Energy Crisis: ‘Replace, Improve, and Reduce'

Handling the energy crisis

However, in some other cases, moderating the extravagant lifestyles of the rich is essential, because certain activities consume much greater energy than others. A two-way flight from Delhi to Washington, once a year, consumes as much energy as 35 km of daily car driving round the year! And one 35-km journey by car consumes as much energy as running an LED tube-light for four hours every day for an entire year!

TOUGHER CHALLENGE

The Indian economy faces tougher energy challenges than some other large economies because a majority of the population has started using modern energy only recently, and their need for energy to lead a dignified life is bound to increase the demand substantially. However, our domestic energy resources are limited, and we are already importing 85 per cent of our oil and 15 per cent of our coal requirements.

These energy imports amount to 8 per cent of the national income, and are poised to claim a share beyond 10 per cent soon. This percentage is twice that of China, the US, and the EU. For every rupee of tax paid to the government, we give half a rupee to other countries which goes out of our economy — this certainly isn't a happy situation. If energy imports are reduced by half, 4 per cent of GDP would remain within our economy, increasing GDP growth by 1 per cent.

The failure to understand this phenomenon is a primary cause for concern. The sale of air-conditioners and air travel is doubling every four to five years, while the sale of cars is doubling every seven to eight years. This rapid increase in energy-guzzling activities by a small section of the elite is unsustainable and cannot be simply seen as a sign of development.

Solar Energy Usage - Top 10 Countries

India is nowhere.  Top 10 Countries for Solar Energy

Germany at #1 with 17 Gigawatts installed.

Spain #2 with 3.7 gigawatts installed.

France #3 with 1 gigawatts installed

When will our day in the sun come?

End Taxpayers' Handouts To The Telecom Operators

Never thought I would agree with anything Varun Gandhi said or wrote.  When he forgets about chopping off hands and all that, he seems to make sense.  Pull the plug on diesel subsidy.

As diesel prices are subsidised by around 21 per cent, the telecommunication sector is able to purchase diesel at a very low price for its operations. This is causing the country's exchequer a massive annual loss of more than Rs 2,600 crore, whereas the Telecom Industry is witnessing a growth of profits by 10 per cent per annum.

This makes sense too: 

At the same time, the government should also introduce appropriate incentives to encourage the telecom sector to use renewable energy for generation of power for their network infrastructure. For this, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy also needs to review its policies.

In any case, we the taxpayers are subsidising the telecom operators' profits.  Let us at least do it for the right reason. 

Relatedly, Green energy to be made mandatory for powering cell towers:

India has around 3.5 lakh telecom towers of which about 70 per cent are in rural areas. At present, 40 per cent power requirements are met by grid electricity and 60 per cent by diesel generators.

The diesel generators are of 10-15 KVA capacity and consume about 2 litres of diesel an hour and produce 2.63 kg of CO2 a litre, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The total consumption is 2 billion litres of diesel and 5.3 million litres of CO2 is produced. For every KWH of grid electricity consumed, 0.84 kg of CO2 is emitted.

Here Comes the Sun

Paul Krugman on solar energy.

The song is here.