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Kerala must plan switchover to 100% Renewable Energy

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Kerala must plan for a transition to 100 percent renewable energy for sustainable development and energy security.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">The State has meager fossil fuel resources and most of the hydro potential is already harnessed, says G.M. Pillai, Founder Director General of Pune based World Institute of Sustainable Energy.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial"><strong>Report Released</strong></span></span></span><br /> <span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">He was here to attend a function to officially release &lsquo;The Energy Report Kerala&rsquo; brought out by the Institute in partnership with WWF-India.&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">The report maps energy requirements up to 2050 in order to assess the feasibility of meeting 100 percent of the energy demand through renewable resources.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Emissions from coal or gas&nbsp;based power projects may adversely affect both the forests and the fragile marine ecosystems and could also pose a public health hazard.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">Given such constraints, the State faces a threat to its energy security, Pillai said. On the other hand, most renewable energy technologies have low environmental impacts.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The Energy Report assesses that the State has a potential for 60,000 MW in renewable energy across multiple sources.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial"><strong>Alternate Energy</strong></span></span></span><br /> <span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">If only the State manages to convert at least 20 percent, it could rest assured of what Pillai described as orderly development and sustainable future.&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">Alternate energy is a misnomer, according to him. What we would like to call as &lsquo;alternate&rsquo; will turn out to be the &lsquo;only&rsquo; choice, going forward.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">It has been acknowledged that changeover from an existing regime of energy consumption to the next happens in cycles of 30 years.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">This is why the report looked at the likely scenario emerging in 2050, Pillai explained. &ldquo;We need to start planning right now,&rdquo; he said.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">According to the Report, the largest potential among individual sources of renewable energy is in rooftop photovoltaic in which Kerala has announced major initiatives.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">Rooftop PV (domestic, or flats and individual dwelling units) has a potential of 13,079 MW and rooftop PV (institutional, or offices and public institutions) has 18,066 MW.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The next big source is offshore wind (13,447 MW), but this has not been tried out in the country; it is capital intensive and therefore generates costly power.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">But it is a major resource in Europe, with the UK and Denmark topping the list in terms of generation.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has appreciated the prospects in India and is expected to come out with a policy on offshore wind energy by March, Pillai said.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">Grid tied solar PV over wasteland (4,273 MW) and grassland (2,543 MW), too, are dependable resources. Floating PV panels (in rivers, reservoirs: 3,845 MW) are another.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Source-On Request</span></span></span></p>