SDG -7 and India

 “SDG Goal 7—Ensure Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy for All”… is a challenge confronting every country, that touches everyone. The four dimensions of SDG 7 are affordability, reliability, sustainability and modernity. These different dimensions are not mutually exclusive. They overlap, and in some cases even entail each other. The energy mix in Indian context showcases the dynamics of SDG 7 in India and how these 4 variables would play out.

Access to affordable energy
The heterogeneity of energy use across the world is due largely to different natural resource endowments and purchasing power. For example, a country with large coal deposits will likely make wide use of this resource to industrialize its economy. The people living within this country will likely use it as the primary means of power generation.
As globalization continues to bind the world in deeper networks of trade, countries can augment and diversify their energy endowments by import. However, if the development level of a country is low and the costs of energy—which are increasingly determined by global financial forces—are high, then people will lack access to energy no matter how large or diverse its country’s endowment. Thus, an essential condition of affordability is raising income levels (and hence purchasing power) and controlling the impacts that impersonal economic forces operating at global levels have on the costs that people face on an everyday basis.
In India there is a lot of variation in access to electricity as the Northern and Southern parts are much better off as compared to eastern and north-eastern states such as Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Jharkhand etc. There are various enabling acts/ policies such as Rural Electrification Policy 2006, National Electricity Policy 2005, National Tariff policy 2006 etc., schemes such as UDAY, DDUGJY etc. The main problem in India is not of availability rather affordability. There is a need to use differential tariff structure to overcome the problem of affordability as cant charge at commercial rate from household who have even difficulty in paying for initial connection. Also the Government has made it mandatory that large companies spend at least 2 percent of their profits every year on corporate social responsibility (CSR) which acts as cross subsidy. Also state governments are providing subsidies to make it easily accessible to households

Sustainable Energy
Sustainable development goals (SDGs) fit with India’s development agenda and more than one goal has direct relationship with SDGs. There is a linkage between clean energy and forest conservation as 49% of cooking energy comes from fuel wood. Hence, any solution which provides clean energy solution has an impact on forest conservation as well. There is need to follow inclusive approach and to develop further on work already being done in this field. There is need for integrated cooking and lighting energy policy which will address the differences. Each state needs to look at its pattern of cooking and lighting and analyze what needs to be done at state level. Central government needs to have a policy with customization at state level. Involvement of states becomes very crucial to achieve SDGs. There is need to ensure access to electricity by household and access doesn’t imply just connectivity to household rather there is need to ensure sustainable supply of energy as well.
In India, the majority of the states have joined UDAY initiative with the overall consensus to promote sustainable DISCOMs. States are becoming more and more focused towards promoting cleaner energy and developing roadmap to ensure connectivity. Government has considered various initiatives such as GARV, URJA, Vidyut Pravah etc. to improve transparency, accountability and outreach.

Reliable energy
In many parts of the developing world, energy sources are often scarce and their supply intermittent. Today, 20 per cent of the world’s population still lacks access to electricity, and a larger share suffers from persistent power failures.
In 2012, the massive, nationwide blackout that struck India affected nearly 700 million people, paralyzing transportation and communication systems and causing an unknown number of fatalities. This disaster was caused not just by supply issues, but also by mismanagement and an underdeveloped energy infrastructure. Thus, basic economic activity depends on a steady supply, robust governance, and an efficient and stable distribution system. There are multiple socioeconomic dimensions of energy reliability.
In India, the Government is also promoting renewable energy by setting a target of 175 GW by 2022 and promoting energy efficiency interventions such as PAT, UDAY etc., technology advancement through promotion of smart grids, digital India etc. India faces a paradoxical situation as supply exists but still there is problem of electricity access. One of the key challenges which India faces with regard to electricity is the issue of distribution. The major problem is to ensure the quality of supply even though households have been electrified as in December 2016, 41 % of household experience power cut for more than 15 hours per day even though considered as electrified. Thus, electricity access doesn’t get automatically translated into better quality of livelihood.

Modern Energy
Electricity, automated transportation and information technology are essential to economic development. They are also basic features of modern society, and thus energy sources and systems that meet these needs reliably and affordably can be considered as “modern”. Population growth will continue in India, sub-Saharan Africa, and other parts of the developing world. Per capita economic consumption will also increase, creating much greater demand for the services described above, and consequently for access to modern energy. Over the next quarter century, about 90 per cent of the growth in energy demand will come from countries that are not members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), i.e., countries outside of the rich Western economies and Japan. Meeting this rising wave of energy demand will be one of the paramount challenges of the twenty-first century, and is a reason why it occupies such a central place in the SDGs. It also brings us to the final dimension of SDG 7: sustainability.

