COSMOLOGICAL EFFECTS INDIA’S EECONOMIC GROWTH AND CO-MINING PROGRAMS: A READY-GRAVING DECISION
Coal and oil have fueled India’s economic growth over the past two decades. Coal-fired power plants provide nearly half of India’s energy supply. The government is still opening coal mines to meet rising energy demand in the economy.
The government announced plans to generate half of its electricity from renewable resources by the year 2030 and cut emissions to net zero by 2070. It would be an important change for a nation that is the third-highest global emitter of carbon dioxide — albeit one of the lowest emitters per capita. Even so, the independent scientific organization Climate Action Tracker considers these targets to be ‘critically insufficient’ and in line with 4 °C of global warming by 2100.
The country’s continued economic growth means that electricity demand is currently increasing at a staggering rate: 7% per year between 2010 and 2019, and 10% between 2021 and 2022.
“How are we going to elevate the incomes of people who have economic growth, and transition from fossil fuels?” asks Konda of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a global think-tank on environmental and economic issues.
Accelerating Wind Power Production in India: Energy-Storage Technologies as a Challenge for Industrial, Industrial, and Industrial Processes
The investment goes further. Up to 30% of project costs is given by the Solar Park Scheme and there are other incentives, such as helping with infrastructure and grid connections, to encourage the building of solar parks of 500 megawatts or larger.
Another initiative is designed to increase the number of grid-connected rooftop solar installations, with the goal of installing 40 gigawatts of capacity by 2026. These incentives target both individual home-owners and electricity distributors.
Farmers who install solar-powered water pumps will have their state and national government subsidize the cost up to 90 percent. “The idea is to reduce the diesel generator–base pump system so we can reduce oil consumption throughout the country,” Prakash says. “The farmer can also generate some additional electricity and sell it to the grid.”
This success in turbine manufacturing is helping to boost wind power by providing almost a one-stop shop for setting up wind farms, in which turbine manufacturers procure the land and arrange the transmission infrastructure. All investors need to do is come there and ask for the turbine, it is plug-and-play.
The Indian storage sector is experiencing a boom. According to the president of the India Energy Storage Alliance, only five international companies were interested in bringing advanced energy-storage solutions to India. Now the organization has more than 160 members. India has been a strong market for energy storage. Many consumers have stores of energy to protect them from power cuts.
Lead and acid batteries have a buffer against price spikes in homes and offices. The focus of energy-storage technologies has shifted to larger and more advanced ones after the rise of renewable energy.
The two leading energy storage technologies are very different, but the government is trying to be technology agnostic when it comes to supporting energy storage. Pumped hydro storage projects typically have a lifespan of about 25–30 years, but it can take almost that long to get projects approved and built because of the environmental and social challenges they face. Batteries — particularly the most widely used lithium-ion batteries — can be installed quickly but provide only short-term storage, typically measured in days or even hours.
India shakes the world in a gentle way: How the Chandrayaan-3 effected the moon and settled near the lunar south pole
Mahatma Gandhi once said that you can shake the world in a gentle way. In August this year, the Chandrayaan-3 lander delicately extended its legs, bounced once, twice and settled near the lunar south pole. Maybe the Moon shook as well.
By then, 2023 was already a momentous year for India. In April, it overtook China to become the most populous country in the world with over one billion inhabitants. More than one in six people live in it.
At a meeting of the G20 group of the world’s biggest economies in New Delhi in September, there were reports of a plan to change the country’s name to Bhrat.
India faces many challenges. The year saw a series of disasters, such as flash floods and Drought, worsened by global warming, as well as major infrastructure failures. It is a country that has different ways of looking at the economy and social development. Nature explores how technology can support development.
The story of water is the story of India’s development, according to the speaker. And we meet solar physicist Yoshita Baruah, who is investigating a different kind of storm to those exacerbated by global warming.
India faces an over-prescription of antibiotics as a result of the crisis. We report on how Indian researchers are tackling this and other public-health problems.
Source: India’s year in science
Entrepreneurship in India: How do we raise the profile of the nation? An interview with Anatolyse Kapoor-Kobayashi
The nation’s greatest strength is its people. We look at a few of the new schemes the government has introduced to get brilliant minds to return and to encourage others to stay. A stronger entrepreneurial culture could be the solution.
India is one of many countries to be concerned about workplace mental health. We talk to Annapoorna P K. about her research on Indian scientists’ mental health.
