Research Paper Economics E-ISSN No : 2454-9916 | Volume : 10 | Issue : 3 | March 2024

GREEN ENERGY FOR "SELF RELIANT INDIA": WILL INDIA

ACHIEVE ZERO CO2 EMISSION TARGET BY 2070?

Dr. Rahat Jehan

Department of Economics, Vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribagh

ABSTRACT
Energy, power, or electricity is an important infrastructure factor affecting the country’s economic growth and welfare. The
demand for energy in India has increased by more than 60% per capita since 2000. India is also responsible for a 10% rise in the
world’s energy demand since 2000. The increasing demand has made the world move forward with reliable renewable energy
sources instead of non-renewable energy ones. There are mainly three triggers why the world including India is focusing on green
and clean energy sources- first- because of climate change mitigations, second- energy security, and 3rd- net-zero targets. Due to
the current status of the climate crisis, a sustainable economy has now become a challenge. Understanding the need for renewable
energy the Govt. has announced INR 20.97 trillion revival package for the economy. While addressing the COP 26 summit the
Govt. of India also has committed to ambitious targets of expanding the capacity to 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022, and
500 GW of non-fossil fuel energy by 2030 at the Net Zero target by 2070. India has ranked 4th in wind power, and 5th in solar
power and renewable power installed capacity in 2021. But still, only 23% of the electricity is produced by renewable sources
in India. It is therefore a matter of concern that such a landmark policy will succeed as our economy is still reliant on fossil fuel
energy sources. This paper also discusses the achievements and challenges to achieving the clean and green energy targets for
Aatm Nirbhar Bharat.

KEYWORDS: Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Installed Capacity, Aatm, Nirbhar Bharat, Net Zero Targets

INTRODUCTION to find alternate sources for generating electricity. Now, due to

Renewable energies are sources of clean, inexhaustible, and the current state of crisis, sustainable economic growth has now
increasingly competitive energy. They differ from fossil fuels become a challenge. Understanding the need for sustainable
principally in their diversity, abundance, and potential for use economic growth our Hon’ble while addressing COP 26 summit
anywhere on the planet, but above all, in that they produce held at Glasgow prime minister announced INR 20.97 trillion
neither greenhouse gases – which cause climate change – nor in packages to revive the economy Called “Self Reliant India”.
polluting emissions. Their costs are also falling at a sustainable The scheme announced by the Govt. of India is to revive the 5
rate, whereas the general cost trend for fossil fuels is in the sectors – economy, infrastructure, system, vibrant demography,
opposite direction despite their present volatility. The increasing and Demand to fight covid-19 pandemic.
rate of CO2 emission has now become a major concern for not
only India but all over the world. India’s growth rate of CO2 In November 2021, at the COP-26 Summit in Glasgow, Prime
emission is the highest after China. According to a report of Minister Mr. Narendra Modi on the behalf of India committed
COP 27, India has the highest growth rate of approx. 6% CO2 to increasing India’s renewable energy generation and reducing
emissions.1 India’s total emissions in 2021 have been pegged at carbon emissions. The following targets have been set by India
2.7 billion tons. India’s share of total global CO2 emissions stood to achieve sustainable development and avoid catastrophic
at 7.5 percent in 2021. And over 40% of energy-related carbon climate change.
dioxide emissions are due to burning fossil fuels for electricity
generation. India is the 3rd largest producer and consumer of • 175 GW renewable energy by 2022
coal in the world. To fulfill its energy needs India also imports • Non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030.
costly fossil fuels2. Approx. 75% of the energy need in India is • 50% of its energy requirements are from renewable
still fulfilled by coal.3 According to a report from the Center for energy by 2030.
Monitoring Indian Economy, the country imported 171 million • India will reduce the total projected carbon emission by
tons of coal in 2013–2014, 215 million tons in 2014–2015, 207 one billion tons from 2021 to 2030.
million tons in 2015–2016, 195 million tons in 2016–2017, and • India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by
213 million tons in 2017–2018.4 Electricity generation through less than 45%.
coal emits around 1.1Gt CO2 approximately 2.4 of global • India will achieve the “Net Zero” carbon emissions
emissions and one-third of the total GHGs emission. Coal- target by 2070.
based power plants contribute around 50% of the country’s
fuel-related Co2 emissions. Therefore, there is an urgent need

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 Research Paper E-ISSN No : 2454-9916 | Volume : 10 | Issue : 3 | March 2024

