Energy Security the Green Way: Alternative and Renewable Sources

Raakhee Suryaprakash

In the urban context, as witnessed in the city during the Chennai Floods and
Cyclone Vardah energy security cannot be guaranteed by access to grid-connected
electricity or access to fossil fuels. Dependence on fossil fuels adds to greenhouse
gases (GHGs) and air pollution. There is also the problem of its transportation. This
adds to the fuels carbon footprint and the need to secure the chokepoints in its
supply chain. The tanker accident that caused the Ennore oil spill in late January
2017 in the waters off the coast of Tamil Nadu (TN) brought the ecological disaster
of transporting oil uncomfortably close.

Dependence on fossil fuels and non-renewable energy sources as well as wasteful

ones is inefficient. TNEBs transmission and distribution losses were 15,000MW or
20,966.7 million units (MU) in 2014-2015 when it generated 94,128 MU! Although
TN electricity generation includes wind, hydel, nuclear and solar sources its
mainstay remains coal-powered thermal power stations. The ecological impact of
such a power station as well as the consequences usurping the commons is
wonderfully conveyed in Magsaysay-award winner T.M. Krishnas Chennai
Poromboke Paadal. Another challenge to energy security is the acute power
shortage. In the rural context, grid-connected electricity is yet to reach everywhere
or provide dependable power. Within rural households wood-fire/dung stoves,
kerosene lamps and stoves cause air pollution, respiratory disorders, fire hazards as
well as GHG emission.

Within these challenges to our energy security and the state of our environment is
the opportunity to harness renewable sources and decentralized or partially
decentralized energy (off-grid or grid connected power solutions). Its not just about
inverters and diesel generator back-up but more sustainable solutions harnessing
nature. Situated within the tropics and part of the International Solar Alliance it
launched at the Paris Climate Summit India is betting on solar energy. Rooftop solar
or wind power systems in institutions educational, government, corporate,
religious offers the hat-trick of saving money, energy security, as well as eco-
friendly.

On Grid (with battery backup) systems have households and buildings stay
connected in the midst of a blacked out city. Indian startup Avant Garde Innovations
has developed a low-cost wind turbine, the size of a ceiling fan, which when
installed can generate 3-5 kW hours of electricity daily, and as their viral publicity
piece puts it, has a one-time investment costing less than an iphone (INR 50,000).

A Chennai-resident Mr. D. Suresh, known as Solar Suresh, in his self-sufficient

home achieves energy security through roof-top solar panels as well as bio gas
generated from kitchen scraps which also produces compost for his kitchen garden.
Solar panel installation simply requires a shadow-free area, about 80sqft per kw.
Solar panels generate electricity even during mild rainy days - since they depend on
the UV rays falling on the panel and not the intensity of heat or light. On extremely
heavy rainy days the load is supplied by batteries, which are charged by solar and
not by grid. To give an idea of the capacity a 3kw system on-gird battery backed up
system powers 11 fans, 25 lights, a refrigerator, two computers, a water pump, two
televisions, a mixer-grinder, a washing machine and an inverter AC in Mr. Sureshs
green home. With the increasing price of LPG, not to mention the campaign to give
up subsidy, and LPGs worrying carbon footprint going the biogas way is both pocket
and planet friendly. Mr. Sureshs domestic biogas plant of 1-cubic metre capacity
processes around 10kg organic waste per day, and produce about 20kg of gas per
month.

Both such on-grid and off-grid solutions can bring electricity, energy security and
development to even the remotest village in India.

Keeping in mind Indias ever increasing problem of waste disposal and lack of
landfills net-zero waste to energy technology should also be considered. On a
smaller-scale there are anaerobic incinerators that convert plastic waste to oil that
can be used as fuel, this can provide employment opportunities in addition to fuel
generation and plastic recycling.

The best example of making opportunity out of a threat comes from resilient Japan
the Typhoon Turbine from green tech firm Challenergy. In its testing phase this egg
beatershaped turbine, can withstand a tropical cyclone and harness its incredible
force to provide up to 50 years of energy security for typhoon-ravaged Japan!

Opting for renewable and decentralized solutions can offer energy security as well
as reducing a households carbon and ecological footprint. Hence such sustainable
energy solutions should be the path to sustainable development.

References

https://cnn.com/2016/09/27/asia/typhoon-catchers-japan-challenergy/

https://e27.co/with-the-cost-of-an-iphone-you-can-now-buy-a-wind-turbine-that-can-
bring-affordable-clean-energy-to-your-home-for-lifetime-20160606/

http://www.energynext.in/solar-power-brings-light-and-hope-to-people-affected-by-
vardah/

https://yourstory.com/2017/01/solar-suresh/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82jFyeV5AHM