scholarly journals Growth projections against set-target of renewable energy and resultant impact on emissions reduction in India

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 200083-0 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karan Chabhadiya ◽  
Rajiv Ranjan Srivastava ◽  
Pankaj Pathak

In accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement (COP21) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), India is greatly focused on deployment of renewable energy (RE) for supplementing the energy requirements of the country. The present article assesses the validity of the promises offered by RE technologies in India and its necessary action to understand the gap between setting goals and the ground situation, which can also show a pathway to other developing countries. Therefore, the long-term projection perspectives on RE growth have been made using the India Energy Security Scenario-2047. In order to achieve the set target for emissions reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) i.e., 1209 MT CO2e in support of SDGs to the 2005 level by 2030, three renewable growth scenarios have been tested for transitioning the Indian energy system. Accordingly, the regression analysis reveals that the most desirable growth scenario will require a steady rise of RE contribution in the overall energy mix of India by 2030 from the current ~21% to 68% of the installed capacity. In this view, the present study highlights the exploration of new alternatives in long-term energy planning, and less on one-sided scenario to achieve the emissions’ reduction target.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1605
Author(s):  
Shuangjie Li ◽  
Hongyu Diao ◽  
Liming Wang ◽  
Chunqi Li

Energy efficiency is crucial to the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but its widely measured indicator, energy intensity, is still insufficient. For this reason, in 2006, total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) was proposed with capital, labor, and energy as inputs and GDP as the desirable output. The later TFEE approach further incorporated pollution as the undesirable output. However, it is problematic to regard GDP (the total value of final products) as the desirable output, because GDP does not include the intermediate consumption, which accounts for a large part of the production activities and may even be larger than the value of GDP. GDP is more suitable for measuring distribution, while VO (value of output) is more appropriate for sustainable production analysis. Therefore, we propose a VO TFEE approach that takes VO as the desirable output instead and correspondingly incorporates the other intermediate materials and services except energy into inputs. Finally, the empirical analysis of the textile industry of EU member states during 2011–2017 indicates that the VO TFEE approach is more stable and convergent in measuring energy efficiency, and is more suitable for helping policymakers achieve the SDGs of energy saving, emissions reduction, and sustainable economic development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca R. Hernandez ◽  
Sarah M. Jordaan ◽  
Ben Kaldunski ◽  
Naresh Kumar

Energy development improves quality of life for humans, but also incurs environmental consequences. A global energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy may mitigate climate change but may also undermine the capacity to achieve some or all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this study, we use an innovation systems approach to construct a comprehensive roadmap for solar and wind energy to anticipate and improve impacts of a transition to a low carbon future in a manner ensuring climate goals and SDGs are mutually reinforcing. Our multidisciplinary approach began with an assessment of public investments in renewable energy followed by a 2-day research prioritization workshop. Fifty-eight expert workshop participants identified six research themes that proactively address the environmental sustainability of renewable energy. Next, we identified linkages between the six research themes and all 17 SDGs. Finally, we conducted a scientiometric analysis to analyze the research maturity of these themes. The results of these efforts elucidated the limits of existing knowledge of renewable energy-SDG interactions, informing the development of a research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RD3) roadmap to a renewable energy future aligned with both climate goals and SDGs. The RD3 roadmap has been designed to systematically develop solutions for diverse actors and organizations. Overall, our findings confer a broad vision for a sustainable transition to renewables to minimize unintended environmental consequences while supporting interoperability among actors particularly poised to influence its magnitude and direction.


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