REVIEW OF LITERATURE RE sources Target (in GW) Achievements

There are several research works with respect to the need and (in GW)
potential growth of renewable energy sources. Kumar, A. et
al.2010 in their article,” renewable and sustainable energy Solar Utilities 60 51.2
reviews” states that To meet the energy required for such a fast- Rooftop solar 40 7.5
growing economy, India will require an assured supply of 3–4 Bio-power 10 10.2
times more energy than the total energy consumed today. M.A. Wind 60 41.8
Majid & Kumar, C.R.(2020) in their research work “Renewable
Waste to energy --- 0.47
energy for sustainable development in India: current status,
future prospects, challenges, employment, and investment large hydro --- 46.85
opportunities” also state that sustainable development is Small Hydro 5 4.88
possible by the use of sustainable energy and by ensuring Total 175 162.61
access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy Source: https://www.niti.gov.in
for citizens. Strong government support and the increasingly Table 1: the installed capacity of renewable energy sources
opportune economic situation have pushed India to be one of in India as on 31 Aug, 2022
the top leaders in the world’s most attractive renewable energy
markets.

OBJECTIVES
• To highlight the need for renewable energy in India and
its growth rate
• To highlight the achievements and challenges to the
pathway of net zero Targets

METHODOLOGY
The present paper is based on the targets and achievements in
the field of installation of the renewable energy sector in India.
For this, the evaluation of the recent reports and the growth Figure 1: the installed capacity of renewable energy
pattern of renewable energy in India have been evaluated. sources in India in 2022

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Cumulative Renewable energy Sources over the last 6 years
Renewable energy sources play a vital role in securing (in GW)
sustainable energy with lower emissions.5 India has already The table below shows the cumulative energy capacity
progressed a lot in the field of the generation of renewable installation over the last 6 years. The table shows that the solar
energy. India is the world’s largest producer and the third largest power installed capacity has increased tremendously from
consumer of electricity, with national grid-connected installed 9 GW in 2017 to 51.6 in 2022. Bio-Power has also achieved
capacity reaching 374 gigawatts (GW) as of November 2020. more than its target of 10.7 GW in 2022. But there is not any
Electricity production reached 1,252.61 billion units (BU) in significant increase in wind power installed capacity.
FY20. India was ranked fourth in wind power, fifth in solar
power and fifth in renewable power installed capacity in 2018. Year solar Bio- wind Small
power hydro
The installed capacity of renewable energy sources in India
Jan-17 9 8 28.7 4.3
in 2022
India has also almost achieved its aim of producing 175GW of Oct-17 14.8 8.3 32.7 4.4
energy through renewable sources. Out of which its aim was to Oct-18 24 8.9 34.6 4.5
generate 100GW from solar power, 10 GW from Bio-power, Oct-19 31.7 9.9 37.1 4.6
60 GW from wind power, and 5 GW from small hydropower
Oct-20 36.3 10.3 38.3 4.7
plants by the year 2022.
Oct-21 47.7 10.6 40 4.8
India has achieved an installed capacity of renewable energy 0ct 2022 51.6 10.7 41.8 4.9
sources including large hydropower is about 163 GW as on Source: Central electricity authority
31Aug, 2022. The total share of the renewables is given below:- Table 2: Cumulative Renewable energy capacity over last 6
Wind power- 41.2 GW, solar power 59.43 GW, Biomass/Co- years (in GW)
generation- 10.2 GW, Small Hydro Power: 4.88 GW, Waste to
Energy: 0.47 GW, Large Hydro: 46.85 GW, rooftop solar 7.5
GW.

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 Research Paper E-ISSN No : 2454-9916 | Volume : 10 | Issue : 3 | March 2024

