India has a year in science
Changing the mix: How India is taking advantage of its solar resources to become a global leader in solar power by 2030 and by 2070
The government is taking advantage of India’s solar resources. The national solar mission was launched in 2010 to make the nation a global leader in solar energy, with a goal of installing 100 gigawatts of grid-linked solar power capacity by 2022. It hadn’t quite hit that target by November 2022, but the government has invested heavily in schemes to get there.
But in 2021, the government announced plans to generate 50% of its electricity from renewables by 2030 and to cut its emissions to net zero by 2070 (see ‘Changing the mix’). It would be an important change for a nation that is the third-highest global emitter of carbon dioxide — albeit one of the lowest emitters per capita. Even so, the independent scientific organization Climate Action Tracker considers these targets to be ‘critically insufficient’ and in line with 4 °C of global warming by 2100.
The country has continued economic growth that has caused electricity demand to increase by 10% a year over the course of eight years.
The institute for energy economics and financial analysis is an international think-tank that is focused on environmental and economic issues.
Investment in Wind Turbines: Boosting Wind Power Through Turbine Manufacturing and Power Pumps for the Subcontinent [Renewable energy for the subcontinent]
The investment goes further. The Solar Park scheme gives financial support up to 30% of the project costs and other incentives, like helping with infrastructure and grid connections, to encourage the building of solar parks of 500megawatt or larger.
Another initiative is designed to increase the number of grid-connected rooftop solar installations, with the goal of installing 40 gigawatts of capacity by 2026. These incentives target both individual home-owners and electricity distributors.
There is also a scheme for farmers in which the state and the national government will subsidize up to 90% of the cost of installing solar-powered water pumps. The plan is to reduce diesel generator–base pump system so that oil consumption can be reduced throughout the country. “The farmer can also generate some additional electricity and sell it to the grid.”
This success in turbine manufacturing is helping to boost wind power by providing almost a one-stop shop for setting up wind farms, in which turbine manufacturers procure the land and arrange the transmission infrastructure. Jayasurya says that the investors can ask for the turbine and it’s plug-and-play.
Source: Renewable energy for the subcontinent
Shaking the World: How to go about it? The case of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander: Energy storage, flow batteries and mechanical storage
India’s Ministry of Power has released a report in August of 2023 that emphasizes the importance of energy storage to the country achieving 50% of it’s energy from renewable sources by 2030. This will require at most 300 gigawatt-hours of storage by 2030. Most of it will probably come from either pumped hydro power or lithium-ion batteries, Walawalker says.
Conventional lead–acid batteries have provided a buffer against peak price surges in homes and offices. But the rise of renewable energy has shifted the focus to larger and more-advanced energy-storage technologies, such as lithium-ion batteries, flow batteries, mechanical storage and forms of gravity storage, such as pumped hydro power.
The government is trying to be technology neutral when it comes to supporting energy storage and the two leading technologies are very different, says Walawalker. The lifespan of pumped hydro storage projects is typically 25 to 30 years, but due to environmental and social challenges they can take a long time to get approved. Long-term storage can be provided with only short-term batteries, which can be measured in days or even hours.
Mahatma Gandhi, a social reformer and non-violent leader of India’s freedom movement, once said: “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” In August this year, the Chandrayaan-3 lander delicately extended its legs, bounced once, twice and settled near the lunar south pole. The Moon shook a little.
India’s Year in Science: Science, Technology, and the Health Problem of the 21st Century. Nature and the Challenges of Global Warming
By then, 2023 was already a momentous year for India. It overtook China in April to become the world’s most populous nation with over one billion inhabitants. It is home to more than one in six of the world’s people.
In September, at a meeting in New Delhi of the G20 group of the world’s biggest economies, speculation around plans to rename the country Bhārat, its name in several Indian languages, began in earnest.
Whatever the name, India faces many challenges. This year was marked by flash floods and droughts, as well as major infrastructure failures and rising religious conflict. It is a diverse country preparing to take the next steps in its economic and social development. In this Spotlight, Nature explores how science and technology can support that development.
Gautam I. Menon tells us how the story of water is the story of India’s development. We meet Solar physicist Yoshita Baruah, who is researching a different kind of storm to those exacerbated by global warming.
India is one of many nations that is facing a crisis due to over-prescription of antibiotics. We report on how Indian researchers are tackling this and other public-health problems.
Source: India’s year in science
Workplace mental health: an India’s happiest strength and one of the most important tools for improving the human-psyches interaction
The nation’s greatest strength is its people. We explore some of the schemes the government has introduced to lure back the brilliant minds who have already left and to incentivize others to stay. The solution could be to increase the number of entrepreneurs.
India is one of many countries to be concerned about workplace mental health. We talked to Annapoorna P. K. about her work on the mental health of Indian scientists.
