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India remains highly dependent on imports for minerals critical to accelerating its <keyword id="19951336" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="energy-transition" source="keywords">energy transition</keyword>, with a full reliance on shipping in lithium, cobalt and nickel, according to a report released Monday. The report, published by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), said that India's demand for <keyword id="19978839" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="critical-minerals" source="keywords">critical minerals</keyword> is expected to more than double by 2030, while domestic mining operations may take over a decade to start producing. It stresses that India needs a carefully crafted import strategy to mitigate potential trade risks while balancing international relationships to secure these essential minerals. IEEFA's report examines five critical minerals (and their compounds) - cobalt, copper, graphite, lithium and nickel - from the perspectives of import dependency, trade dynamics, domestic availability, and global price fluctuations. The findings show that India remains largely import-dependent for these minerals and their compounds, with 100 per cent import reliance for minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. "India should strive to de-risk its critical minerals sourcing by identifying new international resources and expediting <keyword id="20681115" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="domestic-production" source="keywords">domestic production</keyword>. A concerted effort to partner with and foster bilateral relations with <keyword id="23713985" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mineral-rich-nations" source="keywords">mineral-rich nations</keyword> should be a priority for India," said the report's co-author Charith Konda, Energy Specialist, IEEFA. "The country can also explore investment opportunities in resource-rich, friendly nations, such as Australia and Chile, as well as African countries like Ghana and South Africa," he added. The report said India depends heavily on China for synthetic graphite and natural graphite and it should explore cooperation initiatives with countries like Mozambique, Madagascar, Brazil and Tanzania which are some of the highest graphite producing countries. "As part of the Global South cooperation initiatives, these countries could be favourable partners for India for <keyword id="23713984" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="graphite-trading" source="keywords">graphite trading</keyword>," said the report's co-author Kaira Rakheja, Energy Analyst, IEEFA. India is also highly import-dependent for copper cathodes and nickel sulphates from just two countries - Japan and Belgium. The report suggests India could look at the US, the fifth largest producer of copper in the world, to diversify its suppliers and enhance <keyword id="23714709" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="supply-security" source="keywords">supply security</keyword>. For minerals like lithium oxide and nickel oxide, the dependency is low on one country, but overall imports largely come from Russia and China, both countries with potential trade risks. "Developing domestic lithium refining capacity will help India integrate with the global lithium supply chain," said Rakheja. The report also notes the significant efforts that the Indian government is making to improve domestic production of critical minerals with the auctions by the Ministry of Mines and the planned Critical Minerals Mission. "The critical minerals mining block auctions can serve as an opportunity for India to focus on building refining and processing capabilities to emerge as a global value-adding hub," said Rakheja. "Government support in the form of viability gap funding and technology development will help promote such auctions and ultimately the domestic production of critical minerals. "A stable supply of critical minerals is imperative for India to achieve its <keyword id="19895602" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="renewable-energy" source="keywords">renewable energy</keyword> goals," Konda said. India has committed to achieving 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil fuel-based electricity installed capacity by 2030. Currently, the country's renewable energy installed capacity stands at 201 GW, with solar energy accounting for 91 GW. According to another study, the fast-developing South Asian nation needs to install around 7,000 GW of renewable energy capacity to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070.

Energy transition: India remains highly dependent on imports of critical minerals, says report

