 "Why India's role in shaping a sustainable energy future is a beacon of cooperation")
In these complex geo-political challenges on renewable energy, some of the Indian initiatives like the International Solar Alliance (ISA), Global Bio-Fuel Alliances, and the initiative on Green Hydrogen provide the base for the fruition of global cooperation in the domain of renewable energy sector which will ensure energy justice globally.
India’s initiative on solar energy
Since 2010, India has constantly emphasized solar energy as an important renewable energy source. In this regard, it may be highlighted here that India took the lead in terms of providing an institutional framework to harness solar energy at the global level. The same took place when the International Solar Alliance(ISA) came up in November 2015 in the aftermath of the Paris Agreement at the joint initiative of India and France.
As the Framework of the Agreement emphasized “The ISA strives to develop and deploy cost-effective and transformational energy solutions powered by the sun to help member countries develop low-carbon growth trajectories, with particular focus on delivering impact in countries categorized as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS)”. To achieve the said goal, the ISA earmarked “USD 1,000 billion of investments in solar energy solutions by 2030”.
Since its inception in 2015, around 120 countries have joined the alliance, making it truly a global body for enhancing sustainable energy security at the same time addressing climate concerns. In recent years, looking at the potential of solar energy in the renewable sources of energy basket, the ISA has set a target of, as studies suggest,” 75,000 GW of solar energy with a market of 4 trillion dollars”, as disclosed by a report of ISA. As suggested by the above report, the solar energy industry will be $4 trillion by 2040. This shows the growth potential of this sector and its impact on ensuring energy equity and energy justice for the Global South countries. At the same time, the ISA, through its technological and financial assistance, will also help countries of the Global South to reduce their carbon footprint, thus helping them to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).
In this context, there is a need to highlight that India’s initiative to harness solar energy can be considered a gamechanger in the global energy market. It may be noted that even countries like Saudi Arabia, considered to be major exporters of oil, are now mulling to go for solar energy. The African countries discussed above are getting the necessary technological assistance to harness solar energy. It may be recalled here that at India’s initiative, the Global Solar Fund was created within the framework of ISA, in which, as reported, India contributed around $25 million as an initial corpus fund.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAs Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “We set up the International Solar Alliance and took the initiative to bring countries together under the vision of One World One Sun One Grid.” This reflects India’s commitment to providing clean energy security to the global community, thus mitigating the adversarial effect of climate change.
India’s role in strengthening biofuel energy sector
Along with ISA, another important Indian initiative is biofuel. This sector of energy is playing a catalytic role in the renewable energy sector at the global level. It has been observed that, like solar energy, biofuel can largely constitute an important source of energy because it can be harnessed easily and will reduce greenhouse emissions compared to fossil fuel. Like solar energy, it is cost-effective also. This can be understood from the fact that by relying on this indigenous source of energy, India can, to a significant extent, reduce the import of fossil fuels from the international market. To regulate the domestic bioethanol industries, the Government of India brought out the first systemic policy framework titled “National Policy on Biofuels -2018”.
The policy paper emphasized the fact that the “Government aims to undertake necessary interventions as and when required with respect to domestic production, storage and distribution of biofuels adopting a consultative approach by involving all stakeholders”. The policy paper has also emphasized “ensuring domestic raw material for biodiesel production is integral for long term success of this programme”. The same policy was amended in 2022 when the government brought additional changes to enhance biofuel production in India. Since ethanol is one of the major sources of bioenergy, the NITI Aayog, in cooperation with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, in its report titled Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India, 2020-2025, highlights that “Cereals, particularly maize, and Second Generation (2G) biofuels with suitable technological innovations offer the promise of a more environmentally benign alternative feedstock for the production of ethanol”.
