Due to certain personal engagements, there had to
be an inevitable long dissociation from my end in reference to my previous post
on bagasse, titled “Bagasse an Alternative Fuel? Why not!” We ended then with a
continuance parameter viz. ‘something beyond factor’. Hence, today let us probe
into the ever available vintage formula of REGULATION – to enable transition
from the usual commercial fuel usage to renewable energy usage, which although
may seemingly look to be effective and simple? I think the conclusion below
might lead to another side of this ‘something beyond factor’ coin as you read
on.
Abstract
In India, the concept of energy as ‘Shakti’ has
been at the focus of philosophic, scientific and metaphysical thought from time
immemorial. The conventional energy sources like fossil fuels, crude oil,
natural gas, etc. have been dwindling fast. There has been every necessity of
going for renewable resources for energy. The pattern of energy consumption in
India has been recorded to be about 56.5% of total energy from the commercial
sources like coal, oil, electricity and remaining 43.5% from non - commercial
energy. The most efficient utilization of the non - commercial energy such as
fire wood, charcoal, agricultural residues, vegetable wastes, cow dung, urban
and industrial wastes, forest residues have seemed possible when they are
converted to biomass by appropriate technologies. The non - commercial biomass
fuels being the main sources of energy available in the rural areas and 80% (assumingly)
of our population in these villages have been dependent on it, since ages. But,
the availability of biomass in India which have been at 540 million tons per
year and with about 70 - 75% used as fodder, fuel for domestic cooking and
other economic purposes, only a mere 140 million tones of usable agro, industrial
and agricultural residues was available for power generation as against the
power generation via. the dwindling commercial fuels.
The post gives an overview on regulations adopted as a route for the development
of such a low entropy technology.
Introduction
Low entropy technology
Energy is defined
as the capacity to do work. But by the very processes of doing work, the
potential ability of the system always decreases and its inability increases. Say,
a system with unit coal burns, produces heat that converts water to steam which
does useful work along with quiet a considerable amount of warming the
surrounding and finally becomes dust. This incremental increase in surrounding
temperature in reality through so many years that reflects as inability for extracting
useful work could be measured by the term ‘entropy’ which thereby also
increases always. This concept of an “always increasing” quantity puts a kind
of unidirectional arrow as unidirectional aspect of time. No matter what one does,
i.e. something wrong like burn more and more fuel to achieve the useful work
output or something very right like employ better system materials to achieve
the useful work output (refer my post on - Need of alternative materials for steam turbine
blades instead of conventional blade materials) we still find time (t) always
increases, hence entropy (s) always increases. It further implies that in the universe,
systems with no constraints go to states of greater disorder i.e. to the states
of greater entropy. Higher the entropy of the universe, higher would be the
illness of the universe. If no constraints were to be applied, then the entropy
of the universe would grow and grow till it finds its own end. Irrespective of
production, population or pollution (3P’s), whether P increases or decreases
i.e. no matter (dP/dt) is positive or negative, entropy (s) always increases
i.e. (ds/dt) would be always be positive as from [1].
Thus, it becomes doubtful
whether our planet would still be a life supporting system by the way man has
been using his habitat ‘Mother Earth’ as has been evident by the coin or money
economy which being basically a high entropy economy that helps creates
inflation and degrades thermodynamic capital spinning man to spend and
accelerate the end.
Biomass statistics
The term biomass usually
refers to all organic matter generated through photosynthesis and other
biological processes. The ultimate source of this renewable biomass is the
inexhaustible solar energy which gets captured by plants through
photosynthesis. It includes both terrestrial as well as aquatic matter such as
wood, herbaceous plants, algae, aquatic plants and residues like straw, husks,
corncobs, cow dung, saw-dust, wood shavings and other wastes like disposable
garbage, night soil, sewage solids, industrial refuse, etc. In spite of all
these biomass resources available in India, they remain unutilized to their
fullest potential. In fact, a large amount of them are disposed off, by burning
in open fields causing serious air pollution when they could be used to meet a
variety of energy needs including generating electricity, heating homes,
fuelling vehicles and providing process heat for industrial facilities as in
[3].