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Renewables can offer cheaper energy than fossil fuels, but the grid isn't designed to handle them.</li><li>We explore the places in the US making progress on this front. </li></ul>Think about the last time your <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackouts-power-outages-more-common-climate-change-electric-grid-infrastructure-2023-3">power went out</a>.Maybe a car hit an electricity-distribution pole or a falling branch took down a power line <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-from-texas-power-outage-ercot-energy-grid-winter-storm-2023-12">during a storm</a>. It probably took at least a few minutes, maybe hours, before your power turned back on.Most likely, that's because workers at your local utility first had to assess how to restore your power. Then dispatchers had to drive to the nearby switches that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-winter-storm-power-cuts-white-house-emergency-declaration-2021-2">control the flow of energy</a> and manually flip them until everyone's lights were back on.Not in Chattanooga, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moving-to-tennessee-pros-cons-nashville-memphis-chattanooga-2023-2">Tennessee</a>. Instead, software automatically sends commands to smart switches throughout the system, rerouting the flow of electricity to restore power in seconds.The electric utility in Chattanooga, EPB, has invested $280 million in creating one of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/power-smart-grid-electric-investment-save-money-prevent-blackouts-2024-4">smartest power grids</a> in the country. It has this self-healing system and manages energy more efficiently than traditional grids, reduces carbon emissions, and saves customers money on their electricity bills."They are an example of people who are looking forward to say: We see technology coming," Kevin Schneider, the chief engineer studying power systems at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, told Business Insider. "It is a challenge. It will be expensive, but we view it as less expensive and less challenging than doing nothing for the next 10 years and then trying to catch up."Nationwide, our <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/power-grid-strain-home-vehicle-electrification-ai-startups-2024-3">power systems are in trouble</a>. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-laws-us-infrastructure-invest-funding-2024-3">infrastructure is aging and outdated</a>, costing consumers billions a year in higher energy bills. Moreover, the aging grid is not ready for the barrage of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-migration-where-moved-escape-natural-disasters-extreme-weather">increasingly severe weather</a> that the climate crisis is bringing, nor the incoming surge of renewable energy and battery storage as the US moves toward the Biden-Harris administration's goal to achieve a carbon-pollution-free grid by 2035."Much of our grid infrastructure is 40, 50, 60-plus years old," Joe Rand, an energy policy researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, told BI. "And so it is in need of upgrading and maintenance."Smarter grids, like Chattanooga's, are just part of what it will take to modernize the American grid in the coming decades. They can deliver electricity in a "cleaner, more efficient, faster way," Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist studying smart grids at the University of Texas at Austin, told BI.However, getting that electricity in the first place from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-green-power-energy-america-economy-wind-oil-solar-prices-2023-11">wind, solar, and other renewables</a> is where the challenge begins.<h2 id="69b81dd9-e41b-4840-b480-f88f0bf2481c">A troubled transition to renewable energy</h2><div type="image" title="giant wind turbines standing in water" height="1414" width="2121" msid="110091236" hostid="261" sizebytes="187698"></div>Last year was record-breaking for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-renewable-energy-transition-solar-electric-vehicles-hit-records-2024-2">clean energy in the US</a>. Renewables, including wind, solar, and hydropower, represented about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wri.org/insights/clean-energy-progress-united-states">25% of the electricity generated</a> in the US in the first half of 2023.And this year is off to a solid start. South Fork Wind — New York's first offshore wind farm — began powering homes in March. And the Edwards &amp; Sanborn project, the US's largest solar energy and energy storage project in California, came online in January.Renewable energy is not only cleaner than fossil fuels but also often less expensive."In many parts of the United States, wind and or solar are basically the cheapest ways that we can <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-panel-industry-electricity-generation-us-eia-tariff-prices-trade-2024-2">generate electricity</a>," Rand said.But we have a long way to go to reach 100% clean electricity by 2035. Renewables are intermittent energy sources. Unlike fossil fuels, the amount of energy they generate fluctuates. But <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hedge-funds-betting-electricity-power-grid-congestion-trading-2024-3">our grid system wasn't designed</a> to handle that variation.Plugging intermittent energy sources into this outdated grid network can cause problems, such as energy imbalances that exceed capacity and trigger outages, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.stevens.edu/profile/podonkor">Philip Odonkor</a>, an assistant professor in the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology, told BI.So what's happened is a bottleneck: Renewable projects are generating energy but with limited ways of getting it to towns and cities. At the end of 2023, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/Queued%20Up%E2%80%A6But%20in%20Need%20of%20Transmission.pdf">930 gigawatts</a> of power — enough to power <a target="_blank" href="https://www.seia.org/solar-industry-research-data">roughly</a> 171 million homes — were waiting to connect to the grid.To achieve zero-emissions electricity by 2035, the US needs to revamp the grid with up to 10,100 miles of new transmission lines that can transport renewable energy from point A to point B. The Midwest grid operator, Midcontinent Independent System Operator, has approved the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nrdc.org/bio/toba-pearlman/midwest-grid-operators-inching-forward-miles-go-0">country's largest transmission investment</a> to date, totaling $10.3 billion, to improve how it delivers electricity to 45 million people across the Midwest.But in general, construction on new high-voltage transmission has slowed to a trickle over the past decade, Rand said. In 2013, the US <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-05/dec-energy-infrastructure_3.pdf">completed</a> over 3,000 miles of transmission projects. Last year, it <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.ferc.gov/media/energy-infrastructure-update-december-2023">completed</a> 251 miles.It's not economic or technology barriers holding these projects back, Rand said: "It's institutional, regulatory, and social issues."<h2 id="ed839077-604c-48e7-a55c-f3e216767d9a">Breaking down barriers</h2><div type="image" title="A man walks through a power station" height="1937" width="3000" msid="110091239" hostid="261" sizebytes="1045202"></div>When South Fork Wind began operations in March, it was a major milestone but also years behind schedule. Economic headwinds struck in 2020 with the Trump administration's moratorium on offshore wind, which stalled progress for two years."The clearest delay for South Fork was losing those years of progress," said <a target="_blank" href="https://wrisenergy.org/about-wrise/leadership/board/">Julia Bovey</a>, the director of external affairs for offshore wind at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.eversource.com/content/residential">Eversource Energy</a>, which co-owns South Fork Wind with <a target="_blank" href="https://us.orsted.com/?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwir2xBhC_ARIsAMTXk84wQN2zsVWYlPKJurVNpM-v2sPcNdUtPeJL5HMpCMOYQ9fYAfdwwnwaAu_mEALw_wcB">Ørsted</a>.Other obstacles stand in the way of clean energy — the biggest being the lengthy permitting process and interconnection queue delays. The permitting process for renewable-energy projects involves massive amounts of paperwork and can take <a target="_blank" href="https://www.osc.ny.gov/press/releases/2024/04/dinapoli-renewable-energy-projects-taking-years-become-operational-nys#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20the%20permit%20application,permit%20process%20is%20not%20improved">three or more years to finish</a>.In the end, about <a target="_blank" href="https://emp.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2024-04/Queued%20Up%202024%20Edition_1.pdf">80%</a> don't make it to completion, and those that do can get stuck in the clogged interconnection queue for as long as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2024/03/01/the-energy-sector-and-ai-unplugging-the-interconnection-queue-backlog/?sh=4932ad4162f4">five more years</a>. By the end of 2023, almost <a target="_blank" href="https://emp.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2024-04/Queued%20Up%202024%20Edition_1.pdf">12,000 projects</a> were in the queue, waiting to be connected to the grid."It's a seriously complex process with so many stakeholders," Bovey said.South Fork Wind was the first utility-scale offshore-wind project in the US to make it through this process. In doing so, it revealed a lot of issues that could be fixed through standardization and better agency coordination, Bovey said. But it also proved that bringing offshore wind online was possible."Every hope is that this has paved the way for future projects to be cheaper, bigger, faster, and just as responsible — just as well sited," Bovey said.On the whole, Paul Denholm, a principal analyst and senior research fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is more skeptical of the country's prospects. We'll be closer to a 50% renewable-power grid by 2035 with the way things are going, he told BI.Right now, we lack the federal policy necessary to solve regulatory and permitting delays, clear the interconnection queue, and drive rapid infrastructure upgrades and technology implementation, Denholm said.For example, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator's transmission investment, while noteworthy, took 11 years to get approval, and its next series of approvals have been delayed."So from that standpoint, it's pretty clear that we're not on a path to get to 100%," Denholm said.<h2 id="a55db279-156b-40fd-940e-ba037839bbdf">There's no going back</h2><div type="image" title="An electric vehicle charges in California" height="683" width="1024" msid="110091241" hostid="261" sizebytes="41490"></div>Regardless of how quickly the US gets there, we're headed for a clean-energy revolution. The federal government has invested nearly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.energy.gov/infrastructure/clean-energy-infrastructure-funding-projects-and-programs">$100 billion</a> in clean energy through its Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.Old infrastructure must be modernized across the country because the production and use of energy are going to get much more complicated.Nationwide, the grid draws power from about 12,000 power plants. Over the next 20 years or so, it will have to balloon to incorporate millions of small, distributed energy-generation resources, from hydropower dams to offshore wind farms to rooftop solar panels.Then there will be the batteries, which store wind and solar energy until a rainy day. Meanwhile, newly electrified cars and heating systems will increase energy demand.Eventually, home appliances may tap into data from the grid — how much people are drawing energy from it, how much carbon it's emitting, and how much electricity costs at any given hour — to help you make smart decisions about when to wash your dishes or heat your house."Historically it was meant to go one way," Schneider said of the grid. "Now we've got solar that pushes power back in. We've got EVs. We've got new loads like heat pumps. So the edge is getting so much more complicated with a lot more stakeholders in there."Smart grids are essential for integrating all that new stuff. The rollout of smart-grid technologies, renewable projects, and new transmission lines will happen piecemeal across the country, at different paces in different places, depending on policies, utility finances, and the economy — high up-front costs can be a major deterrent. However, the return on investment can be even greater.Take Chattanooga. EPB spent $280 million to refurbish its power system with smart technologies. In its first 10 years, the project generated $2.7 billion worth of economic value by creating jobs, attracting businesses, and reducing customers' electricity bills, an EPB-funded <a target="_blank" href="https://assets.epb.com/media/Lobo%20-%20Ten%20Years%20of%20Fiber%20Infrastructure%20in%20Hamilton%20County%20TN_Published.pdf">study</a> found.MISO foresees a similar return on its $10.3 billion investment. It estimates that investment will bring <a target="_blank" href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/sam-gomberg/midwest-transmission-system-investments-will-be-a-game-changer-for-a-clean-energy-future/">$37.3 billion of value</a> for customers by transporting cheaper, more reliable power. So the benefits can outweigh the cost."As we move forward, things are becoming more complex," Schneider said. "And we need to find ways to work together collaboratively. Because no one group or organization has all the answers, it's going to be a lot of different things coming together."