One of the major factors that pushed bioethanol production in India is the easy availability of raw materials like maize and the waste agricultural products necessary to produce bioethanol. Emphasizing why bioethanol is going to be the major source of energy in the future energy basket of India, the IEA(International Energy Agency), in its study, highlighted that “India is now the world’s third-largest producer and consumer of ethanol thanks to nearly tripling production over the past five years. It has the potential to expand further with the right policies, keeping costs in check and securing sustainable feedstocks”. The IEA study is reflective of the progress made in harnessing bioenergy to meet energy security requirements. It may be recalled here that, as per the IEA study, India is the “third largest producer and consumer” of biofuel in the global market.
At the same time, India used its leadership in the biofuel sector by contributing to the creation of the Global Biofuel Alliance. It can be noted that the basic objective for initiating the Global Biofuel Alliance India was to provide cheap and effective energy to the global community. This is, in fact, consistent with energy justice as enshrined in the declaration of Climate Summit Agreements. As enshrined in the objective of the Global Biofuel Alliance, it aims “at facilitating cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, including in the transportation sector. It will place emphasis on strengthening markets, facilitating global biofuels trade, development of concrete policy lesson-sharing and provision of technical support for national biofuels programs worldwide”.
As stated, this alliance was part of India’s initiative under the G20 Presidency. The formal initiative for the Global Biofuel Alliance came up at the sideline of the G20 Summit that took place in New Delhi. At the sideline of the summit under the initiative of India, US and Brazil, considered the major producers of bioethanol, Argentina, Mauritius, Bangladesh, and UAE allied formally.
The significance of the alliance can be understood from its membership, where the Global North countries, such as the US and are also from the Global South, are making common efforts to harness biofuel as an alternative source of energy. In this context, India is playing the role of a “bridge” between the Global North and the Global South in harnessing this important energy source. The sustainable goals enshrined in the UN SDGs can also be realised through harnessing biofuel. Thus, this alliance can play a major role in harnessing biofuel through an institutional framework. Thus, the credit for forming the Alliance goes to India, which worked in cooperation with the developed and developing countries, as seen in the grouping to achieve the UN SDGs goals. The same is the case with green hydrogen, which is going to play a major role in securing future energy security.
India’s role in promoting green hydrogen
Another important initiative which India has launched in recent years at the global level is green hydrogen. The scientific community has acknowledged in recent years that green hydrogen is one of the most effective sources of energy and will help mitigate carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. One of the major advantages of green hydrogen is that the technology available to harness it is quite cheap and easily available, as studies suggest it can be stored without any cumbersome process. As has been observed by the International Energy Association 2023 report on Green Hydrogen, “low-emission hydrogen is a key opportunity for decarbonising sectors where emissions are hard to abate”. The report further added that “hydrogen-based fuels are expected to gain ground in the future due to their greater resource potential and life-cycle emissions reductions”.
Thus, understanding the significance of green hydrogen as a major source of energy Government of India has taken considerable steps in this regard. The most important step in this regard is the adoption of the National Green Hydrogen Mission. The basic objective of the National Green Hydrogen Mission is to augment green hydrogen “capacity[which] is likely to reach 5 MMT per annum, contributing to reduction in dependence on import of fossil fuels”.
Though the Green Hydrogen Mission got the approval of the Cabinet in January 2023, Prime Minister Modi, in his address to the nation on the rampant of Red Fort on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day celebration, announced the National Hydrogen Mission on 15 August 2021. In his address, Prime Minister Modi said, “We have to make India a Global Hub for Green Hydrogen Production and Export in the ‘Amrit Kaal’. This will not only help India to make a new progress in the field of energy self-reliance but will also become a new inspiration for Clean Energy Transition all over the world”.
Understanding the significance of Green Hydrogen, NITI Aayog in its Report titled Harnessing Green Hydrogen: Opportunities for Deep Decarbonisation in India highlighted that“ driven by the low cost of renewables in the country, India can still emerge as one of the most competitive sources for green hydrogen in the world”. To achieve this Government of India has launched a number of projects which include enhancing battery storage capacity as well as transporting the same to the market. Given the high potentiality of bioenergy, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, has earmarked “17,490 crore up to 2029-30”.
