12/1/2017 Alternative energy solutions for smart cities

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Bihar The vision of a modern India encapsulates the concept of 'smart cities' to address the
Odisha phenomenally rapid urbanization of our nation. The government has announced plans to
create a hundred smart cities to meet the challenge of the future, as it has been estimated
WEEKLY FEATURES that by 2050 India's urban communities are expected to rise to a humongous 50 per cent of
Knowhow Mon the population. Importantly, about 66 per cent of the world's population would then be living
in urban areas. Cities worldwide would consume two-thirds of global energy and contribute
Jobs Tue
up to 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emission. At present, about 300 million of our
You Mon countrymen live sans electricity. Therefore, we have a long way to go as far as our
Salt Lake Fri endeavours to give basic necessities and quality of life to citizens are concerned. This,
7days Sun indeed, is a wake-up call.
Graphiti Sun However, India would definitely come up with answers for such challenges of the 21st
century based on its civilization's wisdom and ethos. Indians are conservative by nature, but
LEISURE gifted with such qualities as resilience, adaptability and frugality - these are our strengths.
Sudoku For example, even those who can afford to pay a higher electricity bill will have only such
Sudoku New lights switched on as are essential. Most homes have one space that is kept cool in the
summer or warmed up in winter. Entire homes are seldom climate-controlled. If one were to
Crossword
take a look at rural India, a revolution of sorts has taken place in the past few years. LED
Jumble lamps have replaced normal electric bulbs everywhere, thereby saving a huge amount of
Gallery electricity.

ARCHIVES It is estimated that by 2030, India's energy requirement will increase by almost 200 per cent.
According to an analysis carried out by the ministry of new and renewable energy, at an
Since 1 March, 1999
achievable and conservative GDP increase of 6.5 per cent, our energy need would touch
PRESS RELEASES 7,55,719 MW. This was aptly exhorted by the prime minister at the COP 21 summit in Paris -
"We have to ensure, in the spirit of climate justice, that the life of a few does not crowd out
Businesswire India the opportunities for the many still on the initial steps of the development ladder". While coal
NewsVoir is likely to be our preponderant energy source for the near and mid-term future, we are likely
PR Newswire to see greater use of alternative, carbon-free sources of energy such as gas, hydro, nuclear
and a host of other renewable sources.

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12/1/2017 Alternative energy solutions for smart cities
EXTRAS We have no choice but to go in for less and less fossil fuels and gradually enhance
dependence on nature-based clean and renewable energy sources and achieve planned
Travel
targets in a time-bound manner. What is more important is that we have to enhance
THE TELEGRAPH investments in scientific research and develop technologies to maximize the production,
storage and loss-free distribution of clean energy. Besides that, new technology would need
About Us to be exploited to evolve energy-saving and energy-efficient techniques and make the whole
Advertise initiative sustainable as an integrated 'smart energy system'. India, as a responsible global
Feedback player, has set for itself ambitious targets of, firstly, cutting carbon emissions intensity of its
GDP by 35 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 with 40 per cent of its energy coming from
Contact Us
'non-fossil fuels'. Secondly, it aims at creating 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022, of
which 100 GW would be produced from solar energy. The International Solar Alliance was
launched during the COP 21 summit in Paris by Narendra Modi and the French president,
Franois Hollande. The latter not only praised India's initiative but also assured handsome
support by France. This step might well become another pillar of the strategic partnership
between the two countries. The importance of solar energy as an alternative power source
has thus been globally enshrined.

The concept of smart cities is indeed a visionary, innovative and timely idea. Though there is
no universally accepted definition of a smart city, there is convergence on important features
that make up one. Essentially, a smart city must provide '21st century standard' quality of life
based on cutting edge information and communication technology so that the citizens are
able to live in a secure, peaceful, productive and organized environment with assured
amenities, including public transportation, and services that are cost-effective, integrated,
wired and sustainable. The emphasis should be on greening the city so as to reduce the
carbon signature and on the use of efficient and renewable energy systems. All this cannot
be achieved without the institutionalized participation of the citizens.The smart cities of the
future should have none of the ills and the urban chaos that most of our present-day cities
and metros suffer from.

