Opinion
Only a small price to tackle emissions
08 Sep 2008 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Australian
Awareness of human influence on the planet's climate has grown substantially in recent months thanks to the efforts of Al Gore and the release of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It is no surprise that the outcome of the last Australian general elections was determined significantly by the position that today's Government articulated on climate change during the election campaign.
In the last Conference of the Parties held in Bali during December 2007 the driving force for moving the global community towards an agreement on adequate mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases was the scientific rationale for taking action. The Synthesis Report as part of the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC, which was finalised in November, brought out some strong findings on the nature of the impacts of climate worldwide, highlighting reasons for concern related to each one of these impacts.
Rationalizing coal prices
20 Aug 2008 |
Ms Anjali Garg
| The Economic Times
Although the last few months have seen international prices of almost all energy resources spiralling, the focus of all debates and discussions has been crude oil price and its impact on the economy and the consequent inflationary pressures. But beneath the headlines, a silent crisis is brewing on the coal front with far-reaching consequences for the power sector and, ultimately, the economy.
Energising Indian manufacturing
01 Aug 2008 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| Electrical and Electronics
Energy security is a crucial issue for every country today, even more so for India at its current stage of development. At present, there is a growing concern about the future of energy to fuel the growing global economy, with an increasing population ratio and higher incomes. These concerns stem from the growing scarcity of conventional fossil fuels, which has a direct impact on oil prices, which has escalated to around $100 per barrel. Also, higher level of air pollution, resulting from diverse use of energy, has dramatically increased the awareness on the global threat of climate change. These concerns are leading to fierce competition to procure fossil fuel resources in different locations, with various countries attempting to assert control over these resources through market measures and political or military means.
Stand Up And Deliver
14 Jul 2008 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Times of India
The G8 summit held in Hokkaido last week did not generate major expectations and, therefore, did not perhaps result in any great disappointment. The chair's summary issued at the end of the summit undertakes the usual tour across major issues and hotspots across the globe. However, the most important part deals with the subject of climate change, on which the G8 leaders agreed to a common vision of reducing by 2050 global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 50 per cent.
Tackling climate change is irresistible
02 Jul 2008 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| Deccan Herald
All sources of energy need to be tapped
29 Jun 2008 |
Dr Leena Srivastava
| DNA
For the last several weeks oil price and the Indo-US nuclear deal have dominated the media space in this country. We need to take a closer look at the potential that alternate energy holds to bail us out of the likely energy vulnerabilities that we may face in the coming years. It would be a mistake, however, to address our energy security challenge by viewing the problem as oil vs nuclear vs renewable energy.
Atoms for peace
19 Jun 2008 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Indian Express
Democracy in India has taken firm roots, and earlier misgivings about coalition governments at the Centre have proved largely unjustified, as recent experience has shown. However, in one respect, Indian democracy, with and without coalition politics, has not served the interests of Indian society adequately. In mature democracies, even when there are deep divisions on crucial issues of national interest, opposing parties drop their differences to coalesce around what is perceived as common national interest. One wonders when Indian politics would reach such a stage of maturity.
Solar energy Lighting up a billion lives
19 Jun 2008 |
Dr Akanksha Chaurey
| The Hindu Survey of the Environment 2008
The recently released Global Status Report on Renewables 2007 says that grid-connected solar photovoltaics (PV) has been the fastest growing energy technology in the world with 50 per cent annual growth in cumulative installed capacity in 2006 as well as in 2007. The majority of the above capacity comes from about 1.5 million homes across Germany, Japan, Spain, and the US which have installed small PV systems (a few kilowatts to tens of kilowatts) on their rooftops, feeding the electricity into the grid through two way meters and enjoying the benefits of net metered electricity bills at the end of the month. Technologies such as Building Integrated PV (BIPV), where PV panels double up as electricity generators as well as building facades, tiles and. walls by replacing the building material with aesthetically designed PV panels, have begun to get noticed by the architects and builders. This market is virtually non-existent in India which otherwise has had a good track record of utilising solar PV technology for off-grid applications ranging from power for off-shore oil and gas platforms to lighting up remote rural homes with solar home systems. Of the total reported 25 lakh homes worldwide that use solar home systems today, about 3.6 lakhs are in India, second only to China which has 4 lakh solar home system users. In fact, India's early commitment to promote solar PV arose from its concerns about energy access and energy security for all these cardinal principles form the backbone of Integrated Energy Policy almost three decades later.
Salute the sun
15 Jun 2008 |
| The Week
It was the first oil shock of the early 1970s that drew public interest to renewable energy technologies. Suddenly solar cookers, solar water heating systems, solar photovoltaic cells, wind electricity generators, wind pumps, biomass gasifiers and biogas plants became topics of interest.
However, when oil prices came down to manageable levels, the attention waned. They again came back when climate change mitigation policies and booming oil prices took centrestage. At present, renewable energy technologies are being utilised on a much larger scale. The annual growth rate of wind power is 24 per cent, solar water heaters 20 per cent and grid-connected solar photovoltaics around 55 per cent.
Eco design sustainable buildings for a new India
15 Jun 2008 |
Ms Mili Majumdar
| Electrical India
Most of today's architectural expressions demonstrate human dominance over nature. That 'The design process should leave a minimum footprint of man-made constructions on the environment' is the philosophy that TERI abides by. This article focuses on some basic measures advocating sustainability for new built structures.
Shelter is a basic human need. Buildings and habitats are designed and constructed to fulfil this. Since the industrial revolution, the world has witnessed incalculable technological achievements, economic and population growth, and ever increasing use of natural resources. Increased urbanisation, seen today, is a result of this overall growth. The green cover, and ground water resources have been forced to give way to these rapidly developing urban structures.