World Lags on Clean Energy Goals
It may be the 21st century but more than three billion people still use fire for cooking and heating. Of those, one billion people have no access to electricity despite a global effort launched at the 2011 Vienna Energy Forum to bring electricity to everyone on the planet. “We are not on track to meet our goal of universal access by 2030, which is also the Sustainable Development Goal for energy,” said Rachel Kyte, CEO for Sustainable Energy for All and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General. “We must all go further, faster—together,” Kyte told more than 1500 delegates and government ministers at the 2017 version of the biannual Vienna Energy Forum this week, organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Kyte reminded everyone that the 2015 Sustainable Development Goal for energy (SDG 7) was a unanimous promise to bring decarbonized, decentralized energy to everyone and that this would transform the world bringing “clean air, new jobs, warm schools, clean buses, pumped water and better yields of nutritious food”. Moreover, to prevent catastrophic climate change the world committed to net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 under the 2015 Paris Agreement, she said. “Why are we not moving more quickly?” At the current pace in 2030 there will still be one person in ten without electricity, according to the Global Tracking Framework 2017 report. Most of those people will be in Africa. In Chad, Niger, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo only one person in ten currently has access and this is falling as populations increase, said Elisa Portale , an energy economist at the World Bank who presented the report’s findings. Although renewable energy like solar and wind gets a great deal of press and attention, the world is failing to meet the SDG target of decarbonizing 36 percent the global energy system and will only get to 21 percent by 2030. Currently it is about 18 percent since renewables include hydropower and biomass. A few countries managed to increase their renewable share by 1 percent per year but some others like Canada and Brazil are actually going backwards, she said. Decarbonizing electricity is going much faster than decarbonizing energy for heating and for transportation, which is seen to be more challenging. Improvements in energy efficiency are also far behind. Investment in energy efficiency needs to increase by a factor of 3 to 6 from the current 250 billion dollars a year in order to reach the 2030 objective, the report concluded. The biggest failure the Global Tracking Framework revealed was that the current number of people still using traditional, solid fuels to cook increased slightly since 2011 to 3.04 billion. Those fuels are responsible for deadly levels of indoor air pollution that shorten the lives of tens of millions and kill four million, mainly children, every year according to the World Health Organization. This seems to be a low priority and by 2030 only 72 percent of the world will be using clean cooking fuels, said Portale. In other words, 2.5 billion people – mostly in the Asia-Pacific region and Africa – will still be burning wood, charcoal or dung to cook their foods. Clean cooking is not a priority for most governments although Indonesia is doing quite well, said Vivien Foster, Global Lead for Energy Economics, Markets & Institutions, The World Bank. “Indoor air pollution has a bigger health impact than HIV/AIDS and malaria combined,” Foster told IPS. One reason clean cooking is a low priority is that men are largely the decisions makers in governments and at the household level and they often are not involved in cooking. Environmental health issues generally get far less attention from governments she said. “Sadly, it’s often mobile phones before toilets,” Foster said. However, the situation in India is dramatically different. Green energy – decarbonized, decentralized energy — is no longer expensive or difficult. It is also the most suitable form of energy for developing nations because both access and benefits can come very quickly, said Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Energy. Access to clean liquid propane gas (LPG) for cooking has increased 33 percent in the last three years, which is about 190 million homes. In the last year alone 20 million of the poorest of the poor received LPG for free, Goyal told IPS. Although millions have no connection to electricity, Goyal said it was his personal belief this will no longer be the case by 2019, three years before India’s 2022 target. “Prime Minister Modi is completely committed to universal access,” he said. “He grew up poor. He knows what it is like to not have electrical power.” India is adding 160 gigawatt (GW) of wind and solar by 2022 and it may beat that target too as the cost of solar and wind are well below coal, the country’s main source of energy. The US currently has just over 100 (GW) in total. One GW can power 100 million LED lightbulbs used in homes. On the energy efficiency front, India is also closing in on a target of replacing all of its lighting with LEDs, saving tens of millions in energy costs and reducing CO2 emissions by as much as 80 million tonnes annually. “We are doing this even if no one else is. We have a big role to play in the fight against climate change,” Goyal said. New York Jets Jersey
Cheaper, greener way to grow semiconductor films found