Source: - CEA, MNRE, Mercom India Solar Project

Tracker
Figure 2 Cumulative Renewable energy capacity over last Note:-MNRE’s revised cumulative bio-power data not
6 years (in GW) included in this figure
Figure 3: The figure below shows the new power additions
The contribution of Renewable Energy sources in total in all sectors in between (2010- 2022) solar accounts for
energy Demand in India 68.7% of new capacity addition during 2022
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency
(IRENA), a quarter of India’s energy demand can be met with Share of fossil and non-fossil fuel energy source in total
renewable energy. The country could potentially increase its energy generation:
share of renewable power generation to over one-third by 2030.6 The table shows that as on 31.12.2022 the total share of coal in
energy generation is 49.7% and its installed capacity is about
Year In- Expected Generation (Billion Unit) Total The
stalled en- Con-
203,775 MW and the total installed capacity of fossil fuel in
Solar Wind Bio- Small Total 2022 was 2,35,809 MW with a total share of 57.5%. Whereas,
capac- ergy tribu-
mass hydro-
ity of
power
re- tion of the total installed capacity of non-fossil fuel energy sources
re- quire- re-
new- ment new- including large hydro and nuclear energy sources is about
able (Bil- able 174,530 with only 42.5 % total share of power generation.
en- lion en-
ergy Unit) ergy
sourc- source Installed GENERATION CAPACITY(FUELWISE) AS
es in
(GW) (%) ON 31.12.2022
2021- 175 162 122 38 15 327 1611 20.3 Fossil Fuel
22
Coal 203,775 49.7%
2026- 275 243 188 64 21 516 2132 24.2
27 Lignite 6,620 1.6%
Report of ARENA Gas 24,824 6.1%
Table 3: The contribution of Renewable Energy sources in
Diesel 589 0.1%
total energy Demand in India
Total Fossil Fuel 2,35,809 57.5 %
Table 3 presents the estimated contribution of renewable Non-Fossil Fuel
energy sources to the total energy demand. Mop along with RES (Incl. Hydro) 167,750 40.7%
CEA in its draft national electricity plan for 2016 anticipated
Hydro 46,850 11.4 %
that with 175 GW of installed capacity of renewable power
by 2022, the expected electricity generation would be 327 Wind, Solar & Other RE 120,900 29.5 %
billion units (BUs), which would contribute to 1611 BU Wind 41,930 10.2 %
energy requirements. This indicates that 20.3% of the energy Solar 63,302 15.1 %
requirements would be fulfilled by renewable energy by 2022
BM Power/Cogen 10,210 2.5 %
and 24.2% by 2027.7
Waste to Energy 522 0.1 %
The Share of new capacity additions of all energy sectors in Small Hydro Power 4,936 1.2 %
India (2010-2022) Nuclear 6,780 1.7%
The table shows the growth rate of additional installed capacity
Total Non-Fossil Fuel 174,530 42.5%
in renewable sectors has tremendously increased. The share of
installed solar power in India has increased with a growth of Total Installed Capacity 410,339 100%
68.7% in 2022. The share of wind power has increased by 6%, (Fossil Fuel & Non-Fossil Fuel)
and large hydro has increased additional capacity of 4.6% in Source: https://powermin.gov.in/en/content/power-sector-
2022.8 glance-all-india
Table 4: installed capacity generation of installed RE &
NON-RE sources and their share in total

