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Renewable Energy

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Dictionary meaning of renewable energy includes any naturally occurring, theoretically inexhaustible source of energy such as biomass, solar, wind, tidal, wave, and hydroelectric power that is not derived from fossil or nuclear fuel. Renewable energy is the energy sourced from natural resources that can be constantly replenished.

International Energy Agency (IEA) gives a more workable definition of renewable energy as ‘energy that is derived from natural processes (e.g. sunlight and wind) that are replenished at a higher rate than they are consumed’. It identifies the following six different kinds of renewable energy:


Definition of Renewable Energy in India: Variations from the global use of the term

In India, big hydel projects (which involve construction of big dams) are excluded from the definition of renewable energy. Instead, the definition of renewable includes "small hydro power" projects. Hydro projects up to 25 MW capacity are categorized as Small Hydro Power (SHP) projects in India[1]. Further, SHPs are sub classified as: Micro Hydro (Up to 100 kW), Mini Hydro (101 to 2000 kW) and Small Hydro (2001 to 25000 kW (25 MW) projects.

The small hydro projects normally do not encounter the problems associated with large hydro projects such as construction of dams, deforestation and resettlement. They are generally ‘run-of-river’ projects with no dam or water storage. The projects have the potential to meet power requirements of remote and isolated areas. These plants have long useful life and the generation cost is considered almost inflation free.

The major components of currently running Renewable Energy programmes in India are

a) Biomass Power Generation

b) Biogas Programme


a) Concentrated Solar Cookers & Concentrated Heating/Cooling Systems

b) Domestic Solar Water Heater

c) Grid Connected Solar Roof-Top Systems

d) Off-grid Solar Applications



At present, Hybrid systems, which are a combination of two different renewable energy technologies or a combination of renewable energy technology and conventional technologies are not treated under "Renewable Energy" in India. However, a proposed draft National Renewable Energy Act had proposed to include hybrid systems under renewable component. As per the draft Act, Hybrid Systems is defined as "any power or energy generation / conversion facility which makes use of two or more types of technologies utilizing both conventional and/or renewable energy resources, such as, but not limited to, integrated solar-wind systems, biomass/fossil-fuel systems, hydro/fossil-fuel systems, integrated solar/biomass systems, integrated wind/solar/biomass systems, with a minimum of percentage of total electricity/energy output provided by the Renewable Energy component of the system, as may be notified by the Ministry from time to time".

The draft Act also proposed to define Renewable Energy (RE) sources to mean energy derived from non-depleting resources and included the following sources-

i.Wind ii. Solar radiation; iii. Mini hydro (and not the entire small hydro projects); iv. Biomass; v. Biofuels; vi. Landfill & Sewage gas; vii. Municipal solid waste; viii. Industrial waste; ix. Geothermal energy; x. Ocean energy; xi. Any other energy source, as may be notified by the Ministry; and xii. Hybrids of above sources


In this definition,


The above definition does not insist on the "naturally occurring status" of renewable energy.

In short, while renewable energy is generally a much talked about term, what goes in as its components, varies from nation to nation. In most countries it would include non-natural sources like man-made waste, even though the general perception around the term is on natural resources based energy. Some countries include only natural sources, including big hydel projects, as renewable sources. One characteristic which is agreed upon is its replenishing status, even though for some sources replenishing rate is not as fast as the rate at which it is consumed. Further, replenishing ability also varies from country to country depending on the source and its abundance in that locality.


Data

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the nodal Ministry of the Government of India for all matters relating to new and renewable energy. MNRE is also involved with exploring Hydrogen Energy (but this is only at a research phase now. Generally this is not included under the category of ‘renewables’ globally. Another ‘new’ energy source ‘gas hydrate’, however, is dealt with in Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas).

The importance of renewable energy sources in the transition to a sustainable energy base was first recognized in the early 1970s. At the Government level, political commitment to renewable energy manifested itself in the establishment of the first Department of Non-Conventional Energy Sources in 1982, which was then upgraded to a full-fledged Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) in 1992. This Department was subsequently renamed as Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). (This is reportedly the first and perhaps the only such Ministry in the world as per the Strategic Plan for New and Renewable Energy Sector for the Period 2011-17 unveiled in February 2011.) For this reason, renewable energy for a great period was known as non-conventional energy in India.

IREEED is a publicly available database that is a repository of all central and state government policies, incentives, and programmes related to renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Indian State Level Basic Environmental Information Database (ISBEID) provides the time series data on production of renewable energy across various states.

Also see Energy Statistics published yearly by Central Statistical Organization (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.


1. FAQ of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy


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