Scientists have developed a greener and cheaper way to make single-crystalline semiconductor films, components at the heart of our electric gadgets, including smartphones, computers and solar panels. The fastest integrated circuits feature transistors consisting of germanium films on silicon. However, such materials are typically only prepared at elevated temperatures, with complex machinery that involve hazardous gases. Researchers at University of Michigan (UM) in the US invented a method to simultaneously synthesise and deposit crystalline semiconductor films from water at room temperatures using equipment that can be assembled for just a few dollars. “Our method does not require excess heat, and everything is done in an aqueous solution so we are not using any toxic precursors,” said Stephen Maldonado, an associate professor at UM. “And we are doing this without sacrificing any quality in the crystallinity of the material, which is usually the trade-off,” said Maldonado. To do this, Maldonado and his team make a thin, liquid metal film that rests on a substrate that they connect to a power supply. When they electrify the metal film, molecules on the surface of that film – if they are in contact with water – can be reduced into their elemental parts. In this case, units of dissolved germanium oxide are transformed into germanium atoms that dissolve into the liquid metal film. “If the liquid metal film is thin enough, the germanium atoms will precipitate out, but selectively at the bottom and as a uniform crystalline film,” Maldonado said. “The cool thing about this is we are taking an oxidised precursor – like what you’d find in nature – and in one process step, we can produce a technologically relevant film that is one large contiguous crystal,” he said. The team’s next steps will be to do the same process with silicon. The chemistry is more nuanced but the principle is the same. Ultimately, without complex machinery and high temperatures, the new process could provide a cheaper, greener way to produce semiconductors. “There is a reason why everyone on the face of this planet does not have access to advanced electronics. Making high performance semiconductor devices requires a substantial infrastructure,” Maldonado said. The research was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Karl Joseph Jersey
If we simplify process of tariff fixing, it will reduce corruption: Piyush Goyal
With the NDA government’s efforts to make India a power surplus and energy secured nation, electricity will never be a political subject, says power, coal, renewable energy and mines minister Piyush Goyal. The government has put in place an honest and transparent system in the energy sector that will be irreversible, he told ET’s Sarita C Singh in an interview on the sidelines of Vienna Energy Forum. Goyal said states are working towards removing land ownership as requirement for providing connections to give electricity access to slums. Electricity access and lower tariff has always been a political agenda and part of electoral promises in India. With power surplus scenario, do you think this situation will change? Energy is not a political issue for the Modi government. It is our commitment to provide electricity to every household of the country. If there are honest governments in states and the Centre, I don’t think power will now be an issue at all. Some of the things that we are doing are irreversible. For example, reverse auction of power has put an end to the regime of negotiated tariffs, feed-in tariffs, mutual consultation tariff, etc. We have created such an honest and transparent system that anyone will be afraid of trying to corrupt it again. Once we make electricity available to every household, would it be possible to keep people deprived of electricity? What role will rationalisation and simplification of categories of tariff play in reducing corruption? Corruption is the by-product of discretion, when there is scope for interpretation of policies. Some states have more than 100 categories and sub-categories of tariff and therefore one gets ample opportunities to interpret those provisions. I believe if we simplify the process of tariff fixing with lesser tariff slabs and rationalise the process, it will reduce corruption and simultaneously it will enable supply of adequate and cheap power to the poor as well as to farmers. We are also working on making merit order dispatch transparent. We want to make transparency one of the means to get rid of corruption. It has got game changing quality. You would need RTI because the government is going to tell you everything through a transparent mechanism. The government’s target of power for all by 2019 is a challenge in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. How would you ensure every citizen gets legal electricity connection? Earlier, the union government used to give money to grant free electricity connections to poor and farmers but states like Uttar Pradesh were not doing it. Now Uttar Pradesh government is working toward providing electricity to all. Yogiji’s government has accepted my suggestions that the state government will give free electricity connection to urban as well as rural poor, and will ensure that power is available when demanded by simplifying the application process. There shouldn’t be undue paper work and questioning for giving a new connection. Earlier, one had prove ownership of the property for getting a connection but the current government in Uttar Pradesh is working on a system to de-link ownership with electricity connection whereby you will be given a connection where you are residing. If you have to leave the property for any illegality, the connection will be removed. Uttar Pradesh has decided to do it and other states are willing to do it. There have been instances where people are not willing to take legal electricity connections. How are you tackling that? It’s a problem we are facing that a number of people are not willing to apply. I have asked states to organise awareness camps that people need not worry about huge power bills anymore. UPA has been a sad example as during its tenure people used to receive high power bills all of a sudden. In some cases the poor will not receive bills for months together and one day will receive a bill for last two years. Then he is harassed to pay up. We are talking to all states that they have to ensure monthly bills so people don’t have to get a shocker of their lives. If there is a default, then action can be taken on a monthly due amount. Isn’t this phenomenon of not applying for connection a problem for achieving the target of power for all? Power for all includes people who are interested in getting a connection. It cannot be for people who don’t want the connection. Having said that I am confident everybody will apply for power once they are sure that they will not be short-charged. It will be helped by my smart meters programme. Once smart meters come in at the desired scale, the consumer can control his power consumption and the possibility of inflated bill will reduce substantially. What was the key agenda of India’s participation at the Vienna Energy Forum? The Vienna Energy Forum dovetailed the poverty elimination programme with the energy access programme. In a way they have taken up a more holistic view of the sustainable development goals. For India, overcoming the twin challenge of alleviating poverty and giving access to electricity to all is necessary. Shaun Livingston Womens Jersey