What it will take to modernize the American grid and usher in the clean-energy revolution

<keyword id="19907392" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-change" source="keywords">Climate change</keyword> could become the main driver of <keyword id="21446697" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="biodiversity-decline" source="keywords">biodiversity decline</keyword> by the mid-century, a new research has found. Studying changes in land-use patterns and their impacts on biodiversity, an international team of researchers found that biodiversity around the world could have declined by 2-11 per cent. "By including all world regions in our model, we were able to fill many blind spots and address criticism of other approaches working with fragmented and potentially biased data," said Henrique Pereira, research group head at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), and the first author of the study published in the journal 'Science'. Examining how biodiversity and ecosystems might evolve in the future, the researchers found that the combined effects of land-use change and climate change lead to biodiversity loss across all global regions, regardless of emissions scenario. "We found that climate change poses an imminent threat to biodiversity and ecosystem services. While land-use change has historically been a significant factor, our findings indicate that climate change could overtake it as the primary driver of biodiversity loss by mid-century," explained study co-author, David Leclere, researcher at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria. The researchers called for a "truly integrated approach" considering varied <keyword id="21447217" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sustainability-aspects" source="keywords">sustainability aspects</keyword> to reduce conflicts between policies and safeguard biodiversity in the coming decades. "For instance, while <keyword id="21447218" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bio-energy-deployment" source="keywords">bio-energy deployment</keyword> is still a critical element of the majority of climate stabilisation scenarios, it also poses a threat to species habitats," said IIASA Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program Director Petr Havlik, one of the study co-authors. The findings suggested that conservation and restoration efforts should be prioritised globally as necessary natural climate solutions, the authors said. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/realme-c65-5g-with-5000mah-battery-120hz-display-launched-starting-at-10499/articleshow/109619597.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/realme-c65-5g-with-5000mah-battery-120hz-display-launched-starting-at-10499/articleshow/109619597.cms" target="_blank">Realme C65 5G with 5,000mAh battery, 120Hz display launched starting at ₹10,499</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/ultraviolette-f77-mach-2-electric-sports-bike-launched-in-india-starting-at-2-99-lakh/slidelist/109615934.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/ultraviolette-f77-mach-2-electric-sports-bike-launched-in-india-starting-at-2-99-lakh/slidelist/109615934.cms" target="_blank">Ultraviolette F77 Mach 2 electric sports bike launched in India starting at ₹2.99 lakh</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/jiocinema-introduces-new-ad-free-premium-plans-starting-at-29/articleshow/109581033.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/jiocinema-introduces-new-ad-free-premium-plans-starting-at-29/articleshow/109581033.cms" target="_blank">An Ambani disruption in OTT: At just ₹1 per day, you can now enjoy ad-free content on JioCinema</a>

Climate change could become main driver of biodiversity decline by mid-century: Study

