Some steps for India to move towards 100% Renewable Energy

Abstract

India is highly dependent on coal for producing its electricity. Even though the per-capita emissions of GHG in India is lower than that of most developed, its total emissions of GHG is close to some of the big polluters. No wonder there is an increasing pressure on India to move towards Renewable Energy (RE). India now produces solar and wind-based electricity at costs lower or comparable to that of coal-based electricity. However, while coal-based electricity generation can be increased or decreased at will to match demand, that is not the case for solar and wind-based electricity, as the quantity produced entirely depends on nature, the sun-hours and the wind-hours. Only way generation could match demand is if there are massive energy-storage systems. This paper examines how office and commercial complexes in India can take the lead in becoming a 100% RE user by installing energy storage systems and carrying out effective energy management. It would show that this can be done to reduce the cost of electricity for such complexes, while they become near-100% RE users. The industrial-complexes and housing complexes may use a similar strategy to become an RE-user and this would help move India substantially towards 100% RE. The paper examines the technology and economic challenges that have to be overcome to get there.