175 GW to be added by 2022 which will result in reduction of over 326 mn tons of carbon dioxide equivalent every year
New Delhi : Three days ahead of the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, India has given a major push towards sustainable development and increased targets for renewable energy capacity addition to 175 gigawatts by 2021-22, which will result in the reduction of over 326 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent every year.
Speaking at the launch of “India Energy Outlook” by the International Energy Agency (IEA), Union Petroleum and Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already given a call for “climate justice” to protect the poor and vulnerable from the adverse impacts of climate change.
India has declared its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) which aim to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 level.
With a large economy, growing population with low per capita energy consumption, an expanding middle-class and increasing urbanisation, India’s energy demands are bound to go up, Pradhan said.
He said by 2040, India’s energy demand will be close to that of the US even though demand per capita will still remain 40 per cent below the world average and the estimated investment needed in the country’s energy sector till 2040 will be to the tune of $2.8 trillion. Pradhan said that India’s oil import dependence will increase above 90 per cent by 2040 and the oil market is expected to rebalance at $80/barrel by 2020.
