India to double investment in clean energy
The Dollar Business Bureau
Underlining India’s commitment towards research-led innovations to strengthen its clean energy sector, the Science & Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the government is planning to double its investment in India’s clean energy research to $145 million in the near future. India’s current investment in clean energy research is about $72 million.
The minister was speaking at the 7th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7) and the Mission Innovation Meet at San Francisco, USA on June 1st and 2nd. The member countries also announced their respective plans to more than double their expenditure in clean energy research in the next five years.
Making the Mission Innovation Announcement, Vardhan said the member countries have a shared desire to increase their pace of innovation through clean energy revolution.
The Minister announced India will expand its engagement with the UK by setting up a Joint Virtual Clean Energy Centre, as it would address the challenges in solar energy. India would also launch a new Research Track on Smart Energy Grids and Energy Storage, as part of the Indo-US Partnership to further Clean Energy Research (PACE-R).
“By accelerating the introduction of super-efficient air conditioners we can reduce energy demand from 60 GW of energy to 40 GW, a saving of over 30%. This translates to cost savings in consumer energy bills of $2.8 billion and GHG reductions of 20 million tons of CO2 equivalent,” Vardhan said.
Highlighting India’s achievements in the area of clean energy, the minister said India has already implemented the world’s largest LED lighting programme. This programme has helped India lead the way by driving 12% of global LED demand, up from 0.1% two years ago.
to success.