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Biodiversity loss and human impacts are becoming a key component in climate change conversations. </li><li>Experts discuss their views on how biodiversity loss and climate change are also impacting the financial sector. </li><li>The conversation was part of Insider's event "For a Better Future: Bridging Culture, Business, and Climate," which took place on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.</li></ul>As the symptoms of climate change worsen so too do natural disasters, extreme weather events, and food and water scarcity. Wildlife experts and researchers are pressing for more attention to be paid to how the climate crisis is affecting not only humans but also the alarming loss of biodiversity. Dr. Susan Chomba, Director of Vital Landscapes at the World Resources Institute spoke with Catherine Boudreau, senior sustainability reporter at Insider, about biodiversity loss in the past decade. Chomba said, "This is hugely driven by, of course, human factors. Human beings, the way we live, the way we cultivate our food, the way we go ahead with our businesses in different dimensions of our lives."In the session Together for a Greener Tomorrow part of the "For a Better Future: Bridging Culture, Business, and Climate" Dr. Michal Nachmany, CEO and Founder of Climate Policy Radar echoed Choma's sentiments. Nachmany said, "I think between the micro and the macro, between the rhinoceros and the fungi, we need to remember that there are critical services that we don't even know how they are interconnected to each other."<h2>Biodiversity's climate change connection</h2>Chomba said that people often make policy based on a "siloed approach." In terms of climate change she said, "It's really affecting a lot of actors outside the policy environment, like the private sector actors in the energy sector, in the industrial, in the input side on the agriculture side, and of course transport."Nachmany agreed and added that humans love to think in terms of solutions. Nachmany said, "When it comes to biodiversity it is important to think of needs instead of solutions. If we think about what are human needs: humans need shelter, humansneed food, humans need a temperature range that is livable in. And all of those, the solutions that address both climate change and biodiversity conservation are the same solutions."<h2>Finance and Biodiversity</h2>Nachmany noted that the financial sector is trending towards a better understanding of sustainable investment. She said, "Without a livable planet, no investment is safe. We're seeing movement in very strange places, like large investor coalitions that all of a sudden care about nature positive investments."Chomba noted that people who can pay are the ones who are benefitting from biodiverse populations. Referring to the Congo Basin she said, "What we are seeing recently, and especially in a country like DRC, is the government last year decided to issue concessions to at least 27 concessions basically for any kind of use. Anybody who is willing to pay for the concessions gets the rights to use these lands." The Congo is home to critically endangered species and protected indigenous communities. Chomba said, "I think the case of DRC has really tested the global finance mechanisms and the global commitments to protection of biodiversity, to protection of carbon that is already in these ecosystems and to the protection of indigenous people."Catherine Boudreau:really glad that you mentioned finance because what I've been thinking about a lot is how as a society we don't really put a price on nature, even though it does have so much value to communities, to businesses, to governments. So as a result, there aren't always the best financial incentives to protect it when maybe there's more money to be made in other industries, whether it's oil or timber.Nature adds value to communities, businesses, and goverenments society doesn't necessarily put a price on nature. As an outcome governments can't find the best financial incentives to protect nature. Nachmany said, "Financial mechanisms and financial instruments are also a mechanism to ensure that polluting activities and damaging and destructive activities are capped and banned. So you asked if we can put a price on nature, and the question is, can we put a price on destroying nature?"<h2>Biodiversity and vulnerable populations</h2>Nachmany posited that the most vulnerable populations impacted by climate change are often the least likely contributors to the problem. He said, "We have vulnerable communities all over the world, but we see the people who are the strongest but also the ones impacted the most by climate change and biodiversity loss also the ones who have contributed the least towards creating it." On how to tackle biodiversity and the harm to vulnerable populations Chomba said, "The problem is, we don't have strong governance to access that that decentralized power and authority and decision making to these communities more. We still tend to have a lot of centralized regime in terms of how we manage our biodiversity, and that's a key issue."

Experts from the World Resources Institute and Climate Policy Radar discuss biodiversity and climate change.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Scientists measured significant levels of lithium trapped in clay deposits in an extinct US volcano.</li><li>The US mostly relies on lithium imports, which it uses for rechargeable batteries in electric cars. </li></ul>The name McDermitt Caldera is probably unfamiliar. It belongs to an extinct volcano that last erupted approximately 16 million years ago. But for lithium hunters, it's the biggest gold mine find of the century.In 2020, scientists published a shocking discovery that the caldera contains what could be the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/10/1/68">largest amount</a> of lithium in the world, locked up in an unusual type of clay called illite.Recent research has gone one step further. In August, researchers reported that the illite in the southern portion of McDermitt Caldera, called Thacker Pass, contains about <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adh8183">1.8% lithium</a>, on average.That's almost double the lithium present in magnesium smectite, the main type of clay mined for lithium, today, <a href="https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/lithium-discovery-in-us-volcano-could-be-biggest-deposit-ever-found/4018032.article">Chemistry World</a> reported.This means a couple of things: McDermitt Caldera, located along the Nevada-Oregon border, could contain over 132 million tons of lithium — enough to meet global demand for decades, <a href="https://jalopnik.com/a-volcano-in-the-u-s-could-contain-the-biggest-lithium-1850825799?utm_source=flipboard&amp;utm_content=topic%2Fscience" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jalopnik</a> reported. It also means the US, which only has one active lithium mine, may no longer have to rely on other countries for much of its lithium.The US has an estimated 8 million metric tons of lithium embedded in its soil, ranking it in the top five countries worldwide with the most reserves, yet the country makes up just 1% of global lithium production, according to <a href="https://mineralsmakelife.org/blog/lithium-electrifying-america/">Minerals Make Life</a>.And demand for lithium is only expected to soar since it's a key ingredient for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lithium-mining-electric-vehicles-climate-crisis-2023-5">rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles</a>.The country needs more lithium to keep up with supply chains for electric vehicles. And McDermitt Caldera could be that resource."It could change the dynamics of lithium globally, in terms of price, security of supply, and geopolitics," Anouk Borst, a geologist at KU Leuven University and the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, told Chemistry World.There's just one thing: local Indigenous communities say Thacker Pass is sacred land where they harvest traditional medicines, foods, and supplies for sacred ceremonies, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/02/thacker-pass-lithium-mine-fight-save-sacred-land-nevada">The Guardian</a> reported."There's burial sites there. There's medicines and roots there, there's ecosystems – there is still life back there," Gary McKinney of the Shoshone-Paiute Indigenous tribe local to Thacker Pass, told <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/15/nevada-lithium-mine-breaks-ground-despite-indigenous-opposition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Al Jazeera</a>. "And it's all being sacrificed supposedly to fix the climate crisis."McKinney is part of the Indigenous group called <a href="https://peopleofredmountain.com/about-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">People of Red Mountain</a> that has opposed lithium mining at Thacker Pass.But a federal court denied opponent's requests for an injunction, and in March the company Lithium Americas said workers had started drilling and building infrastructure at the site, Al Jazeera reported."The world needs to know that this lithium mining, and this fast-tracking of lithium mining, is a continuation of racism on Paiute and Shoshone people," McKinney told NPR.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/true-cost-of-the-lithium-mining-boom-powering-electric-cars-2023-7">Lithium extraction methods</a> can lead to water pollution, land degradation, and potential groundwater contamination, per <a href="https://earth.org/lithium-and-cobalt-mining/">Earth.org</a>. An estimated 79% of lithium reserves in the US are within 35 miles of Native American reservations, according to the <a href="https://www.msci.com/www/blog-posts/mining-energy-transition-metals/02531033947">MSCI Sustainability Institute</a>.

