The recent electricity grid failure and severe power shortage due to rising electricity demand is a constant reminder that coal and other fossil fuels have no future, according to Greenpeace-India senior energy campaigner Abhishek Pratap.

Addressing a programme to launch the second edition of Indian Energy Revolution in New Delhi on Friday (November 16), Pratap said, “Fossil fuel and its collateral damage is a heavy price to pay, without any guarantee to meet the growing demand.”

India needs a more consolidated plan to use alternative forms of energy to reduce its dependence on fossil fuel, as also to reduce energy expenditure, says the report.

Renewable energy will also help India reduce its carbon footprint and stay within the global carbon emission limits. If renewable energy is used, the report stresses, CO2 emission per capita will go down from 1.4 to 0.3 tonne by 2050.

To achieve this, India is urged to set up an aggregate generation based national renewable energy target of at least 20 percent by 2020, as also escalate renewable energy purchase obligation (or RPO) domestically.

According to the report, India needs to prioritise decentralised renewable energy infrastructure for rural household electrification. It says half the financial allocations under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidhyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), the flagship national rural electrification programme, should be earmarked for off-grid or grid-interactive renewable energy projects.

Besides, these policies need to be strictly monitored for better results, the report points out.

According to the report, 92 percent of India’s energy infrastructure will be based on renewable energy sources like solar (photovoltaic and concentrated solar power), wind (onshore and offshore) and geothermal energy by 2050. It also states that a significant increase in the use of renewable energy and efficiency in energy use will enable India to save around one-fourth of its energy expenditure.

“India is one of the most dynamic markets for wind energy in the world today. The reference target for wind power of 15,000 MW in the 12th Plan period (April 2012 to March 2017) should be easily reached, and much more could be achieved with stable, long-term support policies, ideally in the context of a National Renewable Energy law,” Steve Sawyer, secretary general, Global Wind Energy Council, said on the occasion.

“This would send a clear signal to investors about the government’s vision for the scope and potential of wind power, and other renewable energy technologies.”

The report indicates massive savings in energy expenditure and proposes that the average renewable energy investment per year will be close to Rs 6.10 lakh crore between 2011 and 2050. It says the total average annual investment in fossil power to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore will be offset through the growth of renewable energy. This will ensure stability in the pricing of electricity generation, which will remain at Rs 3.70 per unit by 2050, the report highlights.

To give people the incentive to move to renewable energy, India needs a lending body, a renewable energy collateral fund and a public-private investment on research and development to further reduce its cost, according to the report.

India’s renewable energy industry employs 2 lakh people at present, and that can rise 14 times by 2030 if guidelines of the Energy Revolution report are followed, experts said.

Sven Teske, senior energy expert from Greenpeace International, said: “With a consistent and long-term renewable energy policy framework, India could build a local renewable energy industry with an annual turnover of over Rs 54,000 crore, creating up to 24 lakh jobs by 2020. These investments in new renewable power plants will lead to cost savings on fuel by paying back the overall investments between now and 2050 two times over.”

But the report warns of critical barriers toward development and deployment of renewable energy in India, which are market-oriented, perception-related, technology-biased and political in nature. To overcome these barriers, the report states, India should ensure appropriate policy reforms at regulatory and market levels.

Read the full Energy Revolution report.