India
is a tropical country blessed with sunshine and rains and thus offers an ideal
environment for Biomass production. Further, the vast agricultural potential
also makes available huge agro - residues to meet the energy needs. With an
estimated production of about 460 million tonnes of agricultural waste every
year, biomass has been capable of supplementing the coal to the tune of about
260 million tonnes resulting in a saving of about Rs.250 billion, every year as
from [3].
TABLE1 THE ESTIMATED POTENTIALS OF BIOMASS BASED
RENEWABLE ENERGY OPTIONS IN INDIA
Out
of 16000MW of Biomass energy, 866MW of Biomass power (Agro residues) has been
added to the grid and 32MW of Biomass Power/Cogen. (Non-bagasse) has been
installed as off - grid/distributed renewable power as on 31-03-2010. Under
decentralized energy system, 42.40 lakh of Family type biogas plant have been
installed as on 31-03-2010 thereby providing the benefit of clean cooking and
lighting fuel to over 4.2 million rural households. The perspective plan of
MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) for grid - interactive renewable
power by the end of 13th plan i.e. by 2022 is to add 2100MW of bio
power during 11th plan and 4363MW during 12th &13th
plan as detailed below at Table2.
TABLE2 PERSPECTIVE PLAN for BIOMASS POWER by
2022
Regulation as the route to development of renewables
The Government of
India initiated studies related to non-conventional energy in the early 1970’s.
These were essentially investigative and R&D in nature. After formation of
the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES, now MNRE- Ministry of
New and Renewable Energy) and the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency
Ltd. (IREDA) in the 1980’s at the central level and the Energy Development
Agencies at the state level, RE (Renewable Energy) power production business
came into being. While the Ministry of Power had taken adequate measures to
address the regulatory requirements of the conventional power generating
plants, RE power regulation related issues received due attention only after
formation of the electricity regulatory commissions.
RE Guidelines by the Ministry of Non-Conventional
Energy Sources, 1993 - 94
MNES issued the
first set of promotional policies in 1993 - 94 for development of RE which made
private sector investments in the RE market viable. The salient features of the
guidelines could be outlined as from [2] seconded by the various measures
undertaken by the government:
·
Energy buyback
from the RE plants at the rate of Rs.2.25/kWh with 5% annual escalation by the
DISCOM.
·
100% accelerated
depreciation in the first year.
·
Section 80 IA
benefits (tax free income from energy sales, Income Tax Act).
·
Debt at lower
interest rates from IREDA.
·
Capital subsidy.
·
Sales tax benefit
up to 100% of the capital cost invested on the asset (wind turbines).
·
Minimal wheeling
and banking charges for captive and party sale, etc.
Various promotional policies
Electricity
Act (EA), 2003:
·
Section 3:
·
Section 86(1)(e):
·
Section 61(h):
National
Electricity Policy (NEP), 2005:
·
Section 5.12.1
·
Section 5.12.2
National
Tariff Policy (NTP), 2006:
National
Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), 2008:
FOR
Report on ‘Policies on Renewables’, 2008:
CERC
Regulations on Renewable Energy, 2009
Results and discussions
While
solar power was to be the biggest contributor to growth of renewable power; sectors
like biomass, biodiesel, wave and tidal power, geothermal energy, small
hydropower, etc. would also contribute significantly to provide a
minimum of 50% of the world’s electricity by 2050, if not more. There may
arise possibilities of major technological breakthroughs in various renewable
energy technologies. Considering all these, it was time to quickly develop a
new energy policy, in tune with the times ushering social, economic and environmental sustainability bearing in mind
the above mentioned target. After the publication of the National Action Plan
on Climate Change (NAPCC), this need has had become more urgent.
The NAPCC and IEP in conflict
The
NAPCC stipulated that a dynamic minimum renewable purchase target of 5 percent
of total grid purchase in 2009 - 10 being prescribed and the same should
increase by 1 percent each year for 10 years. That means by 2020, we should be
producing 15 percent of our electricity from renewable sources (other than
large hydro). This provision comes into direct conflict with the IEP
(Integrated Energy Policy) which visualises only 5 percent renewable
penetration by 2032. Since both documents have been approved by the cabinet, it
was necessary to overhaul the IEP to bring it in tune with the latest policy of
the government, as enunciated in the NAPCC as from [2].