India jumps 73 spots to 26 rank in World Bank’s power list: Piyush Goyal
India has climbed up to the twenty-sixth position in World Bank’s electricity accessibility ranking in the current year from 99th spot in 2014, Power Minister Piyush Goyal has said. “Our ranking has improved to 26 position from 99. So, it is truly very redeeming feature and satisfying for me that Prime Minister’s vision particularly to take electricity to every home, particularly to make electricity access very easy, particularly to make energy affordable is being furthered very rapidly,” the minister said here. He also exuded confidence that by 2019, three years ahead of its original schedule, the government would able to take power to every household. He said that the government was closely working with the states to see that electricity was made available on tap. “A person should be able to apply for electricity connection. If there is infrastructure available… get it in 24 hours. If an infrastructure needs to be created he should get in less than one week,” the minister said. Elaborating on energy access to all, the minister said at the Vienna Energy Forum, held on May 11, everyone was actually impressed about India that has actually led the global efforts by its action to address the challenge of the planet change. The focus there was more about energy access. Across Vienna energy forum, everyone praised that India has actually led the global efforts by its action to address the challenge of planet change. The government’s rural electrification programme is proceeding swiftly, with over 13,000 villages electrified out of a total of 18,452 and is on track for completion within the targeted 1,000 days. Alexei Emelin Womens Jersey
Away from OBOR, India pushing for ‘energy diplomacy’ in neighborhood
Away from the arc lights that accompany China’s OBOR project, India has been quietly working on creating connectivity grids in its neighborhood and moving beyond physical connectivity to energy as a tool of connectivity. From Indonesia to Mauritius, India is working on a web of energy relationships that seeks to leverage India’s position as a big source of petroleum products, sharing of technology and building inter-dependencies. “We are trying to use energy as a means of diplomacy in a very different way, not only to find overseas sources of hydrocarbons,” Dharmendra Pradhan, energy minister said to TOI. Mauritius, one of India’s closest partners in the Indian Ocean region could become a hub for petroleum storage and bunkering for which India has started building infrastructure. India already supplies petroleum products to Mauritius from Mangalore refineries as well as being a retail player in that country. As a petroleum hub, Mauritius’ can secure its own energy supplies, while India can use it to market in other parts of Africa. On the other side of the Indian Ocean, India and Indonesia are beginning an energy relationship — Indonesia is one of the world’s bigger sources of hydrocarbons and has been in and out of OPEC. But after power minister Piyush Goyal restarted an energy dialogue with Indonesia in April, India is working on a new project — to build floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) for Indonesia to help it supply energy to the thousands of islands in the country. In return, India is asking Indonesia to supply LNG kits for Indian transport vehicles. After his visit, Goyal was quoted as saying, “(we) have agreed to explore cooperation in number of areas such as upgrading of refineries in Indonesia, relocation of gas-based plants from India to Indonesia, sharing of experience in use of LEDs and renewable energy in India, sharing the expertise of Indonesia in gasification of fuel oil, exploration of oil, gas and coal fields,” Goyal said. Indonesia has asked India to bid for refineries in that country, which is the next stage. Myanmar may have its own energy sources, but China takes almost 80 per cent of its gas through a pipeline deal struck years ago. As Myanmar develops, India has taken up the job of supplying diesel to this eastern neighbor from the Numaligarh refinery in Assam. India, however, is seriously considering building an LNG terminal in Sittwe — that would be used to provide energy products to Myanmar, and, once the Kaladan multi-modal transport project is complete, can also be used to supply LNG to Aizawl in Mizoram. India is also trying to get into LPG storage and distribution in Myanmar, although the Aung San Suu Kyi government canceled a tender won by India but had been given by the former military government. The idea here, as in other neighborhood countries, said official sources, is that India wants to develop inter-dependencies, rather than make these relationships either extractive in nature or a one-way street. That way, both sides can take home wins which also makes these deals more acceptable all around. For India to use energy as a diplomatic tool, there has to be huge development on its eastern seaboard. Almost all of India’s new energy relationships are part of its Act East policy and with eastern neighbors, since the west is largely blocked off due to India’s problems with Pakistan. To address this, India is working on building LNG terminals in Ennore, Vizag/Kakinada and Dhamra all on the east coast. In recent weeks, India has cemented big energy relationships with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In Sri Lanka, India has fully utilized the Trincomalee lower tank farms, of which 10 are exclusively for the use of the Sri Lankan government. Consulting company, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) has been tasked with working out a business development model for the upper tank farms for which the lease has just been extended