As far as India is concerned, plans for new smart cities need to be implemented
expeditiously. Moreover, our metros and tier two cities would soon become totally chaotic
and unliveable unless they are modernized and 'retrofitted' on the lines of smart cities.
President John F. Kennedy had aptly stated, "We will neglect our cities to our peril, for in
neglecting them we neglect the nation." A recent study by IIT Kanpur, highlighting the
primary causes of pollution in Delhi, revealed that besides others, air traffic at the Indira
Gandhi International airport, with over 800 air movements per day, and the use of wood and
coal based tandoors in 9,000 odd restaurants and eateries are also significant polluters and
contributors to greenhouse gases and particulate matter. Surprisingly these are hardly taken
into consideration. However, it would be incorrect to carry the impression that nothing is
being done to ameliorate the situation. For example, in addition to Chandigarh, Jabalpur has
also taken a formidable leap and "carved for itself a niche among modern and world class
cities of India... in terms of roads, sanitation system, waste management system, energy
conservation etc". In another initiative, the government has come out with a new policy that
has provisions for 'time of the day metering', green power purchase, and 24x7 power supply
to all by 2022 besides other features. In some of India's states like Karnataka, new houses
are not approved unless rooftop solar panels for heating of water have been incorporated.
The master plan for building Amravati, the proposed capital city of Andhra Pradesh, has
been contracted to Singapore, the city state known for impeccable governance. It is hoped
that this would fructify into a showpiece 'smart state capital' of a modern India.

In view of stringent climate control protocols, in Kyoto and recently in Paris, India has
committed to bring down 'emissions by 35 percent of 2005 levels and 40 percent of its
installed capacity will be from non-fossil fuels'. Further, the prime minister has given an
assurance that the 'balance between ecology and economy' would be restored and also that
'between our inheritance and obligation to the future'. However, it would be unreasonable to
expect the government alone to bear the cost of such a massive transformation in the way
urban India lives. Resorting to public-private partnerships, encouraging the private sector
and citizens by giving grants, subsidies and concessions and adopting the best practices of
developed countries would be the way forward in this endeavour. Successful models of
public-private partnerships worldwide should be studied, suitably modified, and incorporated
to suit our culture and way of life.

In the near term, while we focus on new and alternative sources for power, we would
primarily have to depend upon fossil fuel and gas-based energy. Nonetheless, efforts must
be made to achieve cleaner power and to lower the carbon footprints of existing power
plants. The alternative means comprise nuclear, hydro, solar, wind, geothermal, solid bio-
mass, biogas, biofuel, and energy created from waste. Importantly, for our smart cities, we
need to crank in these 'almost carbon-free' and environment-friendly energy sources at the
inception stage itself so as to ensure uninterrupted and stabilized power supply when the
cities develop. These cities must have integrated and networked grids that would not only
lower the consumption of power but also make it cost-effective. Urban India produces over

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12/1/2017 Alternative energy solutions for smart cities
40 per cent of carbon emissions on account of industrial activity, transportation, construction,
renovation of infrastructure, real estate, and handling and disposal of solid waste. Smart
cities envisage the use of green and renewable energy with newer technologies which,
hopefully, are likely to be shared by the advanced countries on the basis of genuine global
partnerships.

In a country like ours, where there is abundance of sunlight, solar energy has the potential to
meet a major part of our future energy needs. The government has accordingly made an
ambitious plan to achieve a target of 100,000 MW from solar energy during the next six
years or so. Besides harnessing this renewable and clean energy in large solar plants and
integrating the power produced with the national power grid, smart cities would have
integrated roof-top solar harvesting in all major buildings, railway and metro stations,
schools, hospitals and even residential complexes, thereby making efficient use of space.
The decentralized solar energy thus produced would be meshed with smart grids to serve
the local communities. To achieve this, we would need to have in place state-of-the-art
transmission and distribution systems for power that have been planned with the help of
geographic information systems. Driving on the motorway from Los Angeles through the
Mojave desert, one is truly mesmerized by what appears to be a huge lake with its surface
shimmering in the sun and a few brilliantly lit towers within it. Amazingly, spread out over a
few kilometres, it is the 392 MW Ivanpah solar-thermal power project, the largest of its kind in
the world. We need solar parks of this kind.

