New announcements from the Indian government bode well for clean energy in the world's second most populous country.
In a budget speech delivered on Saturday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that India plans to quadruple its renewable energy capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022.
Jaitley also said the nation will double its tax on coal, citing a need to "find a balance between taxing pollution and the price of power," as India comes to terms with its need to reduce toxic air pollution and deliver meaningful commitments to fighting global warming as the UN climate change conference in Paris approaches.
India is the world's third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, but the new government, which swept into power in May, has set unprecedented targets for clean energy. These goals also include bringing electricity, clean drinking water, and a toilet to every household by 2022. Currently, about 400 million Indians live without access to electricity.
The new government's plan for renewables for 2022 includes the addition of 100 gigawatts of photovoltaic capacity, 60 gigawatts of wind power, 10 gigawatts of biomass and five gigawatts of hydroelectric projects.
This is an ambitious upgrade from India's currently installed renewable capacity of 34 gigawatts. To achieve these new targets the government would have to install 20,000 megawatts of renewable capacity per year.
Renwable companies such as Gamesa India, Suzlon Energy Ltd. and Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt. Ltd are amoung those expected to benefit from the increased renewable targets.
Suzlon Chairman Tulsi Tanti said:
We are confident that renewable energy in India will take off from here and witness exponential growth in the next few years
In addition to the plans to ramp up its renewable capacity, India will also be doubling its tax on coal to 200 rupees (3.2) a ton. The higher tax will lead to an increase of as much as 0.06 rupees in coal costs for every kilowatt hour of electricity.
Currently coal-fired power plants produce about 60% of India's electricity. Coal is among the cheapest sources of power for the country.
The increased taxes will be used to encourage investment in renewable energy as well as upgrading plants to increase fuel efficiencies.
India also has been gradually ending fuel subsidies and is using taxes on gasoline and diesel companies to pay for the construction of new roads.
The news of India's push towards renewables is arriving at the same time as the release of a new study which details the harmful health effects of fossil fuels on the country's population.
The new study, published in "Economic & Political Weekly", estimates that 99.5% of India's 1.2 billion people are breathing air that is polluted above safe levels. The study estimated that polluted air is cutting 660 million lives short by about three years each in the country.
The research looked into how air pollution from fossil fuels slows growth, causing people to die prematurely.
The study also borrows for the authors' previous work in China, where they found that for every 100 microgram of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) life expectancy was shown to drop by three years. This tiny particulate matter is small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and is major health concern globally.
India sets permissible levels for PM2.5 at 40 micrograms per cubic metre. This is twice the World Health Organization's safe level. In Delhi, the levels of PM2.5 are around 200, far exceeding the safe limit.
In addition to coal plants, another source of dangerous air pollution comes from vehicular exhaust. India's vehicle population has grown from 20 million in 1991 to 140 million in 2011, and is expected to touch 400 million by 2030.
In India, vehicle fuel standards remain far below western norms and existing regulations often are ignored. Dangerous levels of carcinogenic toxins from vehicular exhaust have been found in road dust in the country.
A report from The Energy and Resources Institute, Delhi, University of California, San Diego, and the California Air Resources Board warns that unless there is some control on vehicle numbers and modification of fuel and emission standards, PM2.5 will increase by a factor of three, while nitrous oxide emissions will rise by a factor of five.
