SUSTAINABLE ENERGY:POWERING GROWTH IN 21^st CENTURY

Sustainable energy is the energy made available in order to meet present day requirement without compromising or hampering in any way the future prospects for meeting energy demand and without affecting the environment negatively. It comprises of any energy generation, energy efficiency or energy conservation source, which by the virtue of available resources can be scaled up rapidly in order to occupy a significant portion of long term energy generation. It is replenish-able within a finite time scale and causes no long-term damage to the environment.

Sustainable energy sources must ideally exhibit the following properties: - Abundance, cleanliness, reliability, low cost. Sustainable energy involves non-traditional source of energy as well as energy saved due to ultra efficient utilization of existing energy sources. Thus, it is a win-win scenario for all the stake holders in the energy ecosystem ranging from the utilities to the consumer, the government to the environment.

Sustainable energy offers new avenues for an energy starved nation like our INDIA. Sustainable energy initiatives can provide us with energy security, energy independence, low cost energy, uninterrupted provision of power to all Indians residing in all nook and corner of the nation, cleaner environment, global prestige and lots more.

 SOURCES OF ENERGY

The sources of energy can be broadly classified into five categories which may have different sub categories .They are as follows:-

1)   Fossil Fuels (Coal, Oil, Natural Gas)

2)   Hydel Energy

3)   Nuclear Energy

4)   Renewable Energy Sources

5)   Energy Efficiency

From the above categories Hydel power, Renewable energy and Energy efficiency are inherently long term sustainable technologies. Fossil fuels as a source of energy is not inherently sustainable but by using advancements in heat recovery systems more power and work can be extracted from fossil fuels with lesser emissions. Thus fossil fuels can be made sustainable for intermediate term, until a time when sufficient scientific breakthroughs in renewable sources will enable renewable energy sources to operate without fossil fuels for standby requirements.

Nuclear energy though a very clean source of energy is often mired in controversy regarding safety and viability issues .Nuclear energy can be a long term sustainable energy by operating nuclear power plants at its rated capacity and by addressing safety issues. Safety issues can be addressed by operating the plant in accordance with the guidelines of the International Nuclear watchdogs like IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), WANO (World Association of Nuclear Operators), WNA (World Nuclear Association) and also by undertaking regular safety audits under their auspices.

Thus, for the time being energy efficiency along with renewable is the way forward with other sources acting best as a stop gap measure.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

“Every watt saved is a watt generated”

Energy efficiency is the use of lesser energy to provide the same level of energy service. It is also referred to as the 5^th source of energy. Energy efficiency is the second element of any sustainable energy system. While the topmost priority should be to discover and promote innovation of clean energy sources, however we cannot bet the future on such a breakthrough and hence at present the only initiative lying with us is to enhance energy efficiency and natural resource productivity in order to reduce energy consumption and GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions.

Energy efficiency is achieved primarily by means of a more efficient technology or process rather than by changes in individual behaviour. Energy efficient buildings, industrial processes and transportation could reduce the world's energy needs in 2050 by one third, and help controlling global emissions of greenhouse gases, according to the International Energy Agency. A similar study by the McKinsey Global Institute concluded that, “the world could cut projected global energy demand growth between now and 2020 by at least half, by capturing opportunities to increase energy productivity-the level of output we achieve from the energy we consume”.                                                                                  Priority should also be given to energy demand side management by innovating better means to propel growth with lesser resource consumption .That is what energy and resource productivity means more growth from less stuff. Modern power management systems also reduce energy usage by idle appliances by turning them off or putting them into a low-energy mode after a certain time. The impact of energy efficiency on peak demand depends on when the appliance is used. For example, an air conditioner uses more energy during the afternoon when it is hot. Therefore, an energy efficient air conditioner will have a larger impact on peak demand than off-peak demand. An energy efficient dishwasher, on the other hand, uses more energy during the late evening when people do their dishes. This appliance may have little to no impact on peak demand.

The more clean electricity we generate, the more growth we can have with fewer emissions, the greater the energy efficiency we bring about, the lesser  clean electricity we need to get more growth. Energy efficiency and renewable energy are said to be the cornerstones of sustainable energy policy. Making homes, industries, and businesses more energy efficient is seen as a largely untapped solution towards addressing a plethora of issues regarding pollution, global warming, energy security, and fossil fuel depletion. Energy efficiency has proved to be a cost-effective strategy for building economies without necessarily growing energy consumption.

“The cheapest energy is the energy you don’t use in the first place “.

PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOURCES

 CREATION OF INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM-MARKET CONDITIONS

The process of transition from polluting fuels system to a sustainable energy system should be planned with a strategic foresight as it involves rebuilding every part of the energy system. The process should be started with a plan as a whole instead of offering one off projects without any strategic blueprint as unplanned transition can produce backlash.

A system is needed that will stimulate massive amount of innovation and deployment of abundant, clean, reliable and cheap (i.e. sustainable) electricity.

The great transformation of the century will be when we move from molecules to electrons and from silos and smoke-stacks to networks. It is precisely this move from molecules to electrons that will enable the systemic connections and efficiencies that will result in a clean sustainable power network – stretching from power plants to businesses to households to electric cars and other transportation solutions and back. That smart power network will enable ordinary people to do extraordinary things when it comes to creating, using and saving energy.

The objective number one for a clean sustainable energy system is to stimulate innovation because a source of sustainable energy that meets all the four criteria: - abundance, cleanliness, reliability and low-cost is yet to be discovered.

There are two ways to stimulate innovation – one is short term and the other is long term and both need to be done on a war – footing. First, there is innovation that happens naturally by the massive deployment of technologies already in our possession. The history of technology is replete with examples of such innovations which are in reality gradual improvements and enhancements as the production of such inventions achieve volume and the manufacturer endeavours to make them better and better .This form of innovation is often underestimated, but it is precisely the kind, which is needed and can now stimulate existing wind and solar power systems to overcome technological barriers that prevent them from becoming cheap, abundant and reliable. The way to stimulate this kind of innovation-which comes from learning what is already known and by doing it in a better and cheaper way –is by generous tax incentives, regulatory incentives, renewable energy mandates and other market shaping mechanisms that create durable demand for these existing clean power technologies. The second is the innovation that happens by way of eureka breakthroughs from research and experimentation in labs. The way to stimulate this is by increasing government funded research and also by again, shaping the market to demand more clean power solutions. Lots of people, companies and universities trying many more things and a market that will quickly scale the most promising new ideas are of utmost importance to boost such innovations.

The smart electrical grid would be at the core of such a revolutionary new sustainable power system as it is vitally necessary to drive energy efficiency, to reduce demand and to reduce emissions and it does the most important function of providing a market for renewable energies as it is able to differentiate between electricity from clean sources and fossil fuels and is able to charge them at differential rates to account for higher costs of fossil fuels and would thus incentivise consumers to use more of  sustainable energies. This subsequently creates a financial impetus for deployment of sustainable renewable energy resources.

Innovation is the only way out of the energy and climatic quagmire and the only way to stimulate that is to mobilize the most effective and prolific system for transformational innovation and commercialization of new products ever created on the face of the earth – the market place. There is only one thing bigger than ‘Mother Nature’ and that is ‘Father Profit’, and until now he has not been enlisted for this struggle.

Manhattan Project (An early 1940’s secret project that led to invention of atom bomb) is not needed for clean energy, what is needed, is a market for clean energy, which is missing at present. A secret government led James Bond style initiative involving a dozen scientists at a secret hideaway coming up with the single invention is not required. Thousands of innovators, all collaborating with, and building upon, one another to produce all sorts of breakthroughs in sustainable energy technologies and energy efficiency is the need of the hour. Massive demand creation for existing sustainable power technologies, like wind and solar, in order to make them competitive with conventional fossil fuels is also necessary. If a market pull could be created that would demand their mass production all over the country then the existing clean power technologies will be available at much cheaper rate and would be much more effective. Only the free market can stimulate this much innovation in radically new technologies and many-fold improvements in already existing ones and only free market can generate and allocate enough capital fast enough and efficient enough. But markets are not just open fields to which water can simply be added on the assumption that the best outcome will always result. Markets are like gardens which have to be intelligently designed with right taxes, regulations, incentives and disincentives – so that they yield good returns for the investors as well as the consumers.

Thus if innovation is to be accelerated in sustainable energy technologies, smart grid and energy efficiency, the energy market has to be intelligently redesigned with system of policies ,tax incentives and disincentives and regulations that will get every promising source of clean electricity out of the laboratories as fast as possible. Only this kind of ecosystem for innovation can give birth to a smart grid fed by sustainable power. Besides an intelligently designed national strategy for energy innovation and commercialization is urgently needed. It takes a system to make a system.

“There is no energy crisis only a crisis of knowledge regarding the sources of energy”.