Today, coal still provides about 40 per cent of the world’s electricity and nearly the same fraction of global carbon emissions. Coal is also inefficient, with a low mass-to-energy ratio, and creates enormous pollution. Thus, coal is neither sustainable at the global scale because of its contribution to anthropogenic climate change, nor at the local scale because it is a threat to public health and ecological conditions (in addition to the polluting by-products of combustion, the process of coal mining creates myriad environmental problems). Given the scale of the use of coal, and the emergence of a global economy powered largely by fossil fuels, what can be done?
In India, Cooking access remains low in all six states. 78% of rural households in states don’t have LPG due to high upfront cost and recurring cost. Less than 1.1 % rural households used improved cook stoves. To improve cook stoves, there is need to boost R&D, and increase standardization of fuel etc. These are challenges that require a pragmatic, multi-faceted approach. Solutions need to be found at the global scale, where Governments and agencies must work together. International climate change agreements are the most visible fruits of such efforts. The SDGs have also helped set the tenor for cooperation and contributed to an emerging consensus on priorities. In terms of policies, the transfer of clean energy technologies to developing countries is an important example. Indeed, international climate change agreements—such as the clean development mechanism (CDM)—explicitly provide for such transfers. This is not enough, however. Solutions must also be developed locally. There is evidence that benefits from CDM, while necessary and net-positive generally, do not always reach the local level, particularly in impoverished rural areas. Development should be sensitive to local conditions, and identify unintended consequences of energy policies. The heedless pursuit of biofuels at the global and regional levels may result in unintended yet severe environmental degradation. The countless acres of land deforested for palm oil undermine local well-being, and provide a stark reminder of the complexity of the energy problems that we face.

Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy is integral to global development in the twenty-first century. Not all the solutions needed to meet this challenge are yet available, and those that are may not be apparent. Figuring out these solutions and aligning them across scales will be difficult. Yet the task is achievable if international organizations have sufficient vision, if Governments can work together, and if communities and individuals are offered the right incentives and the necessary means. India is a diverse country and hence neither one solution can solve problem nor one fuel. With regard to Biogas, there are options available for cattle rich states but there is need to develop sustainable business model for community sized plants. PNG is a feasible option for urban areas with high density and other uses by making improvement in regulatory regime, infrastructure and availability of gas. Promotion of LPG requires viable distribution networks, reliable supply, easier cash flow for consumers (such as introduction of smaller cylinders) and effective subsidy delivery. There is need for coordinated multi-ministerial approach involving MoHFW, MoWCD and MoRD and strategy to address multiple issues. Also there is need to bring out detailed annual status report. These efforts can be the building blocks for the ambitious targets set by India in terms of SDG7 as given below;

Energy should generate a consistent stream of power to meet basic human needs, maintain and improve social functioning, and advance living standards. It should also fulfill these functions as sustainably as possible—that is to say, the power generated by energy use should be much greater than the resulting waste and pollution. All sustainable energy must be modern, although not all forms of modern energy are sustainable. Coal is perhaps the most important case in point. Historically, coal has been indispensable to industrialization and the advancement of human well-being. If more of the world’s people enjoy previously unimaginable living standards today, it is in large part because of coal. Offsetting its many virtues—for instance, abundance, wide distribution, and ease of use—is a long list of serious problems, however. In an age of population growth and environmental decline, this list is still growing. Energy access itself has various facets and aspects such as affordability, accessibility, reliability, quality and health & safety. Even though the number of household electrified is 96% but meaningful access is only 37%. The problem faced in states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh is of connectivity while in case of Madhya Pradesh issue is of reliability and quality. In these states, some household don’t have connection due to unavailability of grid. While majority of population have grid in the vicinity but they have not taken connection due to lack of affordability. 50% of the population is not getting more than 8 hours in a day in these states. In case of Bihar, even though micro-grid are being used but they predominantly use diesel and provide supply primarily in evening hours to households. There is a shift from village electrification to household electrification but eventually need to move towards 24*7 power supply in which monitoring plays a crucial role. There is need to incentivize better supply through reliable reflective tariff. Also there is a need to look beyond household towards community services such as education, healthcare etc. and towards productive applications i.e. towards income generating activities. With such a pariticipative approach alone can the SDG-7 be holistically achieved in India and across the world.

By: Abhishek Sharma