Table
3 IEP— Generation Capacities by 2031
- 32
The
best - case scenario in IEP (scenario 11) is given in Table 3 with cumulative
generation capacities of different sources and the load factors for each
technology by the year 2031-32. Even though the installed capacity of
renewables would be 94,541 MW, due to low plant load factor, their contribution
to energy generation would be only around 5%.
Table
4 Required RE Capacity Addition to
meet NAPCC Target by 2020
Conclusion
Appropriate
technology -- the rural technology and present scientific development seems to
be directed towards it throughout the world because it represents a technology
of low entropy production that creates quality life but a slow life. The word appropriate
in “Appropriate Technology” does imply certain constraints and restraints on
the number and nature of parameters behind the technology which does not allow
the technology to accelerate the entropy production. With a load of nearly a
billion people by the turn of this century in this country, what technology we
adopt to get the desired level of production of basic commodities for the
nation. The immediate answer in the present condition ought to be Rural
Technology that is Appropriate Technology --- science of low entropy
production. Such a technology when developed which is independent of the kind
of coin or economy prevalent in the country because the laws of nature are
universal and do not depend on this or that economy. A low entropy scientific
development could last the present resources for a longer time and provide a
comfortable home for living. Therefore “Appropriate Technology” --- which is
the use of natural resources like wind, sun, water, biomass for fulfilling the
needs of people. A lower standard of living but a better standard of life ---
life in low entropy region --- would also help nature to permit the human
species a longer lease of life to enjoy the fragrance of flowers, the songs of
birds and warmth of the winter sun for many more years to come. In addition to
this, entropy is not only real and universal but a unique quantity. Unique in
the sense that except this one law (entropy increases only) virtually all laws
of science that man discovered till today have fallen to pieces. The vital need
is that for a reawakening today on the importance and implications of law of entropy
for man’s well being tomorrow as from [1].
Hence,
we need to think of ‘development’ and not growth per se. ‘Development’ has been
defined by Herman Daly as “qualitative improvement” in the living conditions of
all citizens. “Growth for the sake of
growth is the ideology of the cancer cell”. What emerges from the above
analysis is that an energy economy based on renewables is possible.
Technological solutions like storage are emerging to tackle infirmity. Our true
energy independence depends on harnessing renewable sources of energy including
biomass. To facilitate this much needed transition, a whole host of policy,
regulatory, legal and institution building measures need to be adopted. Some of
them may include:
·
Enactment of a
comprehensive RE law,
·
Dynamic and
enforceable renewable portfolio standards,
·
Priority sector
lending status for RE,
·
Removal of
subsidies for fossil fuels,
·
Implementation of
REC’s and their innovative development,
·
Institution
building across-the-board to aid in transition,
·
Internalising the
cost of externalities of conventional power in its pricing, etc.
Any delay in
seriously addressing the energy transition would be catastrophic for our future
sustainable development. But here lies the catch i.e. the other side of the
coin named ‘something beyond factor’. Would an individual accustomed to the
comforts of the commercial fuel usage be ready to accept such a transition via.
above mentioned commercial fuel usage regulations and RE promotional policies?
Given an opportunity, we know psychologically a person knowingly /would by
instinct go for selecting coal (non-renewable energy source) rather than
bagasse (renewable energy source) as economic & technical advantages of the
former offsets the latter. Leaving behind the comforts and accepting the
hardship and slow life presented by Appropriate Technology would be highly
questionable. So, await for my next post titled “Appropriate Technology: An Overview
Questioning Its Feasible Blend With Conventional Fuel Adapted Society” and
discuss the avenues available then for the development of RE in a true sense.
References
[1]
A Course in Thermal Engineering by S.
Domkundwar, Dr. C.P Kothandaraman, A.V Domkundwar , 5th revised
& enlarged edition; Reprint 2005,
Dhanpat Rai & Co. (P) Ltd., New Delhi, pp3.30 – 3.34
[2]
World Institute of Sustainable Energy;
Green Energy, Regulation as the route to
development of Renewables, Vol.6 No.1, Printed and Published by WISE, Pune,
Jan-Feb 2010 Edition, pp15, 27-30, 35, 59-61
[3]
Water and Energy International (Renewable
Energy Section), Vol.67 No.4, Central Board of Irrigation and Power, New
Delhi, June 2010 Edition, pp30-38
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