After several months of scrutinizing solar in China, let us shift our focus for now to another energy-guzzling, rising economic power with some ambitious energy goals of its own: India. While India’s emissions record is commendable in comparison with China’s (8 percent of global CO2 emissions in 2007, compared to China’s staggering 24 percent), by no means is India sitting idle on the subject of climate change mitigation. After all, China, the United States, the EU-15, India and the Russian Federation—in that order—account for 71 percent of global emissions. India, in an effort to align its rapid economic development with more sustainable practices, has decided to launch its National Action Plan on Climate Change.
On June 30, 2008, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiled the NAPCC, which outlines policies and programs that fall under the following eight foci, each of which is referred to as a “national mission”: solar, enhanced energy efficiency, sustainable urban planning, improved efficiency of water usage, conservation of the Himalayan ecosystem, reforestation (the National Mission for a “Green India”), sustainable agriculture, and improved climate science. Aside from these eight “national missions,” the NAPCC also delineates plans for shutting down inefficient coal-fired plants and requires various industries to commence energy audits, among other initiatives. The ministries responsible for each mission are obligated to submit comprehensive implementation plans to the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change by December 2008.
Although the NAPCC is only a starting point, a massive outline of proposals and goals, it nevertheless includes guidelines and requirements that we can take to be the bare minimum of energy efficiency requirements—a seed from which countless improvements can grow. The National Solar Mission, for example, sets a target of 1,000 MW/year of photovoltaic production as well as at least 1,000 MW worth of solar thermal generation. The Indian government also hopes to increase solar use in “urban areas, industries and commercial establishments,” to establish a solar research center and to collaborate internationally on development of solar technologies, among other objectives.
India, which is located on the earth’s equatorial sunbelt, is an ideal place to employ such a mission. According to the NAPCC, this populous Southeast Asian country receives about 5,000 trillion kilowatts a year through solar radiation, with 1 percent of its land area capable of providing enough electricity for all of India until 2030. Indeed, it gives me cause to wonder why didn’t India take advantage of its solar resources earlier!
We’re currently witnessing the burgeoning growth of the solar market in China—let’s keep an eye trained on India as well. Not much has emerged from the woodwork yet—although apparently there are talks of the world’s largest solar farm being built in the state of Gujarat—but let us not forget the swift, government-aided growth of the Chinese solar market and how the success of solar thermal created one of the richest men in China today. With the new focus on expanding solar adoption and developing solar technologies in India, there are only opportunities ahead.
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