The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) which is helping the spread of renewable energy all over India is located in Delhi, and besides it is our national capital. So, what is happening on the renewable energy front in our national capital?
Much like other states, electricity shortage is an issue in Delhi as well, especially during summers. Won't it be a good idea to fight electricity shortages through increases in renewable energy capacity?
Well, it seems, the Delhi Government did consider a solar rooftop policy which allows residents/private companies to invest in solar panels on their roofs and sell excess power back to the electricity suppliers, but this solar rooftop scheme was abandoned. While states like Kerala are aggressively executing rooftop solar schemes (assisted by MNRE), Delhi's reluctance to go ahead with a similar scheme (in spite of the possible assistance from MNRE) is a questionable strategy.
While other states like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh are aggressively pursuing larger solar energy projects, executing such projects might be difficult in Delhi due to the space constraints. This is the reason why rooftop solar project could have been considered more seriously (well, there is still time).
While the Government of Delhi has implemented a few renewable energy initiatives like Renewable Energy Assisted Pump (REAP) which is a scheme that promotes utilization of electricity generated by solar panels to pump water, Greenpeace feels that the Government should do more on the renewable energy front instead of being over dependent on the energy generated from coal plants, which are struggling to meet the electricity demand, primarily due to constantly increasing cost of coal.
BSES has initiated an innovative crowd-sourcing concept called, 'My Cool Idea', which enables citizens to share their ideas to save electricity and hence learn from each other. They have also been publicizing the amount of electricity saved due to Earth Hour in their website, in order to encourage citizens to save even more.
Besides, Delhi Government has also subsidized the cost of Mahindra Reva e20 by up to 15% (on capital), announced a VAT refund of 12.5% and slashed the road-tax into half (when compared to other cars). As you might be aware, Mahindra Reva e20 is the electric car that can (also) run using electricity generated by renewable sources like solar panels, micro wind turbines, etc.
While some good things have been happening on the renewable energy front, Delhi can surely do more. Why not come up with an aggressive scheme to promote renewable energy now, especially since the state/central govt. polls are nearing? A small gesture to promote clean-energy might give the Government a huge image-boost in the minds of the public. Why not set an example for renewable energy adoption that the entire nation can follow?
Delhi, are you ready??