Scientists found a massive lithium deposit inside an ancient US volcano that could be a game-changer for American clean energy but spell disaster for Native Americans

In a first of its kind move, India has assembled its top energy research agencies to work together with an aim to develop the next generation of fuel resources for cutting edge commercial applications. These agencies are <keyword id="6355455" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-Railways">Indian Railways</keyword> Organisation for Alternate Fuels (<keyword id="860398" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="IROAF">IROAF</keyword>), which is Indian Railways' alternate fuel arm; <keyword id="536054" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-Institute-of-Petroleum">Indian Institute of Petroleum</keyword> (<keyword id="6427912" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="IIP">IIP</keyword>) Dehradun, and <keyword id="1853234" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="National-Institute-of-Solar-Energy">National Institute of Solar Energy</keyword> (NISE). All these state-owned agencies are working to develop solar-assisted Biomass Pyrolysis technology so that methanol can be produced as an alternate fuel. "An alternate route of Methanol production is by using biomass, wood and waste products. Currently, people use the catalytic route (enzymatic route) for this. We aim to do this through biomass pyrolysis," Ravinder Gupta, Chief Administrative Officer of IROAF told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/oil-gas/indias-top-energy-research-bodies-come-together-to-develop-next-gen-fuel-resources/articleshow/58836621.cms">ET</a>. While IROAF is working with an aim to use <keyword id="6357019" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="solar-energy">solar energy</keyword> to convert wood and bio-waste into wood-oil, IIP is researching on ways to convert wood-oil into methanol. Separately, IROAF is also experimenting with Hydrogen-powered fuel cells to generate power. It has also been given the responsibility of exploring new avenues to fuel Indian Railways. "We are also working on fuel cell technology. Hydrogen-run fuel cells have also become affordable. On an experimental basis, we are going to fit a hydrogen fuel cell for powering guard vans attached to trains as a standby. Fuel cells can generate power up to 300 kilowatts," Gupta said. (Image source Incore)

India assembles top energy research bodies to develop next-gen fuel resources

Buildings are not just passive sub-units of our cities—mere places to dwell in or seek protection from the elements. They are spaces where we live, work, produce, and transact; they are living parts of the larger universe. Hence, when we talk about smart infrastructure, transport, healthcare, education or governance, smart buildings cannot be far behind. Yet, the building sector has remained largely unaffected by the advances in technology that have transformed nearly every aspect of our lives. Smart buildings are structures that intelligently integrate different technologies to optimize energy efficiency and security for inhabitants. In recent years, building owners are paying attention but buildings are still associated with ‘premium’ real estate projects. However, far from being a luxury for a privileged few, smart buildings can be an obvious and natural solution to the challenges faced by our crowded cities, where rampant construction is putting a strain on power and water delivery systems, and giving rise to environmental and public safety concerns. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/India-is-set-to-witness-a-housing-boom-worth-1-3-trillion-and-it-would-CHANGE-the-economy-like-never-before/articleshow/58590215.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">As per CLSA India Pvt. Ltd., India will add 60 million new homes between 2018 and 2024. </a> Commercial real estate projects are also expected to grow robustly soon. While this speaks volumes about India’s economic growth, there is a flip side as well. Buildings are ravenous consumers of resources. Globally, buildings consume an estimated 42% of all generated electricity, with the lion’s share going to residential buildings. In India, the relevant figure is around 30%, but this is rapidly rising, says a report by The <keyword id="401803" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Energy-and-Resources-Institute">Energy and Resources Institute</keyword> (<keyword id="6366057" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="TERI">TERI</keyword>). The report adds that the Indian buildings sector consumes roughly 12% of all fresh water, and generates wastewater of around 22,900 million liters per day. Buildings are also responsible for environmental damage. In the US, for example, residential and commercial buildings account for 39% of CO2 emissions in that country. These emissions are primarily due to the fossil fuels used to generate electricity used in homes and offices. As a fast-developing economy, chances are India isn’t too far behind. As commercial and residential buildings, multiply rapidly in Indian cities, they create additional pressure on power and water supply systems, driving up tariffs for end consumers and increasing carbon footprint. Challenges like these make the case for smart buildings even more compelling. So, let’s look at some of the ways in which smart buildings can help cities defray some of the above costs. 
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	<div type="image" title="here-are-some-of-the-technologies-that-are-making-cities-smarter" msid="61778792" hostid="261"></div>



















