It is heartening to note that the world will increase its renewable energy generating capacity by 2,400 gigawatts (GW) within the next five years. According to the latest report of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the expected increase in renewable energy production in the next five years will be more than what the world added during the last two decades, making it vulnerable to climate change. Environmentalists suggest that if the renewable energy capacity increases by 90 per cent between 2022 to 2027 as predicted, it will provide all of us engaged in the fight to save this beautiful planet from destruction, some breathing time.
But it seems that India will not be able to contribute much to this worldwide endeavour for clean energy. Notwithstanding the government setting up a target of producing 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, at present we are well behind in accomplishing the mission. IEA has already warned that India will only reach the goal by adding 145 GW of renewable energy by 2030, if proper steps are not taken to expedite the process. At present only 29 per cent of total energy produced in the country comes from renewable sources. The percentage is dismal to say the least considering the fact the country is immensely gifted when it comes to producing energy from renewable sources. The nation has huge potential for solar, hydel and wind energy, which are yet to be tapped to its full potential. As a matter of fact, too much dependence on coal to produce energy has made India virtually defenseless in the wake of climate threat.
Thus, it should be India’s mission to produce as much renewable energy as possible to tame the menace of climate change. India gets around 55 per cent of the total requirement of energy from coal, which contributes enormously to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. There is no sign that the dependency on coal will come to an end soon; rather, it will be increased further. An indication to this effect has come from the fact that India had imported eight million tonnes of coal perhaps for the first time during the last fiscal to plug the energy shortage. Furthermore, the country produces nearly 16 per cent energy by using crude oil, which is a costly affair as India imports nearly 85 per cent crude oil to meet its domestic energy requirements.
Too much dependence on coal is weakening India’s battle against global warming. To emerge as the winner in this battle, India will have to make every possible effort to produce renewable energy by using all its resources. India is blessed with abundant sunlight throughout the year which is sufficient to make the country a leading producer of solar energy. Similarly, the huge hydel power potential of the country still remains unutilised. We have not been able to make much progress in the case of wind energy too. So to match pace with the rest of the world in generating clean energy, India should formulate a new energy plan to shift from traditional to renewable energy.