Wind-solar could increase to ~32% of India’s power
India has adequate renewable energy resources to support a zero-carbon power system delivering 6,000 TWh or more in 2050 at close to no cost to electricity consumers, living standards or economic growth, thanks to the increasing competitiveness of India’s solar and wind energy.
This potential was noted by the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC) in its new report “Making Mission Possible – Delivering A Net-Zero Economy”.
Detailed analysis by ETC India shows that wind and solar generation could increase to ~32% of India’s power generation by 2030 with total low/zero carbon increasing to 47% of the total.
Moreover, the total system cost, allowing for necessary storage and flexibility resources, will be no higher than if new coal capacity were installed instead.
Consequently, India can deliver rapid increases in electricity supply to support rising prosperity at a competitive total system cost, without building any more coal plants beyond those currently under construction, said the report on 16 Sept 2020.
“In India as in many countries, climate change is already impacting people and disrupting the economy. Governments from developed and developing countries will find in this blueprint practical recommendations on how to enhance their national strategies and ramp-up their commitments as part of the Paris agreement,” said Fellow ETC Co-Chair Ajay Mathur.
The ETC report shows that clean electrification must be the primary route to decarbonization.
It highlighted that dramatic falls in the cost of renewable energy make this easily affordable and argue that all growth in electricity supply should now come from zero-carbon sources with no need to build any new coal-fired power capacity to support economic growth and rising living standards.
The report demonstrates that it is technically and economically possible to have a carbon-free economy by around mid-century at a total cost of less than 0.5% of global GDP by taking three overarching steps:
• Using less energy while improving living standards in developing economies, by achieving dramatic improvements in energy efficiency and shifting to a circular economy;
• Scaling up clean energy provision by building massive generation capacities of cheap clean power, at a pace five to six times higher than today, as well as expanding other zero-carbon energy sources such as hydrogen;
• Using clean energy across all sectors of the economy by electrifying many applications in buildings, transport and industry, and deploying new technologies and processes using hydrogen, sustainable biomass or carbon capture in sectors that cannot be electrified, like heavy industry or long-distance shipping and aviation.
“Renewable energy is fundamental to delivering a net-zero economy by 2050. The ETC report provides a blueprint for a green economy and calls for global leaders to take action in the next decade. And everyone needs to act to help create a world that runs entirely on green energy
The Energy Transitions Commission (ETC) is a global coalition of leaders from across the energy landscape committed to achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century, in line with the Paris climate objective of limiting global warming to well below 2°C and ideally to 1.5°C.
The commissioners come from a range of organisations – energy producers, energy-intensive industries, technology providers, finance players and environmental NGOs – which operate across developed and developing countries and play different roles in the energy transition. This diversity of viewpoints informs our work: our analyses are developed with a systems perspective through extensive exchanges with experts and practitioners.
The Making Mission Possible report was developed by the Commissioners with the support of the ETC Secretariat, provided by SYSTEMIQ. It brings together and builds on past ETC publications, developed in close consultation with hundreds of experts from companies, industry initiatives, international organisations, non-governmental organisations and academia.
The report draws upon analyses carried out by Climate Policy Initiative, Copenhagen Economics, Material Economics, McKinsey & Company, Rocky Mountain Institute, The Energy and Resources Institute, University Maritime Advisory Services, Vivid Economics and SYSTEMIQ for and in partnership with the ETC, as well as a broader literature review. We refer, in particular, analyses from the International Energy Agency and BloombergNEF.
This report constitutes a collective view of the Energy Transitions Commission. Members of the ETC endorse the general thrust of the arguments made in this report but should not be taken as agreeing with every finding or recommendation. The institutions with which the Commissioners are affiliated have not been asked to formally endorse the report. #renewables #climate #energy #impact #solar #wind #hydrocarbons /fiinews.com