 Energy consumption Lighting, air-conditioning, and appliances are the main power guzzlers in buildings today. Monitoring them manually is next to impossible, but technology provides some answers. Smart buildings use sensors and the Internet of Things (IoT) technology to gather data on how and where power is being used, and take automatic decisions to optimize those functions: for e.g., by dimming or turning off lights when a room is empty, adjusting the AC’s temperature per the weather outside, or switching to alternate power (e.g. a microgrid or solar grid) to reduce reliance on the main grid. Smart building technology can also be configured to alert residents or management to wastage of electricity or water (for e.g. a TV or water sprinkler) and enable them to turn off the equipment remotely. Aggregated over months and years, these savings can translate into significant benefits for residents and building owners. Efficiency Smart buildings have single-point tools and controls that allow facilities managers to gauge the performance of equipment in the building, and take immediate action to address malfunctions or concerns. This reduces downtime and enhances the efficiency and lifespan of the equipment. Smart buildings can also be equipped with efficiency features like smart parking, which provides real-time data on available parking, eliminating wastage of fuel; and in-house water recycling, which drives down the cost of water usage within the premises. Health &amp; Environment Every <keyword id="188" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Diwali">Diwali</keyword>, the plunging quality of air in India’s metros leads to widespread public health concerns. Similarly, water-borne illnesses in the monsoon are a regular phenomenon. Seasonal health hazards like these cause significant medical expenditure and result in workplace absenteeism, which can hit productivity and economic activity. However, sensors installed in smart buildings can constantly monitor air or water quality, and send alerts to residents whenever quality is seen to deteriorate, enabling the latter to take preventive action. Smart buildings are also more environmentally-friendly than regular buildings. Since they regulate and optimize devices like air-conditioners, smart buildings typically cause lower emissions of ozone-depleting greenhouse gases. Security and safety One of the biggest advantages of smart buildings is that they are far more secure than conventional buildings, with features like intruder detection, access control, and video surveillance, which make it very difficult for outsiders to infiltrate the premises. Breaches are promptly captured by the system and relayed to the authorities. The smart building’s security software also integrates with the residents’ personal devices, allowing them to remotely monitor their homes on their smartphones, minimizing chances of loss due to theft or robbery. Even as the government emphasizes the need for technological interventions in everything from transportation to payments, the shift towards smart buildings is inevitable. With all their advantages, smart buildings will play a huge role in helping our towns and cities become sustainable, safer, and future-ready. Honeywell is helping create smarter, greener, safer, and more efficient buildings across India with its range of products, software, and technologies that are found in over 150 million homes and 10 million buildings worldwide.To know more please visit <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Honeywell.India/" target="_blank">Honeywell India</a>. (Disclaimer: This piece is Sponsored by Honeywell)

