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Home » Indian Geography » Indian Economic & Human Geography » Energy Resources

Energy Resources

Conventional

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Introduction

  • With increasing demand for energy and with fast depleting conventional sources of energy, the non-conventional sources of energy are gaining importance
  • The shift is due to the abundance, renewable nature and lesser pollution impact of non-conventional sources
  • These are crucial in the present times, for any country to meet its emission targets under the Climate Agreements as well, eventually in the course of sustaining a cleaner environment
  • The renewable energy program started in India with the establishment of Department of Non-Conventional Energy Resources in 1982
  • India’s non-conventional energy potential is estimated to be about 1,95,000 MW; of which an estimate of 31% comes from sun, 30% from oceans, 26% from biofuel and 13% from wind
  • The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy announced in 2021 that the country has achieved the milestone of installing 100 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity
  • India has set a target to achieve 450GW energy from renewable sources by 2030
  • Also, India is already on track to reach its goal of 175 GW of installed renewable capacity by 2022.
  • Presently, in terms of Installed capacity, India stands at fourth position in the world in terms of installed Renewable Energy capacity, according to India’s power Ministry
SOLAR ENERGY
  • India, being a tropical country is endowed with plenty of solar energy; hence, exploitation of solar energy becomes an important component of renewable energy sector
  • India is endowed with vast solar energy potential. About 5,000 trillion kWh per year energy is incident over India’s land area with most parts receiving 4-7 kWh per sq. m per day
  • Karnataka leads India’s list of states producing solar energy, with a total installed solar power capacity of about 7,100MW; followed by Telangana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat
  • Also, India is now the fourth-largest solar power producer in the world
  • In pursuance to enhance Solar Energy production, India along with France launched the International Solar Alliance with the aim to promote solar energy in 121 member countries and to mobilise over $1 trillion of investment for the deployment of solar energy at affordable costs.
  • The target set by India, for installed solar energy capacity is 100 GW by March 2023 — 40 GW rooftop solar and 60 GW ground-mounted utility scale

 

Impact of solar energy in the Indian energy scenario

    • Solar energy based decentralized and distributed applications have benefited millions of people in Indian villages by meeting their cooking, lighting and other energy needs in an environment friendly manner
    • The social and economic benefits include reduction in drudgery among rural women and girls engaged in the collection of fuel wood from long distances and cooking in smoky kitchens, minimization of the risks of contracting lung and eye ailments, employment generation at village level, and ultimately, the improvement in the standard of living and creation of opportunity for economic activities at village level.

 

Government initiatives

    • The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission was launched in 2010, as part of National Action Plan on Climate Change
    • Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) has invited bids from solar module manufacturers for setting up solar manufacturing units under the central government’s Rs. 4,500 crore (US$ 616.76 million) Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme
    • “Development of Solar Parks and Ultra-Mega Solar Power Projects” was rolled out in December, 2014 with an objective to facilitate the solar project developers to set up projects in a plug and play model.
    • Grid connected Solar Rooftop programme has been launched For achieving cumulative capacity of 40,000 MW from Rooftop Solar (RTS) Projects by the year 2022

 

The Solar Power Potential in Indian states, is indicated as below:

 

  • The negative impacts of Solar energy, that need to be considered are:
    • Depending on their location, larger utility-scale solar facilities can raise concerns about land degradation and habitat loss
    • The use of wet-recirculating technology with cooling towers withdraw between 600 and 650 gallons of water per megawatt-hour of electricity produced in solar panels. Hence, installation of Solar parks in dry climates can impact water resources in that region
    • Thin-film Photo Voltaic cells used to produce solar power contain a number of more toxic materials that include gallium arsenide, copper-indium-gallium-diselenide, and cadmium-telluride. If these not handled and disposed of properly, these materials could pose serious environmental or public health threats
    • While there are no global warming emissions associated with generating electricity from solar energy, there are emissions associated with other stages of the solar life-cycle, including manufacturing, materials transportation, installation, maintenance, and decommissioning and dismantlement, which are often ignored
      • Most estimates of life-cycle emissions for photovoltaic systems are between 0.07 and 0.18 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour

 

  • It is another important source of non-conventional energy
  • Its initial costs are high. But, once the generation starts, cost-free power is available for about 20 years, as there are less recurring cost on Wind Energy Infrastructure
  • The recent assessment indicates a gross wind power potential of 302 GW in the country at 100 meter and 695.50 GW at 120 meter above ground level.
  • The state of Gujarat has highest Wind Energy potential, followed by Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh
  • India currently has the fourth highest wind installed capacity in the world with total installed capacity of 39.25 GW
    • The state of Tamil Nadu tops the list, with an annual wind power output of around 9,000 MW per annum; followed by Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan

 

Offshore potential

    • The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, has set a target of 5.0 GW of offshore wind installations by 2022 and 30 GW by 2030
    • Offshore wind power offers a plausible alternative as, Absence of any obstruction in the sea offers much better quality of wind and its conversion to electrical energy.
    • However, high cost of installation with the requirement of Marine structures in place, hinders the expansion possibilities. But, feasibility studies could help better exploration
  • The Government is promoting wind power projects in entire country through private sector investment by providing various fiscal and financial incentives such as Accelerated Depreciation benefit; concessional custom duty exemption on certain components of wind electric generators
  • The challenges associated with Wind Power are:
    • Even though the cost of wind power has decreased dramatically in the past several decades, wind projects must be able to compete economically with the lowest-cost source of electricity, and some locations may not be windy enough to be cost competitive
    • Wind resource development might not be the most profitable use of the land. Land suitable for wind-turbine installation must compete with alternative uses for the land, which might be more highly valued than electricity generation
    • Although wind power plants have relatively little impact on the environment compared to conventional power plants, concern exists over the noise produced by the turbine blades and visual impacts to the landscape
    • Wind plants can impact local wildlife. Birds have been killed by flying into spinning turbine blades. Also, Like all energy sources, wind projects can alter the habitat on which they are built

 

  • Biogas is based upon the use of dung to produce gas which is used as domestic fuel, especially in rural areas
  • Biomass has always been an important energy source for the country considering the benefits it offers.  It is renewable, widely available, carbon-neutral and has the potential to provide significant employment in the rural areas
  • The technique is based on the decomposition of organic matter in the absence of air, to yield gas consisting of methane(55%) and Carbon Dioxide(45%), which can be used as source of energy
  • It can be used as cooking and lighting fuel; and the left over slurry serves as an enriched manure
  • This has taken deep roots in India, as it has higher thermal efficiency when compared with Kerosene, firewood, dung and charcoal
  • About 32% of the total primary energy use in the country is still derived from biomass and more than 70% of the country’s population depends upon it for its energy needs

Potential of Biomass energy in India

    • As per a recent study sponsored by Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, the current availability of biomass in India is estimated at about 750 million metric tonnes per year.
    • The Study indicated estimated surplus biomass availability at about 230 million metric tonnes per annum covering agricultural residues corresponding to a potential of about 28 GW.
    • This apart, about 14 GW additional power could be generated through bagasse based cogeneration in the country’s 550 Sugar mills, if these sugar mills were to adopt technically and economically optimal levels of cogeneration for extracting power from the bagasse produced by them

Schemes/initiatives

    • Biomass power & cogeneration programmeis implemented with the main objective of promoting technologies for optimum use of country’s biomass resources for grid power generation.  Biomass materials used for power generation include bagasse, rice husk, straw, cotton stalk, coconut shells, soya husk, de-oiled cakes, coffee waste, jute wastes, groundnut shells, saw dust etc.
    • Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation has launched the GOBAR (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources) – DHAN scheme to convert organic waste, especially ca􏰁le waste, to biogas and organic manure for use in rural areas

 

