We have about 16 years to prevent the most dangerous effects of climate change from unleashing on us, says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its fifth report. The world has recorded unparalleled amounts of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming since the 1950’s, due to industrialization and modern lifestyles. The validity of man-made global warming has been a subject of debate in the past but now there is overwhelming scientific consensus about its reality. Unless we control the carbon deluge into the atmosphere, we may soon be beyond a point of no return. But, there is an alternative: renewable energy from renewable sources. Not surprisingly, the solar energy is above all. However, renewables remain vastly underemployed as it contributes only 20% to worldwide power generation, as of 2013.
- The key to avoid a climate disaster is to act quickly and decisively and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels
- With the globalization and all that comes within, thereis no mystery that alternative sources of energy are the only way to go
Climate scientists have been able to define the maximum amount of CO2 we can release in the atmosphere to keep temperature rise at 2° Celsius and thus prevent the most dangerous effects of climate change. However, in November 2012, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the World Bank stated that on our current trajectory, we are headed towards a potentially catastrophic 3.6-4° C increase in global temperatures2. It is also estimated that the carbon that has already been emitted will lead to a rise of 0.8° C in average global temperatures. These changes in the climate inevitably come with a human cost. Around 5 million lives are lost due to climate change every year and by 2030, the figures could ramp up to a total of 100 million.
Renewable energy offers the perfect solution to meeting our energy needs without endangering the climate and the environment. For instance, if we look at the carbon footprint of a solar panel, taking into account its entire lifecycle, CO2 emissions would be around 30g/kWh on average. Compared with our current fossil fuel based energy sources whose carbon footprint stands at around 450-500g/kWh.
Over the past few years, great strides have been taken in deploying renewables and creating a robust market for them. Due to these efforts and breakthroughs in R&D, renewable energy costs have entered into a steep descent.
Technologies like solar are very easy and fast to deploy. This comes with added benefits of job creations. A report by Greenpeace shows that renewable energy could employ up to 8 million people by 2020, compared to coal industry’s 2.8 million. In our recent report “Beehives and Elephants”, we estimate that 100 GW of solar in India could generate 629,000 jobs over the next ten years3.
India has been one of the first movers in betting on renewables. However it is still ranked only 12th globally in terms of installed solar capacity. Given the abundant irradiation it possesses, India needs to scale up massively to live up to its true potential. There are currently efforts being made to revamp the renewable landscape in India under the new government with expansion in renewable energy targets and a revamp in the national solar mission4. My local necessity (of getting cheap, plentiful energy quickly) as well as by global necessity (preventing climate change which would be particularly harmful to India), India could emerge as a leader in the global energy transition.
Contributed by Dr. Tobias Engelmeier
Founder and Director, BRIDGE TO INDIA
Tobias.engelmeier@bridgetoindia.com
Twitter: @TEngelmeier
Dr. Tobias Engelmeier founded BRIDGE TO INDIA in 2007, as a strategic environmental consulting company, based in New Delhi. Since then, his focus has been on developing strategic business models for international companies looking to enter the Indian solar market. Tobias has had a very strong affinity for India for a long time and feels that this is a very interesting time to be in this country, where enormous challenges meet with talent, technology and capital. He is deeply concerned about the resource use of this rapidly growing economy and believes in finding India-specific models to cope with this. He is the lead partner for the Technical University of Munich in a long-term research project on “Adapting Renewable Energy Products to the Indian Market”. Tobias is also very interested in governance structures in India and their impact on market developments. He regularly liaises with the key political decision-makers. Tobias was awarded a doctorate in political science from the South Asia Institute of the University of Heidelberg, Germany for his thesis on the relationship between identity and strategy in Indian politics. Prior to his doctorate, he worked for a leading strategic management consultancy. During that time, he advised large European utilities on how to engage with the fast-rising market for renewable energies.
[1] http://bit.ly/1p8ZQ8q
[2]IEA (2012c). World Energy Outlook 2012. 12 November 2012.
http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/publications/weo-2012/#d.en.26099
World Bank (2012a). Turn down the Heat. November 2012.
http://climatechange.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/Turn_Down_the_heat_
Why_a_4_degree_centrigrade_warmer_world_must_be_avoided.pdf
[3] Read the full report here – http://bit.ly/1uZy2BY
[4] Read our weekly newsletter on the Renewable Energy Act – http://bit.ly/1x4TCra