Renewables: Fuelling the Economic Growth
Renewable Energy (RE) technologies are fast gaining a foothold
on a global level. It can be gauged from the fact that a colossal
investment of around $ 38 billion was made on creating new RE
capacities alone in 2005. In fact, Germany and China took the
investment leads at $ 7 billion each followed closely by USA,
Spain, Japan and India. Amongst the RE technologies, biomass power
production witnessed a 50-100% increase in annual production capacities
in many countries during 2004. Other technologies like Solar Photovoltaics
(PV) and biofuels also recorded quite impressive growth patterns.
The first utility scale solar thermal power plant took shape in
USA and Spain for the first time. Germany marched far ahead of
Japan in the area of grid connected solar PV making a sizeable
capacity addition of 600 MW within a year. India overtook Denmark
in the area of wind power growth thus fueling a new change in
the wind regime. These path-breaking developments culminated due
to a series of transformed policy and programme implementation
measures. The developing countries particularly gave the much-needed
facelift to their policies by including renewables far more aggressively
into their energy systems. All this augurs well for the renewables,
which is now witnessing a renewed focus from a different perspective
too. Use of conventional energy has resulted in a number of environmental
problems concernedly famous as Global Warming and Climate Change.
It is now becoming increasingly obvious that we will soon be unable
to meet our energy needs via use of coal, oil and gas alone. Historically,
RE technologies observed a phenomenal push for a holistic growth
during the much talked about oil crisis of early seventies. The
interim period between then and now has seen support for RE waxing
and waning in accordance with the policy of the day. Surely, time
seems to be ripe once again to pump large investments more so
for technology up-gradation so as to attain economies of scale.
Simultaneously though, steps should be taken to bring down the
energy intake vis-à-vis the use of conventional power.
Serious thought needs to be accorded to evaluate the economic
competitiveness of all available energy sources in the backdrop
of three main parameters. These relate to an increasing gap between
demand and supply of conventional power, accompanying transmission
and distribution losses and importantly, the Climate change process.
Surely, RE is poised for a second big leap forward to lead towards
a sustained economic growth in the near future.
