Energetica India Magazine: september 2020

Renewable Potential: Can it Balance Operational Energy Needs of Buildings in India? The article examines current status of renewable energy in India and assesses whether the operational energy needs in buildings would get balanced by the renewable energy produced in the country. The author suggests that the government’s efforts in increasing the renewable energy potential need to be supplemented by the housing sector with a big boost to increase the rooftop solar potential. Introduction There has been a growing awareness about the climate change phenomenon, manifested through global warming from greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. The landmark 2018 report of the Inter- governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that global warming is like- ly to exceed 1.50C between 2030 and 2052, if it continues to increase at the current rate and this may lead to cata- strophic effects on our eco-system. More than 11,000 scientists have declared that the Climate Emergency has already arrived and that it is accelerating much faster than anticipated. The lockdowns during Covid-19 in different parts of the world placed temporary brakes on this acceleration. However, even during lockdowns, the occurrence of extreme events, which epitomise climate change, have not shown signs of abatement! The Amphan and Nisarga cyclons and the fury of floods in North-East, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, etc. are the clear examples. The escalating dangers posed by the climate change phenomenon are get- ting highlighted in the successive Con- ference of Parties (COPs), being held every year under the aegis of the Unit - ed Nations since 1995. It is however a matter of great regret that even after the long years of negotiations, there was no unanimity amongst leading governments on firm steps needed to mitigate the ad - verse effects of climate change. Notwith- standing this, many governmental and non-governmental bodies/organizations have declared Climate Emergency and local citizens’ movements, including those by school children are demanding climate-friendly actions. Notable Climate-friendly Initiatives With the residential and commercial buildings currently responsible for 39% of global carbon emissions, the World Green Building Council (World GBC) strongly advocates decarbonising this sector as it would be one of the most cost-effective ways to mitigate the ad- verse effects of climate change. Certain other voluntary bodies like “Architect 2030” and “Structural Engineers 2050”, formed by leading architects and engi- neers are actively supporting the World GBC’s initiatives. Another notable climate-friendly initia- tive was recently launched by a group of more than 1,000 dedicated built-en- vironment professionals from London who have evolved a practical approach to achieve ‘net zero carbon’ by 2050 in buildings. This voluntary group, known as London Energy Transformation Initia- tive (LETI), has published two painstak- ingly-prepared documents, highlighting the approach for achieving sweeping re- duction in carbon emissions in the built environment. LETI has divided carbon emissions gen- erated during the service life of the build- ings into two components – ‘operational carbon’ and ‘embodied carbon’. Both World GBC and LETI suggests that new buildings should be designed with net zero operational carbon i.e. the energy demand for operations such as heating, cooling, ventilation and light- ing systems, as well as energy used by equipment such as fridges, washing ma- chines, TVs, computers, lifts, and cook- ing to be entirely met with renewable en- ergy –without burning fossil fuels! Realising that it may not be possible to achieve net zero operational carbon in each and every building or building complex, it is suggested that the net zero operational balance of carbon can then be achieved at the national level, that is, energy consumption for all new build- ings should at least be equal to the total renewable energy production at national level. Reducing embodied carbon is little com- plicated as it involves reducing both the 54 energetica INDIA- September_2020 Mr. Vijay R Kulkarni Partner, Midas Techfin Consultants LLP