Since energy supply will be the basis for the future economic and social development, there was the need to develop cost effective renewable energy technologies, Dr Alagusundaram, DDG (Agri Engineering), Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) said today.
"Renewable systems are the only energy generating systems which have the combined benefits of renewability, decentralization and availability on demand without need for separate storage", Alagusundaram said.
At present total renewable energy based power generation in India was 28,000 MW out of total generation of 2,30,000 MW, which worked out to be 12.17 per cent only, he said inaugurating the 21-day "Winter School for renewable energy as option for mitigating climate change", at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
Power requirement in Tamil Nadu was more than 12,000 MW as against the supply of about 10,000 MW and there existed a potential for exploitation to the order of 80,000 MW, he said, quoting ministry of New and Renewable Energy sources.
India's energy consumption has been increasing at one of the fastest rates in the world due to population growth and economic development. Commercial primary energy consumption has grown by about 700 per cent in the last four decades, he said.
The per capita consumption was to the order of 1,000 kWh per annum and driven by the rising population, expanding economy and a quest for improved quality of life, energy usage in India was expected to grow at a exponential rate,he said, adding, increase in population, accompanied by rapid urbanization and industrialization led to increased use of fossil fuels.
Among the different renewable energy sources, wind energy was currently making a significant contribution to the installed capacity of power generation and was emerging as a competitive option, Alagusundaram added.
