“The nation that leads in renewable energy will be the nation that leads the world 10-20 years from now.” – James Cameron
June 5 2020: We wake up in the morning to hundreds of forwarded messages about World Environment Day – how we, humans, have spoiled the beauty of Mother Nature over the years and how it has become so essential for us to act now, for now is the time to give another chance to ourselves for helping the Earth rejuvenate itself.
We read. We forget. We move on. We continue to harm the Earth. We continue to be a blot on Mother Nature’s pride.
As I write this from the perspective of a common citizen of India, I would like to highlight how we have failed to save the environment for the past many years. Despite a thousand reminders by the government to stop bursting crackers, to stop littering and spitting on roads, to increase the use of public transport to reduce pollution, we end up following ‘suno sabki, karo apni’ (listen to everyone but follow your heart) approach towards the environment.
It’s not just us who have been responsible for the damage to Mother Earth but a majority of the industries of our country as well.
If I particularly choose to talk about the coal industry, thermal emissions are accompanied by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, that aren’t just responsible for global warming but several respiratory diseases like asthma and influenza. Particularly, sulfur dioxide is responsible for acid rain.
Other harmful effluents like carbon monoxide combine with Hemoglobin in the blood (which ideally should be combined with oxygen) and hinder the ability of the blood to deliver oxygen to the body parts. Exposure to volatile organic compounds emitted on the combustion of coal can lead to irritation in eyes, dizziness and headaches.
Despite the harmful effects of the thermal emissions from coal industry, India continues to be the second-largest producer of coal in the world. The question that would arise in your mind after reading this is: Since we have an abundant availability of non-conventional resources of energy in our country, why can’t we be solely dependent on them? Why do we still choose to expose ourselves to the dangerous consequences of using fossil fuels?
Why Is India Dependent On Fossil Fuels?
The first factor that answers this question is a large number of coal deposits in India. These are largely and easily available, and thus people prefer to use what has been more readily available to them for the past many years. Moreover, coal mines and industries have already been set up in many parts of India, and setting up of infrastructure for renewable resources can be very expensive for a developing country like India and would also be accompanied by factors like deforestation and displacement of people where it needs to be set.
Now that I have introduced the word ‘expensive’ for renewable resources, the affordability of fossil fuels in India, especially coal, makes it a better option to be adopted by the general population.
According to statistics, “India has around 10 GW of wind equipment manufacturing capacity. In case of solar cells and modules, India imports about 85 per cent of its requirement.” Imported equipment perhaps costs more than what could be manufactured within the country, and therefore, it brings along another cost barrier to the use of renewable energy resources.
The second factor that I would like to highlight is the unwillingness of people to adopt renewable energy in their households. Majorly, it’s because of the cost; but it’s also because of a lack of awareness about the benefits of non-conventional sources of energy, especially in rural areas. A majority of the population in our country still thinks that renewable sources of energy are unreliable. For a common man, it’s perhaps difficult to change the source of energy they’ve been using for many years.
Considering these facts in mind, India has largely focused on ‘quality, safety, environmental management and clean coal technologies’, but the environmental effects of thermal emissions still cannot be neglected. Therefore, the Government of India has already targeted to install 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by the year 2022, which includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro-power.
According to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) aims to base 40% of the total installed power generation capacity on non-fossil fuel resources by 2030 with international support on technology transfer and financing.
Many households and institutions have adopted renewable sources of energy in our country, but a majority is yet to achieve the same. Awareness in the right direction for general population, strict guidelines for industries producing energy from fossil fuels is the need of the hour and right investment in renewable resources, especially in rural areas which can be efficiently used to harness wind and solar energy, and can only be achieved with mutual support from citizens and the government.
As the Rig Veda rightly says, “Do not harm the environment; do not harm the water and the flora; Earth is my mother, I am her son; may the waters remain fresh, do not harm the waters… Tranquillity be to the atmosphere, to the earth, to the waters, to the crops and vegetation.”
We must understand how important it is for us to conserve the environment by choosing the right sources of energy. It shouldn’t just be June 5 every year to make us realize our responsibility towards environment but every single day of the year.