White Paper on Indian energy Scenarios by CSTEP- Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy.
compelling study on India energy history for last 20 years and evolving scenario for next decade.
White Paper on India Scenarios by CSTEP- Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy.pdf (2.6 MB)
Some of the key takeaways from the report:
- The economy of India will increase 4 times by mid-century and 6 times to 2070
- By mid-century, final energy demand will double, and electricity demand will increase 6 times, up to 10,000TWh. The share of electricity in final energy demand could reach by then 50-65% of total. Solar energy
- • The share of oil and natural gas in total energy supply will drop from around 30% today to 6-13% across scenarios
- As surprising as these figures may seem, they actually reflect inevitable evolutions of the energy system. The rise of air conditioning and appliances in buildings, for instance, will significantly push electricity consumption upward. In mobility, the advent of electric vehicles will also lead to rising demand for electricity. In industry, the rapid development and modernization of the manufacturing footprint will also yield rising electrification levels. In fact, these evolutions reflect a new form of development, one that builds on 21st century technologies, now available at scale, a complete change of paradigm compared to what was observed in the last decades.
- 60% of that increase in electricity demand will come from buildings. Yet, about 35-40% of that demand could be provided by distributed generation (representing as a result 20-25% of total power generation), a major enabler and facilitator of electrification and development
- Hydrogen will also play a role with 15-20Mton/y of green production by mid-century, mainly concentrated around steel manufacturing, alternative fuels production for aviation and shipping, and power generation
- India’s emissions are likely to peak by the 2030s
New Pathway
The study suggests that India potentially seats at the forefront of a 21st century energy transition, which, only a few decades ago, was deemed impossible. Given the size of the nation, the choices that the government of India will make in the coming years will thus also, to a large extent, define whether global issues are ultimately resolved, or not. Achieving such a feat may be more feasible than we think
In Last 20 years…
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GDP was multiplied by three with a population growth of only 30% what translated into over a doubling of GDP per capita. GDP per capita is however still 1/6th of that of an economy
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like the European Union, and almost a 1/3rd of global average. There is thus still huge room for economic growth in India
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The final energy demand per capita has also strongly increased (by around 40%), but is still nearly three times lower than the global average, and 4 times lower than the European Union. A key challenge for India is thus the actual growth of energy demand, which requires to be both rapid, resilient and sustainable
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The energy intensity per unit of GDP has strongly improved over the last 20 years in India and is now on par with the global average. Yet, it remains 50% higher than that of the European Union
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In Building
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- India is up for a massive construction phase, Residential surface per capita is today 2.5 times lower than global average and four times lower than in the European Union. hence t India will be one of the hotbeds of the construction industry in the coming decades.
- India will be one of the hotbeds of the construction industry in the coming decades. Biomass is indeed a very inefficient source of energy for lighting and cooking. When this gets substituted by modern forms of energy, overall intensity per square meters tends to decrease
- The larger penetration of appliances (and cooling) in the residential (and service) stock globally (and in the European Union in particular) suggests an even greater gap in building energy performance.
In Mobility
- The passenger-kilometers per capita(pkm per capita) for 2/3 wheelers still significant increase from low 133pkm per capita to 6-7 times more in 2019. This is however still 5 times lower than global average and 12 times lower than in Europe
- In 2000, rail and buses dominated transport. This is now less true than it used to be, with all three modes of transport almost on par. In the rest of the world, cars and 2- and 3-wheelers dominate pkm.
- The steel production per capita in India, despite nearly increasing four times, remains three times lower than global average and four times lower than in Europe
In Conclusion:
India has witnessed a considerable economic development for the last 20 years and is en route to become one of the dominant economies of the 21st century. The potential for development is mind-blowing. If all economic indicators were to match current European levels for instance, the economy would be 6 times larger, the production of steel 4 times bigger, the residential stock 4 times more important, and the kilometers traveled per car (and likely the number of cars) 10 times longer. Two key
questions emerge.
– Will India effectively reach these levels, or will it invent a
different future?
– How much time will this transformation take?
India’s energy system (and building, industry and transport stocks) is yet largely to be written, given the major build out plan ahead.
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