Green power is the need of the hour

By Samir Nazareth
23 Jul 2010

India's policymakers have long been known for their short-sightedness. Now, instead of tapping the huge renewable energy resources, government is blueprinting fuel-based projects to meet power needs, overlooking their harmful consequences and the vast alternative energy resources the nation sits on.

Renewable energy is probably India's best bet to address the country's escalating power crises and the fact that various regions are delightfully abundant in such energy resources makes it the most sensible and viable path too. Unfortunately, despite sitting on a gold mine, India is suffering from acute power shortage in most of its regions, thanks to the customary lack of will and plenty of inefficiency.
There is a lot of potential in India to generate energy from renewable sources. The GWC's report Indian Wind Energy Outlook 2009 estimates that there is potential of around 90,000 MW for power generation from renewable energy sources. This includes 48,561 MW from wind, 14,294 MW from small hydro power and 26,367 MW from biomass. Added to this is the potential of generating 20 MW/sq km from solar energy. There is also a lot of scope to improve the efficiency of electricity usage. In fact according to a 2006 UNEP release, India's potential energy efficiency market is approximately $3.1 billion which in turn would save 54 terawatt hours annually.

The government, however, seems quite unaware of these facts and also of the irreparable environmental damage done by fossil fuels. Case in point is Vidarbha region of Maharashtra where 43 new coal-fired thermal power plants have been proposed and the government is promising uninterrupted power supply in the region. The absurdity of this plan stems from the fact that Vidarbha endures daily power outages despite being power surplus and its thermal power plants contribute almost 60% of State's power company Mahagenco's total energy generation.
However, a report on the renewable energy potential in Vidarbha by Dr Sanjay Khadakkar points out various renewable hybrid systems put up by the government in various institutions of Vidarbha.

One such 10 KW wind-solar hybrid is set up in the Mahalakshmi Jagdamba Sanstha. The irony is that though this institution is situated between two thermal power stations, it faces 5-6 hours of power cuts. Institution's manager Mr Rajniti Gupta says that hybrid is the answer to their power cuts. Though enough electricity can be generated to power the entire campus, a problem with the batteries has reduced its efficacy, but storing enough electricity to see them through the power outages. The system was set up in 20 days at a cost of Rs 28,80,000.

Another example is the Bhodisatva Nagarajun Anusandhan Kendra in Mansar, 37 kilometres from Nagpur. The 5 KW wind-solar hybrid is used during the frequent power outages and even powers electric tools used for carving stone statues.
The report states that solar-wind hybrid systems of 62.8 KW have either been installed or are being installed and proposals for another 6 projects of 10 KW each have been sent to the government.

Dr Sanjay Khadakkar states that because of load shedding, 'alternative sources of energy are a must to fulfil the need of energy'.

To read more follow the link: http://www.d-sector.org/article-det.asp?id=1321