efficiency of the various energy assets such as aircons, battery banks, BTSs.
Innovative energy management systems can help companies map, monitor, and control these parameters at a granular level. The key is to apply best-practices for continuous improvement in the observed performance as reported by the dashboard. The voluminous information calls for expert energy analytics to observe trends, predict energy patterns, and enable proactive decision-making.
A simple turn-off/ turn-on based on occupancy has a significant impact on lighting and HVAC assets, in terms of reducing energy consumption and consequently a reduced energy bill.
How soon can be the payback of technology-based energy management solutions?
The success of technology-based energy management solutions is driven by the 'pays-for-itself' value proposition. The payback can be typically within the 2-year timeline.
The energy service company (ESCO) model successfully ties in the financial risk and rewards of the investment in the energy management solution. BEE has notified ESCOs in the country (we are one of them) that offer performance-based contracts to the customers.
Does 'green' bring its own energy overheads?
Customers need to be convinced that the energy solution is not part of the problem itself. For instance, an occupancy sensor installed to automate light switching based on occupancy should not end up increasing the energy consumption due to its own operation! The processes deployed in the manufacturing of energy-saving equipments need to be 'green,' as well.
It is also important to understand that the largest energy efficiencies can be driven by the simplest means of 'greening.' For instance, solutions can be optimised to help in reducing the energy consumption at the sensor level through modifications done before installing them.
What are the sectors where energy consumption is huge? What is the potential of the energy management market in India?
At 8 per cent of GDP, the overall energy consumption in India stands at approximately $112 billion. We narrowed it down, and found that 600 of the largest companies alone spend in excess of $25 billion.
Of these, IT services, banking, hospitality, communication and media are predominantly knowledge- and services-based industries that spend the most on IT infrastructure, building assets, and field equipments.
Our take is that energy management can help reduce these spends by at least $2.5 billion to $3 billion for the enterprise. At two times that sum, the energy management market in India can easily be pegged at upwards of $5 billion. This does not consider the market for energy management in the household, which can be as big, if not larger.
Would you like to tell us about recent significant successes in terms of cost saving achieved by your large customers?
ConnectM's customers have seen a 10 per cent reduction of their energy bills. We have now deployed this solution successfully for the commercial real estate of over 1 million square feet across 10 customers, and are delivering energy cost saving of the order Rs 50 lakh annually to them.
In the telecom infrastructure space, our solution is well placed to deliver a 5 per cent to 8 per cent impact on the EBITDA.
A key value proposition of our engagement is that we provide end-to-end managed service delivery. Our customers contract us as the 'Chief Energy Officer' who takes charge of all their energy efficiency needs. This helps them enhance savings and increase productivity.

--
Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://business.vsnl.com/gopinath
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728

China's Leap

2010-01-16T10:53:00.001+05:30

China's Leap

January 15, 2010

Ken Silverstein
EnergyBiz Insider
Editor-in-Chief
Read Ken's Blog

Respond to the editor.
With global climate change talks in the hot seat, lots of attention is now on China. But what most don't know is that the country has become a world leader with respect to the development of renewable power.
The nation has just surpassed Spain and become the globe's third leading producer of wind energy behind the United States and Germany. And despite the perception that China was an obstacle at the recent Copenhagen talks, the reality is that it is moving forcefully ahead to produce 15 percent of its energy from green sources by 2020 and 30 percent by 2050. To get there it must attract hundreds of billions in foreign capital.
And that opens up possibilities for this country to assist China. The current administration, of course, is committed to reducing global greenhouse house emissions and building the economic foundation between the two nations. The dual course would position American enterprises to share in that growth potential.
"China has been reducing its energy intensity and recently announced it would reduce carbon intensity (carbon emissions per unit of GDP) by 40 to 45 percent by 2020," says Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute.
With China having overtaken the United States as the leading contributor to greenhouse gases, the direction of its energy policy will have profound implications not just for it but also for the rest of the world. For sure, coal now provides 70 percent of that nation's generation. But green energy programs currently provide 9 percent.
Since the government in 2006 mandated certain renewable targets, China is expected to keep or exceed its goals. It just enhanced that law by requiring utilities there to buy all power produced by wind farms. According to the World Wind Energy Council, the average annual growth rate in wind energy alone has been 46 percent since then.
Much of the focus during the global climate negotiations had been China's refusal to obligate itself to firm cuts in emissions as well as the Asian giant's demand that the industrialized world help finance its move to a greener future. Even then, China said that its top priority would be to maintain its unparalleled growth rate of 8 percent annually in an effort to first increase living standards for its own people.
China has chosen wind power as an important alternative source in order to rebalance the energy mix, combat global warming and ensure energy security," says Steve Sawyer, secretary-general of the wind council. "Supportive measures have been introduced. In order to encourage technical innovation, market expansion and commercialization, development targets have been established for 2010 and 2020, concession projects offered and policies introduced to encourage domestic production."
Serious Obligations
Without a doubt, coal is abundant and cheap in China. As such, the U.S. Energy Information Administration is predicting that that coal consumption there will grow annually by 3.5 percent. While the nation is investing in new clean coal technologies to curb the level of harmful emissions, the World Bank is reporting that China is home to the most polluted cities in the world.
To compound matters, rolling blackouts are prevalent. To keep up, power plant construction in China rivals that of Western Europe. The government there is approving all kinds of projects, most of which are to be fueled with coal. But the country recognizes that it must quickly diversify its energy mix if its economic dream is to continue to flourish well into the future.
Altogether, the plan is to have 120,000 megawatts of total renewable energy capacity, or 15 percent of the nation's total generation, by 2020. By comparison, the European Union has set a goal of producing 20 percent of its power from green sources by 2020.
If China is to hit its sustainable energy targets, it must attract foreign capital. While it has some trade impediments, investors in energy projects there have critical opportunities. It is restructuring its electricity sector to allow risk takers to earn competitive returns by, in part, easing long-standing subsidies. In return it is asking the richer countries for billions in economic aid so that it can use the best available clean energy tools.
Diversifying its generation portfolio is one issue. Expanding its transmission grid is another, particularly to accommodate the level of wind energy it hopes to transport from its rural regions into major Chinese cities. The fear is that an inadequate infrastructure will mean that the country would not be able to meets in renewable targets. To that end, some Chinese lawmakers want the U.S. to help it build out a smart grid that encourages energy efficiencies and makes more room for wind and solar power.
China is insistent that it takes seriously its global obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But it is just as adamant that the approach conform to its internal goals and that it be in conjunction with international efforts. It's a daunting challenge that China says it can master.
"Our analysis shows that shifting China towards a low-carbon economy also brings with it large opportunities, not only costs," says Feng Fei, director of industrial economics research for the Research Development Center of the State Council of China.
China's high pollution rate has been the stuff of news reports. But global institutions that follow closely say that it has invested heavily in its green energy sector while also rewriting its laws and regulations so as to attract foreign bidders. Its goal is to slowly wean itself away from fossil fuels and to breed more sustainable energy without having to abate its impressive rate of economic growth.

--
Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
http://business.vsnl.com/gopinath
http://nrgcs.blogspot.com/
+91 99161 29728