Green Energy: India Perspective

by Abhijit Banerjee on December 3, 2009

in Energy & Peak Oil, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Living in India

Till recent times, most of the rural energy needs in Indian villages had been met by biomass burning. The most preferred fuels are firewood, followed by animal dung and crop residues. Poor rural infrastructure and low purchasing power have prevented entry of kerosene and LPG. Though nearly 90 per cent of the 634,321 villages have been covered by electricity grid extension, less than 30 per cent of the households have access to electricity.

Today India has the world’s largest programme for renewable energy. Efforts over the last two decades to make proper use of the abundant sunlight, water and biomass available in India are beginning to bear fruit with people becoming more aware of the benefits of renewable or green energy. India’s market for renewable energy and related technology is growing by 25% per year.

Rural dependence on biomass fuels

But servicing the rural areas remains a Herculean task because of continued dependence on biomass fuels which has resulted in serious environmental problems of resource degradation and pollution. There is hardly any improvement in the quality of life, specially for women who are the primary collectors, processors and users of biomass.

Waste to energy

One of the solutions is converting organic waste into useful cooking fuel and other energy sources. Cow dung maybe the most unlikely source for state-of-the art energy generation. Yet a tiny village in Pura in south India is using cow dung to provide electric light, pumped water, and clean cooking fuel, basic amenities which were in short supply.

Biomass Briquette fuel can be made from any kind of organic waste by mixing it with a thick solution of paper pulp. After removal of water they are made into solid pieces and used as an alternative cooking fuel.

‘Barefoot engineers’

Solar energy systems providing power in remote, rural areas are installed by barefoot solar engineers trained by the Barefoot College.

In Tilonia, a village in Rajasthan, India, a group of “barefoot engineers” from poor rural backgrounds have been trained in construction, installation, and maintenance of everything from solar panels to rainwater collection tanks at the Barefoot College and are now harnessing solar power to electrify villages in India, Afghanistan and Ethiopia.