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Tamil Nadu
— 
At the global-level, lot of aggressive policies and entrepreneurial action are happening on the renewable energy front and “I see a greater future fuelled by renewable energy with the convergence of these factors,” says Griffin M. Thompson, Programme Manager of Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate and senior energy advisor, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. And, India and China are leading the way. The two countries are blessed with abundant renewable energy resources, commitment of the Governments and people thinking of new ways to do business, he tells M. Soundariya Preetha. The U.S., Canada, Australia, India, China, Korea and Japan together have 50 per cent of the world’s population and 50 per cent of the world GDP. These are the member countries of the Asia Pacific Partnership (APP) programme that aims to figure out solutions to climate change, promote clean energy and achieve sustainable growth. In India, the APP works with the Central and the State Governments on various issues. One such is the programme with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency to look at standards and labelling for equipment. According to a study, in India, refrigerators, air conditioners, motors and transformers consume nearly 22 per cent of electricity. There is tremendous potential for improving energy efficiency of equipment. In the U.S., the standards and labelling programme is on for the last 15 or 20 years and covers 50 products. By the procurement regulation, all federal facilities use equipment that has an energy star. At the global level, 2007 saw $ 148 billion investment in clean energy. This is 60 per cent more than the previous year. Ernst and Young has ranked India third, next only to the U.S. and Germany, as having the best environment for investment in renewable energy. Several states in the country already have targets for renewable energy generation. “Our philosophy is to explore all types of energy and resources,” he says. Renewable energy is one of the fastest growing sectors in the U.S. The Department of Energy released a study recently which says that 20 per cent of total electricity demand has the potential to come from wind by 2030 in the U.S. Nearly 25 states have renewable energy targets. In the U.S. and India, transmission and distribution systems need to be improved. “Infrastructure is a challenge.” Hence, it is also essential to look at area-specific initiatives. In the U.S., “We are looking at smart grids. Domestically, we are also looking at distributed (decentralised) generation, especially using the renewables. We are experimenting with various systems and models,” he says. The APP will have its countries networking with each other at the Central, state and city level governments. With so many initiatives and programmes on, “future is very bright for renewable all over the world. New technologies do take time to adopt. We are getting smarter and creative and we have learnt from the past experiences. We are now building infrastructure and network to support the technology. I think we are there though we still have a long way to go,” he concludes.
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