  • Geothermal energy is heat derived within the sub-surface of the earth. Water and/or steam carry the geothermal energy to the Earth’s surface. Depending on its characteristics, geothermal energy can be used for heating and cooling purposes or be harnessed to generate clean electricity.
  • Geothermal energy is clean and is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Geothermal power plants have average availabilities of 90 per cent or higher, compared with about 75 per cent for coal plants.
  • Indian geothermal provinces have potential to produce around 10,600 MW of power
    • About 340 hot spring localities have been identified; many of them have temperature nearing boiling point
    • These springs are located along the following 5 major regions namely NW-SE Himalayan arc system which is extended to Andaman Nicobar Island, Son-Narmada-Tapti lineament, West Coast continental margin along with its adjacent and surrounding areas, Gondwana grabens and Delhi fold regions
  • The top five countries in terms of geothermal power generation are the US, Philippines, Indonesia, Mexico and New Zealand
  • In India, the central government has been actively supporting research in geothermal energy for over two decades.
    • Systematic efforts to explore geothermal energy resources first commenced in India in 1973 and several promising sites were finalized. Some of these are Cambay Graben in Gujarat, Puga and Chhumathang in Jammu and Kashmir, Tattapani in Chhattisgarh, Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh, Ratnagiri in Maharashtra and Rajgir in Bihar
  • Oil and Natural GasCorporation (ONGC)  will be implementing India’s maiden geothermal field development project in Ladakh
    • Also, Gujarat has already exploited geothermal power by digging shallow wells that generate about 20KW of electricity [which is used for captive consumption] in Dholera
    • Also, Gujarat became the first state in India to use geothermal energy to produce electricity
  • The exploration activities have revealed that, the Puga hot spring area, located at the junction of the Indian and Tibetan plates along the Indus Suture Zone, has the greatest potential for the near-term development of geothermal energy in the Indian subcontinent
    • It is said that the area exhibits vigorous geothermal activity in the form of hot springs, mud pools, sulphur and borax deposits. Also, It is estimated that more than 5,000 MWh of geothermal energy is available at Puga, which could be used for heating, for greenhouse cultivation and, eventually, to generate electricity
  • The limitations that have left the exploration of Geothermal energy in Nascent stages in India are:
    • High initial capital costs
    • It is suited for particular regions only. Even after finding, the drilling can be done only upto feasible depths
    • Geothermal heat coming from the reservoir below may die down or run out of steam even after years of activity, which results in more operational costs
    • Some studies indicate that they can be depleted, if the water is extracted faster than it can replenish itself. Hence, the sustainability issues
    • In some situations, geothermal energy sites are located farther from the population, thereby requiring a vast network of distribution This only adds up the overall cost of setting up a geothermal system
  • Environmental impacts of Geothermal Energy
    • Drilling and exploration [without thorough assessments] can cause habitat destruction and a lot of disturbance to wildlife, in a region
    • The high levels of seismicity of sensitive region adds to the need for detailed studies of the associated seismic risks
      • This is needed, as an earthquake, of magnitude 5.4, hit South Korea’s Pohang city, which is home to an experimental geothermal plant, in November 2017 and caused widespread destruction

    • Oceans occupy more than 70 per cent of earth’s surface and are an inexhaustible source of renewable energy
    • India is estimated to have a potential of around 54 GW of ocean energy – tidal power (12.45 GW) and wave power (41.3 GW)
      • Promising locations are Gulf of Khambhat & Gulf of Kutch (GJ), Sunderbans (WB), Western Coast of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Kanyakumari, Southern tip of India
    • Leading countries in Ocean Energy technology are UK, USA, Sweden, Canada, France, South Korea

The energy from oceans can be harvested in the following forms:

      • Tidal Energy
        • The difference in water level from low tide and high tide is potential energy that can be harnessed.
        • Similar to hydropower generated from dams, tidal water is captured in a barrage across an estuary during high tide and forced through a turbine during low tide
      • Wave Energy
        • Wave energy is generated by the movement of a device either floating on the surface of the ocean or moored to the ocean floor by the force generated by the ocean waves
        • The kinetic energy pumps fluid through turbines and generates electric power
      • Current Energy
        • Kinetic energy can be captured from the ocean currents, and other tidal currents with submerged turbines that are very similar in appearance to miniature wind turbines
        • Similar to wind turbines, the movement of the marine current moves the rotor blades to generate electric power
      • Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)
        • Ocean thermal energy conversion, or OTEC, uses ocean temperature differences from the surface to depths lower than 1,000 meters, to harness energy. A temperature difference of even 20°C can yield energy efficiently

  • In fact, it has been about 40 years since India started efforts to assess and harness tidal power, but it is yet to achieve any solid breakthrough in its development even as the country made rapid strides in boosting other sources of renewable power.
  • One of the reasons, according to the ministry, for not pursuing tidal power is “exorbitant cost”.
    • India had started two tidal power projects of 3.75 megawatts and 50 megawatts installed capacity in 2007 and 2011 in West Bengal and Gujarat respectively. But both these projects were dropped because of exorbitant costs
  • Apart from disproportionately high cost, “adverse environmental impacts that have not yet been fully documented” is another reason for the authorities to not actively pursue tidal power projects.
  • Other impacts that need consideration
    • Many birds that rely on the tide uncovering the mudflats for feeding could be affected.
    • Further, damages like reduced flushing and erosion can change the vegetation of the area and disrupt the ecological balance
  • Considering the contribution to reduce the impact in climate change, there is need of more investments into research, to make the ocean energy extraction feasible
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