K. Sharma

North Point Academy, India

Title: Clean energy for climate justice: with special reference to India

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Biography

Dr K. Sharma academically and professionally a France-trained geoscientist/environmentalist, he is now teaching the subject of Environmental Science to a variety of students hailing from Nepal, Korea, Thailand, Bangladesh, and India in an international school at Dehradun, India. He has been teaching India’s perceptions, positions, policies and possibilities on the climate change. He has authored a book “Caring for the Environment” for the benefit of students. He has published more than 30 research papers in India and abroad. He is a member of several Professional and Academic Associations.

Abstract

India is Asia's third-biggest economy which relies on coal for around 60 percent of its total electricity generation and fossil fuel remains a vital element in the nation's long-term energy strategy. Such electric generation is the principal source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The rising concentrations of anthropogenically-produced greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere are leading to changes in the climate. In this context, it is imperative to develop and promote alternative clean energy sources that can lead to the sustainability of the energy–environment system. India is, therefore, making a transition from petroleum-based energy systems to one based on renewable resources by reducing the emissions intensity of the economy by 33–35 percent below 2005 levels; to have 40 percent of installed electric power from non-fossil-based energy resources by 2030 and, to create an additional (cumulative) carbon sink of 2.5-3 GtCO2e by 2030 through additional forest and tree cover to decrease reliance on depleting reserves of fossil fuels and to combat climate change. The country’s installed Renewable Energy capacity stands at 150.54 GW (solar: 48.55 GW, wind: 40.03 GW, Small hydro Power: 4.83, Bio-power: 10.62, Large Hydro: 46.51 GW) as of 30th Nov. 2022 while its nuclear energy based installed electricity capacity stands at 6.78 GW. The country proposes net-zero emissions by 2070.