Goa is finally talking about the possibility of exploring the use of renewable energy sources. Earlier this month, during the monsoon session of the State Legislative Assembly, the Power Minister replying to the debate on grants to the Electricity Department had proffered the suggestion that solar panels could be fitted on the tops of government buildings to harness solar energy. The suggestion follows up on the proposal of the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) to the State to install solar panels to generate 150 mega watts of power. While the proposal is welcome, the question that arises is will these solar panels be installed?
A few days later the minister during the same session had said that the State would not be able to achieve the target due to non-availability of flat land to set up the solar plants and the result of solar power production is just 22 percent. He has also said that there is the proposal to use water canals, as Gujarat has done, to install solar panels and also the possibility of getting excess solar power from people’s homes transferred to the main grid for further distribution. Whatever the possibilities of harnessing solar power, it is becoming very imperative to take the JERC proposal forward so as to not only explore alternative sources of energy but do so seriously with a commitment to reduce dependability on conventional sources that are currently being used and are not renewable.
Various countries around the world have been experimenting with alternative renewable sources of energy and there have been results. In May this year Germany on a Sunday met almost all of its electricity demand from solar and wind power. Germany is not the only European country that is experimenting with renewable energy sources in a bid to reduce carbon emissions. Last year Denmark’s wind farms had supplied a large quantity of the country’s demand for power. But, it was Portugal that in May this year took a huge step towards using renewable energy and phasing out fossil fuels. For 107 consecutive hours, over four full days, the country was fully powered by solar, wind and hydro power. It was also in the same month that the United Kingdom went an entire week with coal free generation of power.
These are experiments in use of alternative energy sources and they have shown positive results but it will be years before fossil fuels can be replaced by renewable energy. The second question is whether the world can afford to wait that long?
Fossil fuels are neither infinite nor are they renewable. Mansoor Khan, who has authored the book ‘The Third Curve – The End of Growth As We Know It’ bases his premise of the end of growth on the fact that we have already used up over half of the world’s resources, including fossil fuels, and we are now on the downward curve. He doesn’t, however, advocate the tapping of alternative sources of fuel. As he writes, “Just one day’s worth of burning oil is equivalent to using 7 years worth of the total solar energy that reaches Earth. That amounts to approximately 2500 times the rate at which it is reaching us. This point itself, if acknowledged, settles the issue of how little alternatives can do.”
Yet, experiments with renewable and alternative sources of energy continue the world over. The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy aims to increase the share of clean power that is mainly use of renewable energy sources like bio, wind, hydro, solar, geothermal and tidal so as to supplement fuel-based electricity generation. Being pragmatic, this is one concept that has to be looked at – renewable energy sources could at best be supplements and not alternatives to fossil fuels and fossil fuel based power generation.
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission was launched in 2010 with the target of deploying 20,000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022. The ministry’s target is now a more than five times increase in renewal power capacity to 175 GW (gigawatts) by 2022. Of the 175 GW target capacity, 100 GW is to come from solar power, 60 GW will be from wind, 10 GW from biomass and 5 GW from small hydro power. The target date is just six year away and Goa has to play a role in meeting this target. While the Power Department may argue that the absence of flat land does not allow solar generation of power, using the tops of government buildings appears to be the best solution, if not the most simple, for the moment.
The costs, however, are prohibitive. In 2015, Union Power minister Piyush Goyal had said that to meet the target that has been set, the amount of investment needed would be in the range of Rs 6 lakh crore. The Union Budget allocation for spending on renewable energy is nowhere near this amount. There are commitments though from the private sector, and this is a leaf that the Goa government could take in its path towards renewable energy production – involve the private sector to play a role through financial commitments that can be compensated by the government through tax rebates. This is one possibility that the State could consider.
The time for talking, planning and proposing is fast ending. The State needs to start acting on meeting the target of generating 150 MW of renewable energy, be it solar or wind. If, as Khan says, solar energy may not be the best option, but for Goa it is the only option that the State has as of now. Until there are other choices that become viable, solar and wind energy will have to be what the State falls back on as alternatives to fossil fuel. Khan’s third curve however suggests the return to local rather than global. With a world galloping towards development, going local may not happen easily and fast enough, which leaves seeking alternative energy sources as the only viable option for the present.
(Alexandre Moniz Barbosa is Executive Editor, Herald)
