India aims 50% non-fossil fuel energy by 2030

PM recently addressed a post-budget webinar on 'Energy for Sustainable Growth’.

About the webinar:

• PM addressed a webinar on 'Energy for Sustainable Growth' for 2022.
• This is ninth webinar in the series of post-budget webinars addressed by the Prime Minister.
• It was attended by the ministries of external affairs, coal, power, petroleum and natural gas, environment, and new and renewable energy.

Key takeaways from webinar:

• 'Energy for Sustainable Growth' is inspired by our ancient traditions and is also the means to fulfil the needs and aspirations of the future.
• India has a clear vision that sustainable growth is possible only through sustainable energy sources.
• In Glasgow, India committed to reach net-zero (emissions) by 2070.
• In COP26, India focussed on ‘LIFE Mission’ to promote a sustainable lifestyle by putting forward the vision of Lifestyle for Environment.
• India is also leading global collaborations such as the International Solar Alliance.
• India has a target for non-fossil energy capacity is 500 GW.
• By 2030, India will achieve 50 percent of our installed energy capacity from non-fossil energy.

India’s Efforts:

• In budget 2022-23, 19,500 crore rupees have been announced for high-efficiency solar module manufacturing in the direction of solar energy.
• This will help in making India a global hub in the manufacturing and R&D of solar modules and related products.
• National Hydrogen Mission: India has an inherent advantage in the form of abundant renewable energy power.
• India can become the hub of Green Hydrogen in the world.
• The hydrogen ecosystem is interconnected with the fertilizer, refinery and transportation sectors.
• This is an area in which the private sector should promote innovations so that India's full potential can be utilized.
• Battery swapping policy and interoperability standards: Energy storage is a big challenge with renewable energy.
• In order to find solutions, priority has been given to this year’s budget to maintain growth in the storage capacity.
• Provisions have also been made in this year's budget regarding battery swapping policy and interoperability standards.
• This will reduce the problems faced by electric vehicles in India.
• Plug-in charging takes more time and is costly also.
• Since a battery costs 40-50% of the total value of an electric vehicle, swapping will reduce the upfront cost of an electric vehicle.
• Coal gasification is a clean alternative to coal. In budget 2022-23, for coal gasification, 4 pilot projects have been announced which will help in firming up technical and financial viability of these projects.