This shows the importance of green hydrogen in India’s future energy basket. India’s progress in harnessing green hydrogen aims to ensure both self-sufficiency in harnessing and, at the same time, boost the export potential in the external market. Understanding the future potentiality of green hydrogen, Germany has signed an agreement with India. For instance, the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force was signed in May 2022. Prior to that, India and the US signed the Hydrogen Task Force as its basic objective was to “serve as a forum for thought leaders to achieve affordable hydrogen solutions”. India has also signed a similar agreement with France for harnessing hydrogen. As reported, efforts are being made to export green hydrogen to many European countries. India’s closer partnership with the European countries was evident from the fact that in September 2022, the First EU-India Green Hydrogen Forum took place, where joint cooperation in green hydrogen was discussed at length.
This engagement with the EU gives India an upper hand in enhancing its presence in the EU’s energy market. Similarly, India is also mulling cooperation with Japan. If this happens, India is going to be the hub of green hydrogen in the near future. A report published by the US-based Belfar Centre, Harvard Kenny Centre, titled, India – The New Global Green Hydrogen Powerhouse?, predicts that “India to corner new green hydrogen markets connecting the Middle East, Europe, and other key countries in the Global South.”
One may recall that India has reached an agreement with Oman, UAE and Saudi Arabia to develop green hydrogen. By strengthening cooperation with these West Asian countries, India can secure a base in this region for exporting green hydrogen to the markets of Mediterranean countries. The proposed IMEC Corridor can also push India’s green hydrogen diplomacy in both Europe and West Asia.
The G20 Summit held in New Delhi discussed the importance of green hydrogen. The summit has also acknowledged the role played by India as president of the G20 Summit in highlighting the importance of green hydrogen energy. As the New Delhi G20 Summit Declaration underlined, “to build a sustainable and equitable global hydrogen ecosystem that benefits all nations”.
The summit declaration has also acknowledged India’s initiative to establish the Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre. It may be noted that this hydrogen innovation will be part of the International Solar Alliance. The basic objective of the Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre “is to provide a one-stop platform that consolidates and disseminates the latest advancements, insights, and resources related to green hydrogen”. Like the solar alliance, the Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre will address the concerns of the Global South countries by providing them with technology and other necessary support to ensure a sustainable energy transition. It can be stated that green hydrogen will also provide an alternative energy source to the Global South countries and help them find a smoother energy transition. This, in a way, also mitigates the adversarial effect of climate change.
A closer look at some of India’s initiatives concerning renewable energy demonstrates that in the near future, it can shape new discourses on global renewable energy rooted in the age-old Indian traditional ethos of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam “, which will benefit mankind.
Conclusion
The uncertainty associated with the global energy market and the issues of mitigating the adversarial effect of climate change will propel the need for more renewable energy in the form of green hydrogen, bio-fuel or solar energy. Even nuclear energy and wind energy can also play a vital role in securing energy security. By harnessing renewable energy sources at a mass scale, India is providing the necessary alternative to the fossil fuel-dominated global energy market.
One important aspect of India’s renewable energy sector is that in the near future, this sector will reduce India’s import of fossil fuels from the global market. India is also helping the Global South countries by providing technology and financial assistance to harness renewable energy. This, to a substantial extent, will address Global South countries’ energy concerns.
India is also providing new normative norms in the domain of global energy governance, which will address the concerns of Global South countries. By highlighting issues like greater technological diffusion, financial assistance to the Global South countries for harnessing renewable energy will certainly empower the Global South in the global negotiation on renewable energy. What is important to underline here is that India is advocating an inclusive global energy order in the domain of the renewable energy sector.
By initiating the formation of the International Solar Alliance, the Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre and the Global Bio-Fuel Alliance, India is giving a new direction to renewable energy regimes at the global level. Similarly, India is also providing the necessary leadership to the Global South countries at various global forums like G20 and climate summits by articulating the demand of the Global South.
The author teaches at the School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.
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