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The total installed capacity of power generation including fossil Assistance) out of which 1.3 GW capacity installation was doen
and non-fossil fuel is about 410,339 MW as on 31.12.2022. under pahase 1 and 1.48 GW capacity installation was done
These table and data show that as we have almost achieved under phase 2. Around 5.5 GW capacity was sanctioned for
the 175 GW power till 2022 the country is on track to achieve CFA in 2022.
500 GW in 2030. But still, some renewable sources have not
improved yet and for the fulfillment of energy demand, we are Off-Grid Solar:
still dependent on coal or on-fossil fuel as it contributes 57.5% Atal Jyoti Yojana: under Atal Jyoti Yojana total of 1.46 lakh
of the total electricity generation. solar street lights were installed, 9.71 lakh solar study lamps
were distributed and 2.5 MW solar parks have been set up
Initiatives and achievements: according to State Nodal Agencies(SNAs).
To achieve the renewable energy target of 500 GW by 2030
Govt. has launched various schemes and initiatives:- Green Energy corridor: under Green Energy Corridor projects
1. Solar Park scheme: To facilitate large scale grid-connected the govt. govt. has initiated inter-state GEC with target capacity
solar power projects, a scheme for “Development of Solar As on 31.10.2022, 8651 ckm (circuit kilometer) of intra-state
Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects” is under transmission lines have been constructed and 19558 MVA
implementation with a target capacity of 40 GW capacity intra-state substations have been charged. During the calendar
by March 2024. As on 31-10-2022, 56 Solar Parks have year 2022 a total of 183 ckm of transmission lines have been
been sanctioned with a cumulative capacity of 39.28 GW commissioned and 4930 MW capacity of substations have been
in 14 states. Solar power projects of an aggregate capacity charged.
of over 10 GW have already been commissioned in 17
parks and the remaining parks are at various stages of Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme: The production
implementation. Solar projects of capacity 832 MW have Linked Incentive Scheme “National Programme on High
been commissioned in various Solar Parks during period Efficiency Solar PV Modules” was introduced with an outlay of
January to October, 2022. Rs. 4500 crores to support and promote manufacturing of high-
efficiency solar PV modules, including the upstage vertical
2. PM-KUSUM Scheme: Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja components like cells, wafers, ingots and polysilicon in India
Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahaabhiyan (PM-KUSUM): To and thus reduce the import dependence in Solar PhotoVoltaic
provide energy and water security, de-dieselise the farm (PV) sector.
sector and also generate additional income for farmers
by producing solar power, Government launched PM- Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) Scheme: scheme
KUSUM Scheme for farmers. for setting up 12 GW Grid- Connected Solar PV Power Projects
by Central Public Sector Undertakings with domestic cells
The Scheme consists of three components: and modules is under implementation. Viability Gap funding
Component A: Installation of 10,000 MW of Decentralized support is provided under this scheme.
Grid Connected Solar Power Plants each of capacity up to 2
MW
Challenges in Achieving the Target:
Component B: Setting up of 20 lakh standalone Solar Powered • Mobilization of the Necessary Finance:
Agriculture Pumps • Gearing up the banking sector for arranging finances
for larger deployment goals, exploring low-interest
Component C: Solarisation of 15 Lakh existing Grid-connected rate, and long-term international funding, and
Agriculture Pumps developing a suitable mechanism for risk mitigation
or sharing by addressing both technical and financial
The Scheme aims to add 30.8 GW of solar capacity with the bottlenecks are major challenges.
central financial support of over Rs. 34,000 Crore
• Land Acquisition:
Achievements of PM-KUSUM scheme: • Identification of land with Renewable Energy
1. under component A- cumulatively installation of about potential, its conversion (if needed), clearance from
73.45 MW capacity of small solar power plants the land ceiling Act, decision on land lease rent,
2. 1.52 lakh standalone solar pumps under component-B clearance from revenue department, and other such
of which 79,418 pups have been installed during 2022. clearances take time.
3. Solarisaiton of 48.2 lakh grid-connected pumps under • State governments have to play a major role in
the two variants of component C acquisition of land for RE projects.

Solar Rooftop Scheme: • Creating Ecosystem:

The progress of cumulative installed capacity up to 2022 was • Creating an innovation and manufacturing eco-system
7.2 GW with progress of 1.33 GW during year 2022. Total in the country.
35000 cr. investment for the scheme was done up to 2022. Total
2.838 GW capacity was installed with CFA (centaral Financial

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CONCLUSION in the future what will the effect of zero co2 emission in 2070?
The renewable sector suffers notable obstacles. Some of them Will India be able to achieve zero emission targets?
are inherent in every renewable technology; others are the
outcome of a skewed regulative structure and marketplace. The FOOTERNOTES
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to enhance the attention of investors. There is a delay in the
June.2017.
authorization of private-sector projects because of a lack of 2. World Energy Scenarios Composing energy futures to 2050
clear policies. The country should take measures to attract (2013), World energy Council. https://www.worldenergy.org/wp-
private investors. Inadequate technology and the absence of content/uploads/2013/09/World-Energy-Scenarios_Composing-
infrastructure required to establish renewable technologies energy-futures-to-2050_Full-report.pdf .Accessed 01 Jan 2017.
should be overcome by R&D. The government should allow 3. https://coal.nic.in/en/major-statistics/generation-of-thermal-
more funds to support research and innovation activities in this power-from-raw-coa
sector. There is insufficiently competent personnel to train, 4. Blondeel M, Van de Graaf T (2018) Toward a global coal mining
demonstrate, maintain, and operate renewable energy structures moratorium? A comparative analysis of coal mining policies in
the USA, China, India and Australia. Climatic Change 150(1-
and therefore, the institutions should be proactive in preparing
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the workforce. Imported equipment is costly compared to that 5. Kumar S (2016) CO2 emission reduction potential assessment
locally manufactured; therefore, the generation of renewable using renewable energy in India. Energy 97:273–282
energy becomes expensive and even unaffordable. Hence, to 6. REMAP, renewable energy prospects for India (2017), The
decrease the cost of renewable products, the country should International renewable energy agency (IRENA).Available.
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Future Research Directions
Further research should be done to evaluate the impact of non-
fossil fuel in the reduction of co2 emissions and to find the
drawbacks why the govt. could not meet its target of 175 GW.
And if the pattern of under-achieving the target will continue

International Education & Research Journal [IERJ] 89