Energy Dynamics and Climate Mitigation: An Indian Perspective

200 Pages·2020·13.818 MB·English

by  Asheem Srivastav

Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences
Asheem Srivastav
Energy
Dynamics
and Climate
Mitigation
An Indian Perspective
Advances in Geographical
and Environmental Sciences
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R. B. Singh, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
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Asheem Srivastav
Energy Dynamics
and Climate Mitigation
An Indian Perspective
123
Asheem Srivastav
Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
ISSN 2198-3542 ISSN 2198-3550 (electronic)
Advances in Geographical andEnvironmental Sciences
ISBN978-981-15-8939-3 ISBN978-981-15-8940-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8940-9
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Contents
1 Energy Security and Sustainability: An Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Understanding Various Terms and Conversion Factors . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Energy Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 The Paradox of Energy Security and Sustainability. . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Energy Security and Access in India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2 Energy Sector Progression in India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.1 Energy as a Commercial Entity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.2 Part I (The Initial Phase—Coal, Oil, and Water). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.2.1 The First and Second Five-Year Plans (1951–1956
and 1956–1961). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.3 Part II—The Nuclear Energy Phase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.3.1 The Third (1961–1966), Fourth (1969–1974),
and Fifth (1974–1978) Five-Year Plans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.4 Part III (Emergence of Renewable Sources) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.4.1 The Sixth Five-Year Plan (1980–1985). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.4.2 The Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985–1990). . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.4.3 The Eighth Five-Year Plan (1992–1997). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.4.4 The Ninth Five-Year Plan (1997–2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.5 The Complexities of Renewable Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.5.1 The Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002–2007) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.5.2 The Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007–2012) . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2.5.3 The Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2012–2017) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3 The Challenges of Energy Supply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.1 The Understanding and Perception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.2 Carbon-Intensive Energy Sector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.3 Inconsistent Power Generation by States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
vii
viii Contents
3.4 The Fallacies of Household and Rural Electrification . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.5 Impediments to Electricity Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.5.1 Hydropower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.5.2 Nuclear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
3.5.3 Thermal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
3.5.4 Gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
3.5.5 Coal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.5.6 Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
3.5.7 Renewables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
3.6 Biomass Fuels: A Threat to India’s Forests, Soil,
and Human Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
3.7 Overcoming Impediments to Sustained Energy Supply . . . . . . . . . 112
3.8 India’s Domestic Energy Balance in 2040 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4 Climate Mitigation and India’s Commitment to Global
Community. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
4.1 Multilateral Environmental Affairs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
4.2 India’s Initial Submission to UNFCCC in 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.3 Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4.4 First Biennial Report by India—2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
4.5 Commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
4.6 Second Biennial Report by India—2018 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
4.7 Climate Vulnerability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
4.8 Initiatives by Government. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