Why smarter buildings are becoming an economic necessity

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Canadian gas company Enbridge <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230301005094/en/Divert-Inc.-Announces-Transformative-1-Billion-Infrastructure-Development-Agreement-With-Enbridge-Inc.-Solidifying-its-Leadership-in-Solving-the-Wasted-Food-Crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pledged</a> up to $1 billion to a US firm turning food waste into energy.</li><li>Energy made from waste can displace fossil fuels, but its climate benefits are debated.</li></ul>This article is part of Insider's weekly newsletter on sustainability, written by Catherine Boudreau, senior sustainability reporter. <a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/click/639a388c36f47a829b0ccf3f/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYnVzaW5lc3NpbnNpZGVyLmNvbS9zdWJzY3JpcHRpb24vbmV3c2xldHRlci9pbnNpZGVyLXN1c3RhaW5hYmlsaXR5/62616365333b7cf6e7074d68Bfb7029c5" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored">Sign up here</a>.Oil and gas companies <a href="https://bcse.org/images/2023%20Factbook/2023%20BCSE%20BNEF%20Sustainable%20Energy%20in%20America%20Factbook.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">see a green opportunity</a> from food waste like rotting spinach but some climate advocates say it's more like greenwashing. The Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230301005094/en/Divert-Inc.-Announces-Transformative-1-Billion-Infrastructure-Development-Agreement-With-Enbridge-Inc.-Solidifying-its-Leadership-in-Solving-the-Wasted-Food-Crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said it would</a> invest up to $1 billion to Divert, a US tech company founded 15 years ago that turns food waste from <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220824005268/en/Divert-Inc.-Announces-Significant-Business-Momentum-Accelerates-Mission-to-Protect-the-Value-of-Food" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thousands of grocery stores</a> into renewable natural gas, or RNG. Divert plans to expand its food waste-to-RNG operations across the US over the next eight years, said CEO and cofounder Ryan Begin. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd_QXtyW0Is" target="_blank" rel="noopener">company's software</a> tracks retailers' food waste and Divert then recovers what can be donated to food banks. The company funnels the rest into its anaerobic digesters to create energy. The plan is to build 30 plants, enough to manage 5% of US food waste; Divert now handles about a half percent. "We're hyper focused on reducing food waste," Begin said. "Enbridge is focused on the energy transition and RNG is a powerful way to get there." Making gas from waste can <a href="https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/renewable-natural-gas-climate-strategy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">avoid greenhouse gas emissions</a> that seep out of landfills. The RNG can then displace fossil fuels in cars, trucks, and electric power markets, but some climate advocates aren't convinced. After all, RNG is still primarily methane, which has up to 80 times the global warming power of carbon dioxide."We can't keep burning gas if we're going to meet global climate targets," said Cara Bottorff, managing senior analyst for the Sierra Club. "Research by the gas industry itself shows that RNG can only meet a small fraction of gas demand. It's also a very costly way to come up with an energy source. We already have a cheaper solution that's proven: electrification." An <a href="https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/renewable-natural-gas-climate-strategy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis by the World Resources Institute</a>, a research nonprofit, found that RNG made from food waste or landfills and manure pits that weren't already controlling methane had promising climate benefits. While RNG can't displace enough fossil fuels to meet long-term climate goals, it can play a "significant complementary role" by replacing gas in heavy-duty trucking, heating for existing buildings and other hard-to-decarbonize industries.Bottorff said Enbridge's investment in Divert is "textbook greenwashing" because it represents a small portion of Enbridge's business.Enbridge's <a href="https://enbridge.gcs-web.com/static-files/45bc6d58-3f0a-4a6d-93ff-7ff8b3faa69c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latest financial report shows</a> it's secured $7.5 billion in gas-expansion projects through 2028, including pipelines and terminals to boost exports to Europe and Asia. About $2.5 billion is secured in offshore wind power in France through 2025, and the company has <a href="https://www.enbridge.com/about-us/renewable-energy#:~:text=Today%2C%20Enbridge%20is%20one%20of,operations%20(265%20MW%20gross%20capacity)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invested in dozens of onshore wind and solar projects</a>. Jon Harding, a spokesperson for Enbridge, told Insider in an email that the company plans to invest closer to $4 billion in renewables and low-carbon solutions through 2025.During an investor call Wednesday, Enbridge officials emphasized that while they plan to pursue lower-carbon strategies, gas will still be needed for decades to come for heavy industry and to help move away from coal, which is dirtier than gas.Enbridge also <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/02/14/news/enbridge-ontario-gas-expansion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked Ontario regulators to approve rate hikes</a> on its customers to fund a $16 billion expansion of gas pipelines across the province. The company <a href="https://www.enbridge.com/~/media/Enb/Documents/About%20Us/Net_Zero_by_2050.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050</a>, but that target only applies to its own operations, not the oil and gas burned by its customers. Enbridge reported that those so-called Scope 3 emissions account for the majority of its emissions.Caitlin Tessin, Enbridge's vice president of strategy and market innovation, told Insider the company is working within its supply chain to lower Scope 3 emissions. She added that the company wants to keep its infrastructure in use and is trying to decarbonize the system as much as possible."Diverting food waste from a landfill and putting it in a digester is absolutely more environmentally friendly and has a lower carbon intensity than most fuels," she said. <div type="image" title="One of Divert's anaerobic digestion facilities" height="1814" width="2419" msid="98374402" hostid="261"></div>Divert, for its part, said that its expansion once completed could avert 400,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, based on a third-party life cycle assessment of its current operations. That's the equivalent of driving more than 86,000 gas-powered cars for a year, according to the EPA.There's no doubt the RNG sector is gaining some ground. States like California, Washington and Oregon, along with Europe, subsidize its production through their climate policies – making it an attractive play for fossil fuel companies. BP <a href="https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/news-and-insights/press-releases/bp-completes-acquisition-of-archaea-energy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquired Archaea Energy for $4.1 billion</a>, which has 50 landfill-to-gas sites in the US, and <a href="https://www.shell.com/media/news-and-media-releases/2022/shell-to-acquire-renewable-natural-gas-producer-nature-energy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shell plans to acquire</a> the Denmark-based Nature Energy for $2 billion. Kinder Morgan, the largest gas pipeline company in North America, also plans to invest $1.1 billion in RNG by 2024. Asset management giant BlackRock <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackrock-renewable-natural-gas-infrastructure-deal-strategy-2022-8">also acquired RNG producer Vanguard</a> for $700 million.

Oil and gas companies are investing billions to make energy from waste but some climate groups call it greenwashing

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="11908406" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biden-administration" source="Orion">Biden administration</keyword> announced Friday it would restart <keyword id="12414947" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oil-and-gas" source="Orion">oil and gas</keyword> leases on federal land.</li><li>Oil and gas association president Tim Stewart raised doubts over the policy in a Fox <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">News</keyword> interview.</li></ul>A prominent oil and gas executive said in <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/oil-gas-joe-biden-energy-policies">an interview with Fox News</a> that he believed the <keyword id="60973" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biden" source="Orion">Biden</keyword> administration's <keyword id="11917806" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="energy" source="Orion">energy</keyword> policies would prolong and magnify the existing crisis. <keyword id="99719" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="joe-biden" source="Orion">Joe Biden</keyword> announced Friday that the government would resume oil and gas leases on federal land in a bid to bring down petrol prices. They have hit a record high – 70% since Biden took office – with gasoline at $4.07 as of Friday, according to the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/aaebf4c8-919e-4b13-9703-e548ed705e4c">Financial Times</a>.US Oil &amp; Gas Association president Tim Stewart told Fox News that the new policy "will compound the problem. We have a short-term production shortfall right now. The Secretary's actions that she announced yesterday will push this problem out three, five, seven, 10 years."Secretary Deb Haaland said <a href="https://doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-announces-significantly-reformed-onshore-oil-and-gas-lease-sales">in a statement</a> shared with Insider: "How we manage our public lands and waters says everything about what we value as a nation. For too long, the federal oil and gas leasing programs have prioritized the wants of extractive industries above local communities, the natural environment, the impact on our air and water, the needs of Tribal Nations, and, moreover, other uses of our shared public lands.""Today, we begin to reset how and what we consider to be the highest and best use of Americans' resources for the benefit of all current and future generations," Haaland added.Stewart also said that the secretary of interior is "very much on message with the rest of the Biden administration.""She was very clear that's what she was going to do for those oil and gas operators who were interested in doing work on federal lands, that we should be prepared to pay about 50% more in royalties and other fees that we already pay," Stewart said.He added that they are only going to have access to 20% of the current acreage they have "put forward to the secretary as potential oil and gas opportunities for us." The new policy would do nothing to increase production, according to Stewart.A recent decline in global oil prices came after Biden released <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-oil-release-lower-gas-prices-stockpile-russia-ukraine-inflation-2022-3?r=US&amp;IR=T">one million barrels</a> of oil a day from the government's strategic stockpiles for six months. The president had come under intense political pressure over the <keyword id="12098766" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="fuel-prices" source="Orion">fuel prices</keyword>. The US government has already turned to the strategic reserve twice to put downward pressure on gas prices. The administration announced a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-releasing-oil-from-us-reserves-hope-combat-gas-price-spike-2021-11?r=US&amp;IR=T">release of 50 million</a> barrels in November as supply-chain issues hindered the energy market.Biden unleashed another <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gas-price-biden-announces-crude-oil-release-reserves-inflation-2022-3?r=US&amp;IR=T">30 million barrels</a> of crude on March 1 to counter price pressures linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.Frank Macchiarola, senior vice-president at the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's largest lobbying group, told the FT the new policy would discourage oil and natural gas investment on federal lands."We are concerned that this action adds new barriers to increasing energy production, including removing some of the most significant parcels," Macchiarola said.