Impetus must be provided to construct energy-efficient green buildings with intelligent

metering devices to regulate power, gas and water supply and be linked to a smart city grid.
The smart grid would be the hard core or the backbone of the 'e-governance' plan of the city
and will connect the administration with each district, infrastructure project, industry, industrial
park, public facility or amenity, residential complex and colony. This will facilitate industrial
growth that would be globally competitive and create jobs. This new approach to manage
cities will have high dependence on digital technology. The Indian railways has plans to
produce a huge amount of solar power by having panels on its platforms and large railway
yards as also to run locomotives on solar power. Similarly, the Delhi Metro has plans to go
'completely solar'.

India is the world's fifth largest producer of wind energy. To make it to the top, the
government has planned to increase wind-power generation to 60,000 MW by 2028. This
would imply that roughly 5,300 MW would be added every year, and for that considerable tax
incentives have been announced. The advantage of wind power is that such plants could be
spread out all over the country based on surveys of wind conditions and thus be able to feed
electricity directly to the nearest city or town grid. This set-up would be fairly cost-effective as
transmission losses would be reduced.

The other renewable energy sources are biomass and small hydro projects, which have
been targeted to reach up to 10,000 MW and 5,000 MW, respectively, by 2022. Bagasse co-
generation is pegged at 2,800 MW and waste to power at 107 MW presently, although plans
are afoot to enhance energy production from these clean sources. These facilities could be
located close to smart cities and metros. The electricity generated by these sources would
be integrated in the urban power grids and enhance the overall availability of electricity.
Biogas produced from organic material such as municipal waste, sewage, food and plant
waste comprises about 65 per cent of methane and the rest is carbon dioxide. It can be used
to generate electricity and, when compressed as fuel, for public transport in lieu of CNG.
Sub-Himalayan states like Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh are installing many
mini hydroelectric plants in the remote areas; some of them in locations where roads are yet
to reach. Interestingly, the first small hydro-power plant in Asia was established by the British
in 1897 at Sidrapong about 12 kilometres from Darjeeling. This visionary project had two
hydroelectric sets producing 65 KW each, which was sufficient to meet the energy needs of
Darjeeling at that time.

In addition, new technologies with a huge potential are emerging. Among them are
'geothermal'- a viable alternative source of clean and renewable energy wherein the heat in
geothermal zones below the surface of the earth is being used to produce electricity in many
parts of the world (at present this is at a nascent stage in India) - and 'hydricity'- only a
concept at the moment, where solar energy is not only used to generate electricity, but also
for producing and storing hydrogen from superheated water; the hydrogen, subsequently,
being used to produce electricity using a turbine-based hydrogen-power cycle.

As a viable alternative to conventional and coal or gas based power generation, India has
also planned to source a major portion of its energy from nuclear power plants having the
latest technology and greater safeguards. "Energy independence is India's first and highest
priority", said India's former president, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a scientist of repute. Further, he
asserted that the nation has "to go in for nuclear power generation in a big way using
thorium-based reactors". The government has planned to enhance the production of nuclear
energy so as to fulfil 25 per cent of the national energy requirements by 2050. In the
developing world, India is among the front runners in the field of nuclear power. At present,
5,780 MW of electricity is generated from seven nuclear power plants. which approximates to
about 2.2 per cent of India's energy production. There are plans to take it up to 20,000 MW in
the next few years. On the other hand, France generates 75 per cent of its energy
requirements from nuclear power plants and is a net exporter of power worth three billion
euros per year. India has similar aspirations of becoming a 'world leader in nuclear
technology due to its expertise in fast reactors and thorium fuel cycle'.

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12/1/2017 Alternative energy solutions for smart cities
As a responsible, emerging world power, India would honour its commitment to significantly
reduce carbon emissions by 2030. India, which is presently the fourth highest producer of
greenhouse gases, has embarked upon a journey to gradually reduce its dependence on
fossil-fuel based energy. Therefore, to meet its energy requirement, it is focussing on
alternative, cleaner, renewable as also unconventional sources of energy and embed this
energy architecture into the plans of smart cities. This strategy of a hundred smart cities with
smart and efficient energy inhabited by 'smart citizens' would be a major step to address the
challenges of a rapidly urbanizing India. At the same time, we must ponder and act on the
sagacious words of Plato spoken two millennia ago: "Any city, however small, is in fact
divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich. These are at war with one
another." It is imperative that we prevent such a war.

The author is former chief of army staff and former governor of Arunachal Pradesh

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