Can Renewables Bring An End To India’s Nightmare Of Air Pollution?
India is one of the most air-polluted countries in the world. Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata are usually on most of the lists of baddest cities in any given year. Transport emission, industrial activities, burning crops, and the use of fossil fuels for energy stand among the major sources of air pollution in India. This causes great harm because of the air, and this results in great health problems like respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases, and even early death. It would go worse if this problem gets coupled with the pace of rapid urbanization and industrialization unless addressed in the very near future.
One of the promising remedies to this crisis is the spread of renewable energy sources. As India continues on its path of economic development along with environmental sustainability, it has been observed that renewables can be a very significant portion to reduce the air pollution levels of the country. However, do renewables really help in solving India’s air pollution crisis?
Current Scenario of Air Pollution in India
India has been suffering from its degrading air quality at an alarming rate for the last several decades. According to the World Health Organization, 14 out of the 15 cities in the world were found to be most polluted, and India had all those on the list. This generally includes pollution from vehicles, industries, and agriculture. On top of that, they burn fossil fuel such as coal and diesel. In India, there is a death toll of one million per annum resulting from air pollution. The older the person is, or a child or someone with health problems, the more prone they become to suffering damage to health through air pollution.
The energy sector is the highest polluter. India mainly uses coal, and the energy sector produces almost 70% of the electricity produced in the country, which causes tremendous air pollution. The combustion of coal releases hazardous pollutants like PM2.5, NOx, and SO2, lowering the quality of air and resulting in severe health issues.
Role of Renewable Energy in Reducing Air Pollution
The renewable energy sector in India has experienced a great leap over the past few years. Renewable energy in the country has been experiencing remarkable growth rates, and its solar and wind energy activities are on the forefront. In 2024, the country stands as one of the largest producers of the world’s solar power, going for a non-fossil fuel capacity of 500 GW by 2030.
Transition to renewable sources of energy is one of the major strides towards reducing air pollution. Renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, and hydropower sources can produce electricity without offering harmful emissions like coal and other fossil fuel sources. Thus, a transition from fossil sources to renewable sources may lead to a reduction of the air pollution level, at least at an urban level.
Current Scenario in the Use of Renewables
The ambitious goals of the Indian government regarding increasing renewable energy levels include growing the share of clean energy in power generation. It has been targeted in the National Action Plan on Climate Change to source 50 percent of electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. The potential to achieve this lies due to the Solar Park Scheme and Wind Energy Projects, that renewable energy capacity has been taken to newer heights. By the end of 2024, nearly 180 GW would have been achieved in installed renewable energy capacity after having heavily invested in that sector.
The other states of India also began working to step forward towards the renewable energy and clean technology. The Tamil Nadu and Gujarat also emerged as leaders for installation of wind energy and, new sun light destination has emerged in the face of Rajasthan, that, the result of such a development is air pollution decrease employment and other economic activities will be put on the state agenda.
Implementing Renewables as Solution-Challenges
Though renewable energy promises immense reduction in air pollution for India, it cannot be achieved without its own set of challenges that need to be overcome. First obvious ones are the dependence of India on coal as a fuel source. So far as long as coal is relatively inexpensive and available in plenty, a shift towards cleaner fuels is quite challenging in the near term. This source goes on, and even though vast proportions of the electricity generated are from coal-fired power plants, renewable energy is gaining even when they lead at the top as the leading cause of air pollution in India.
Further, the renewable sources are intermittent. No back up can be done with it in order to provide uninterrupted power. Improvement and integration of the Indian grid with the storage infrastructure are much in need for the variability of renewable energy sources so that a sure and reliable source of electricity can be provided to the people.
Implementation in other areas is slow, most noticeably in the rural areas. Clean energy technologies are limited in the regions. The rural regions, though they have been using traditional biomass for cooking and heating needs, it has been the urban centers that have been benefiting from the renewable energy.
Long-term Gains
In fact, with all these challenges notwithstanding, long-term benefits of a renewable transition in India are pretty well in sight. This transition into clean energy technologies would drastically bring down the dependence on coal in India, reducing dangerous pollutants that harm its ecosystem, and India would thus comfortably fulfill its Paris Agreement goals, lowering down the emission of greenhouse gases across the country.
Renewable energy also has vast health benefits. It has been demonstrated that the reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels and the adoption of clean energy would reduce the rate of respiratory diseases and, more widely, public health. That would then lead to less pressure on India’s healthcare systems and a more productive working force.
Conclusion
In fact, renewable energy is the only hope for the pollution crisis in India. That will be accomplished over time and only after deep investments. India will, with policy reforms making clean technologies competitive with coal, be the foundational source in bettering air quality in the whole country. But taking into consideration everything above, the rise of the capacity of renewable energy in India does indeed signify an important step to achieving a cleaner and healthier future for millions of people. Speed up the transition for India towards a renewable future as an opportunity to better cope with the crisis and seize this chance for much more sustainable and resilient energy systems.
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