Joe Biden's energy policies will prolong the current crisis, oil and gas executive says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>India is home to the world's largest solar farm.</li><li>Financing for the project was sparked by G8 countries of the Climate Investment Fund in 2008. </li></ul>As the world slowly moves toward renewable energy, one of the most complex dimensions of the transition is the obligation imposed upon developing countries, which also suffer some of the worst impacts of climate change. Why should emerging markets sacrifice growth to meet climate targets, when they were not the nations that caused the climate crisis in the first place? It's a point that India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, raised at the 2021 COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Modi pledged that India would hit net zero by 2070 — two decades many of the Western countries, and a decade later than China. At last week's COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, India affirmed that deadline.Meanwhile, the world's richest countries <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/climate/un-climate-damage-cop27.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">pledged</a> to contribute to a fund that would help developing countries deal with climate disasters. There's also good news about climate investment coming out of India. The largest solar farm in the world is located in Rajasthan, in the country's northeast. Since construction began in 2015, Bhadla Solar Park has slowly grown to cover an enormous 5,700-hectare desert site with solar panels. And today it generates enough electricity to power 4.5 million homes."There was very little experience in India, and there were no real airtight regulations that had been tested," said Mohua Mukherjee, an economist at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, who used to oversee the World Bank's Indian Solar Energy program."It was more on a conversational basis with a group of developers who said to the government, well, there's this wasteland lying around that belongs to the government," said Mukerjee. "So if you can declare it a solar park and let us put up our panels, we will sell electricity to you."<h2>Sustainable finance</h2>The park was built in four phases, with each field of solar panels larger than the last. The buildout happened so quickly thanks to the involvement of the Climate Investment Fund — alongside more general multilateral development banks — which was set up by the G8 countries specifically to cofinance climate-mitigation projects. "The way that we do that is by providing concessional resources," explained Daniel Morris, the clean energy lead at the fund. "That's finance that's really cheap, basically the cheapest money in the world, either through grants or, more often, heavily subsidized loans."With our $200 million we were able to mobilize $112 million in additional cofinancing just on this project, which has resulted in 5.6 million tonnes of CO2 reduced, and it has put 2.7 gigawatts of installed capacity on the ground."The goal of the fund is to provide finance for technologies that are on the edge of commercial viability, or require funding to reach scale, Morris said. Bhadla, unsurprisingly, was a case of the latter."This was about scale," said Morris. "Solar panels were commercially viable in 2013 in a lot of places, it was just that the cost of generation was not competitive in places like India, and in Rajasthan, the way coal was. But now the cost of technology has come down so much that it's incredibly viable."And the scale is paying off around the world. Today, solar is the cheapest form of energy the world has ever seen, according to <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/07/renewables-cheapest-energy-source/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">the International Renewable Energy Agency</a>, and the price of large-scale solar-panel deployment has fallen 85% in the past decade.<h2>Hiccups and learnings</h2>There is another important lesson from Bhadla that underscores how massive projects require careful logistical planning so the pieces fall into place at the right time."Phase one had a number of hiccups, which included the private-sector guys being ready with their panels, having taken loans, paying interest on those loans, and their power having nowhere to go because the evacuation arrangements weren't ready," Mukherjee said of building Bhadla."Evacuation" is an energy-industry term of art describing how generational projects need to be connected to a wider grid. And in India, this meant navigating the complex bureaucracy and politics of both the nationwide and regional electric grids."Transmission lines take about ten times as long to build as it takes to put up solar panels," Mukherjee said. "The sun was beating down on the panels and electricity was being generated, but it had nowhere to go."The good news is that these lessons were learned, and later phases took grid connections into consideration. As a result, India now has a fairly thriving solar industry, with the construction of numerous other plants, including the 750-megawatt Rewa plant, in Madhya Pradesh. As a result of the investment and development, India hit its 2022 20-gigawatt solar-installation target in 2018, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/productline/power-generation/india-achieved-solar-power-target-4-years-ahead-of-schedule-dst-advisor/articleshow/71078461.cms?from=mdr" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">four years earlier</a> than expected."I think it shows that when you make an effort to prioritize scale, things can ramp up very quickly," said Morris. "When you see technology costs dropping, sometimes precipitously like they have with solar panels, then the opportunity to do more just grows and grows."

You Searched For "energy and resources institute" and got 10 results

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India is harnessing renewable energy through the world's biggest solar farm. Here's how it happened.

James O'Malley

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India is harnessing renewable energy through the world's biggest solar farm. Here's how it happened.

James O&apos;Malley

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James O'Malley