Alternative Energy

Electricity plays a very important role in providing the means for wealth creation. Just the same way information technology revolution has changed much of the wealth creation processes, granting greater rewards to those with privileged access to knowledge; it is the availability of reliable electricity that is much important in attaining greater development. It is the ease with which we can access electricity and telecommunication facilities in addition to clean water, education and primary health care that are great indication of our economic worth. This is what distinguishes between the haves and the have-nots in our society.

As much as the government may have interests in nuclear energy in line with meeting the targets of vision 2030, considering initial investment costs of nuclear energy and the politics involved, we realize that even if we are to have sound leadership and equality so that electricity is supplied to the rural poor with the same intensity and in the same way as it is being provided to the rich, we would need to burn excessive hydrocarbons which would probably result in environmentally catastrophic consequences for future generations. This is due to the fact that diesel generators are easier and cheaper to setup and commission as compared to solar or nuclear plants.

Access to electricity has become almost a basic human right as access to clean air, water and health care.
It is this need (for basic services unavailable in the rural villages) that has resulted in massive rural-urban migration. Rather than use the justification for high load densities and concentrated energy economic demand to concentrate on electrification of urban and peri-urban centers, we need to find ways to take electricity to where the poor people are.

The solution to this is in the change of tactic by considering small and medium-sized decentralized power generation and consumption instead of the large-scale centralized generation that requires transmission and distribution networks that are expensive to build. Distributed generation could result in great savings in transmission and distribution costs. What makes grid extension even more costlier is considering the cost of electricity theft, average individual losses and low-capacity utilization levels.

Talking of distributed generation brings in the idea of renewable energy sources. We need to learn from the efforts made in countries like Denmark, Holland, Britain and Germany in their policies for encouraging investment in renewable energy but at the same time do it in a way that accommodates conditions prevailing in our country rather than imitating approaches tailored for circumstances in Europe and USA.

Of course there is still need for large grid-connected wind farms or large solar arrays or other conventional generating plants and the need for expanding transmission and distribution grids if we are to meet the needs of expanding urban agglomerates and of large industrial and commercial users.

In seeking renewable energy solutions/resources for distributed generation, we need to be cautious to avoid false choices between stand alone power systems based on a single renewable resource like only solar or wind or biomass as opposed to hybrid systems which attempt to capture as much energy as may be available on a given site.

The advocacy for single renewable energy source is largely driven by public and private groups with vested interests which have colluded with some investors to create monopolies or duopolies such as in the production of solar panels and bilateral and multilateral development assistance agencies that have become captive to such interests.

This is a warped truth that is strongly propagated by manufacturers of solar panels through NGOs and aid agencies in pushing for solar home systems for individual households.
With the current scandals in the oil markets especially when the dealers are unwilling to lower prices locally after international prices fell, I believe it is time we thought of better solutions including electric cars.