5 Fourth Industrial Revolution and India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5.1 The Fourth Industrial Revolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5.2 Readiness for Low/Zero Carbon Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
5.3 Carbon-Based Economies Will Eventually Prove Cataclysmic. . . . 155
5.4 Renewable Energy Assessment—India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
5.5 The Predicament of Biomass-Based Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
5.6 Every Little Step Will Be a Great Leap for India . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
5.7 Fourth Industrial Revolution and Global Energy Prospects . . . . . . 187
5.8 Great Hope for Future—Fusion Power and Fuel Cell . . . . . . . . . . 191
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Chapter 1
Energy Security and Sustainability:
An Overview
Abstract Every living entity requires internal energy, derived through biological
process, for survival, growth, and sustenance. Human being is an exception in the
sense that they need additional energy from external sources to accomplish their
questforexcellence.Theavailabilityandadequacyofexternalenergyandreliability
ofitssupplywhethercommercialornon-commercialaffecteconomicproductivity,
development,andsustenance.Theprocessofglobalsplitbetweenenergy-richand
energy-poorthatstartedwithindustrialrevolutioncontinuestilldateandeachnation
isworkingrelentlesslytoensuresecuresupplyofenergyfromrenewableandnon-
renewable sources. Energy indicators are developed, and projections are done to
assess future energy scenario and an understanding of complete energy flow and
bottlenecks.Indiahasbeenundergoingtransformativechangessinceindependence
with population, poverty, and energy as the pivotal challenge. With the passage of
everyday,Indiafacesthetoughestchallengeofenergizingitseconomicdevelopment
throughpowergenerationthatishighlydependentonimportsofoil,gas,solarpanel,
andwindturbines.Withclimate-relateddisastersbecomingtoointenseandfrequent,
Indiahasnooptionbuttoraceaheadinreplacingdirtyfuelswithrenewables.
· · · · ·
Keywords Calorie Joule Watt Tonsofoilequivalent BTU Tonsofcoal
· · · · ·
equivalent Energysecurity Energyaccess Calorificvalue Britishton
· ·
Americanton Metricton Energyindicators
The Quest for Energy: From Carbohydrate
to Hydrocarbon and beyond (An
illustration)
1700174017801820186019001920194019601980200020202040206020802100
Coal Oil and Gas Renewable
©SpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.2021 1
A.Srivastav,EnergyDynamicsandClimateMitigation,
AdvancesinGeographicalandEnvironmentalSciences,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8940-9_1
2 1 EnergySecurityandSustainability:AnOverview
The concept of energy security is of recent origin and has emerged due to high
demand for commercial energy consumed for manufacturing goods, providing
variousservices,andforhumancomfort.Humanquestforexcellenceinknowledge
combinedwithhardwork,innovation,perseverance,anddedicationhaschangedthe
globalenergylandscapefromcarbohydrate(wood-based)tohydrocarbon(coal,oil,
andgas)economy.Unfortunately,thesideeffectsofhydrocarboneconomyhaveled
tomanycatastrophicphenomena,includingozonehole,pollutionofterrestrialand
aquaticsystems,oceanacidification,andglobalwarming.Theindustrialrevolution
that has withstood the test of time so far with external energy derived from non-
biologicalsourceshasfailedthetestofsustainability.Wooddominatedthesocioe-
conomicdevelopmentinEuropeuntilthe1500sandwasthemostimportantmaterial
forbuildingconstruction,ships,forcookingandheating,aswellasforpurificationof
variousmetals.Rampantandexcessextractionofwoodeventuallyledtothedisap-
pearanceofnaturalforestsinearly1700s.Disappearanceofwoodwassucceededby
emergence ofcoal inEngland. Coalwas initiallyobtained through surfacemining
to avoid risking human lives due to flooding of underground mines. The desire
formorecoalculminatedininventionofsteamenginebyThomasNewcomenthat
savedBritainfromenergycrisis.By1800,Britainswitchedoverfromcarbohydrate
tohydrocarboneconomy.Hydrocarboneconomyhasbeenmeticulouslycontrolled
byafewnationswhohavevastresourcesofcoalandoil.Theseconglomerateshave
manipulatedinternationalpricetotheiradvantagefrequentlythreateningtheenergy
securityof theworld.To counter these forces,many countries,startedworking on
alternative sources of energy such as nuclear (fission in particular), solar, wind,
geothermal, and biofuel. In recent years, the climate change disasters have struck
humanitywithimpunityandthescientificcommunityisunitedinitsopiniontostop
theuseofcoalandoilinnearfuture.Asthefourthindustrialrevolutionprogresses,
theworldwillwitnessemergenceofrenewableenergyfromdifferentsources—and
eventuallybidfarewelltohydrocarboneconomy.
1.1 UnderstandingVariousTermsandConversionFactors
Beforeembarkingonthecontentsofthischapter,itwillbeusefulformany,ifnot
most,readerstounderstandthevarioustermsandunitsofmeasurementadoptedby
differentcountries/institutions/authors.
There are six most common units of energy used at global level (Foresti et al.
2010):