eBook on energy for sustainable development released

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 4

An eBook titled “Energy for Sustainable Development” was released by Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies here recently. The eBook contains 30 papers contributed by research scholars with expertise in diverse fields in India and abroad. The institute plans to release three more eBooks this year.

Vice-Chancellor, Chandigarh University, Mohali, Dr Rajinder Singh Bawa, released the eBook. In his address, he cautioned that current demographic, economic, social, and technological trends – if not counterbalanced by strong new government policies – posed major challenges to the long-term sustainability of the global energy system.

Nearly half of the increase in global primary energy use goes to generating electricity and one-fifth (almost entirely in the form of oil based fuels) to meet transport needs, he added. He said growth in energy use and emissions was expected to be particularly marked in some sectors.

The sectoral contributors to growth in energy consumption are expected to be power generation (35 per cent), industry (15 per cent), transport (12 per cent) and buildings (6 per cent) in developing countries, followed by power generation (11 per cent) and transport (6 per cent) in OECD countries.

Improving efficiency and reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions should receive early attention in these high growth areas.

It is predicted that the global energy mix will remain fairly stable and dominated by fossil fuels till 2030 due to size and inertia of the energy system and the inability to change it quickly.

In his introductory remarks, the director of the institute, Dr Gursharan Singh Kainth, said renewable energy had the capacity to drive economic development if required attention was given to it.

He said renewable energy sources include solar, wind, biomass, hydropower, geothermal, ocean waves and tides. Final energies of electricity, fuel and heat required to drive the economy can be produced from appropriate sources of renewable energy without much negative effects on the environment when compared to fossil energy sources.

“Growth demands energy. It is no wonder that India—with an economy expected to grow at over 5 per cent a year for the next twenty-five years—has developed a ravenous appetite for energy.

India is the world’s fifth largest consumer of energy, and by 2030 it is expected to become the third largest, overtaking Japan and Russia,” he added.

“Fortunately, India is endowed with renewable energy sources of solar, wind, hydro, biomass, which are the most viable,” said Dr Kainth.