to 99 years. Bangladesh is emerging as the poster child for neighborhood ties. From syncing gas grids to supplying diesel (to Parbatipur) to building pipelines and gas-based power plants India plans to help Bangladesh power up. In the process, Bangladesh is allowing India to use transit facilities and even the Bangladesh grid to supply to India’s northeast. A recent unusual quid pro quo was electricity supply from India in return for Bangladesh giving internet bandwidth to India’s northeast. India is working on building a 7.5 mmt LNG terminal in Qutubdi island off Bangladesh’s coast, while Bangladesh is already lighting up with over 1000 MW power from India. Nepal did not have power cuts last winter, thanks to power supplies from India, Nepal’s ambassador Deep Upadhyay said. The new effort is to build an oil pipeline from Raxaul to Amlekhganj and onward to Chitwan — this would not only be cheaper, but Nepal is insured from phases of poor relations with India which could disrupt energy supplies. As part of BBIN, an electricity sharing MOU between India, Bangladesh Bhutan and Nepal is also in progress, which could allow Bangladesh to source power from Bhutan, or Nepal once the Himalayan country can get its act together to build more hydropower projects. The difficulties come in the form of quick delivery of projects, which is a place China scores over India. Patrick Chung Jersey
Assam got Rs 70 billion as oil royalty, Rs 63 billion investment in 11 months: Sarbananda Sonowal
Assam has received Rs 70 billion as royalty for crude oil and investments worth Rs 63 billion in the first 11 months of the BJP-led government coming to power in the state, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Saturday. Speaking at a function in Dibrugarh, his home district, Sonowal described this as a big achievement for his government, and said this had become possible because of the unconditional support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to unleash an era of development in the state. “I must put on record Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his vision as also for the union government’s unconditional support to unleash an era of development in Assam and the Northeast. While Assam has received Rs 63 billion as crude oil royalty including arrears during the last 11 months, the state has also received over Rs 63 billion worth investment in various industries during the same period,” Sonowal said. The chief minister said Assam had not seen such release of crude oil royalty and flow of funds for investments ever before. “Thanks to the prime minister’s vision for Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, Assam is marching rapidly on the path of development. While projects for electrification of the railway line and doubling of railway track have taken off, a record number of projects for improvement of surface commencement have been also initiated in the past 11 months,” he said. The investments would generate direct and indirect employment for around 80,000 persons, he added. Super-speciality hospital Sonowal, along with Dharmendra Pradhan, Union minister of State for Petroleum and Natural gas, on Saturday also laid the foundation stone for setting up a multi-speciality hospital at Rajabari in Sivasagar district fully funded by ONGCL. The multi-speciality hospital is being built at a sprawling area of 50 acre at a cost of Rs 3.12 billion under ONGCL’s CSR programme and would have 362 beds. To be named after Sukaphaa, founder of the Ahom kingdom in 1228, the hospital would be run by the Babasaheb Ambedkar Vaidyakiya Prathisthan in partnership with the ONGC. Greg Monroe Authentic Jersey
India’s oil boom stalls
India’s gasoline consumption has flattened out in recent months after tremendous growth between 2014 and 2016. India’s motorists consumed 581,000 barrels of gasoline per day between February and April, according to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Gasoline consumption rose by 4 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, a sharp slowdown from the 14 percent increase between 2015 and 2016.. Gasoline consumption growth has been slowing since the middle of 2016 after surging for the previous two years. Consumption growth for most other fuels used for cooking and transportation has also been slowing for the last nine months. Demand for liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene used for cooking, heating and lighting as well as diesel used for transport all show signs of levelling off or actually falling in the first four months of 2017. The slowdown may have been compounded by the demonetisation of large-denomination bank notes announced at the start of November as part of the government’s anti-corruption campaign. Demonetisation resulted in a sharp slowdown in sales of the cheaper motorcycles favoured by first-time buyers in rural areas. Rapid expansion in motorcycle ownership has been one of the major factors driving increases in gasoline demand (“India’s new motorcycle owners drive gasoline boom”, Reuters, September 2016). Rising crude oil and refined fuel prices over the last year are also likely to have constrained the growth in consumption and other fuels. Demand for liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene used for cooking, heating and lighting as well as diesel used for transport all show signs of leveling off or actually falling in the first four months of 2017. Retail gasoline prices rose by around 10 percent between January 2016 and January 2017 while diesel prices climbed by almost 8 per cent, according to data from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. India’s emerging urban and rural middle class is relatively sensitive to increases in the cost of fuel so rising prices have curbed demand growth. Despite the recent slowdown in consumption growth for gasoline and other fuels it is too early to determine whether the deceleration is temporary linked to demonetisation and price rises or something more lasting. But India has been one of the most important sources of oil demand growth during the slump so any prolonged slowdown in consumption growth would make the task of global market rebalancing harder. Jordan Eberle Womens Jersey
Continuing Gas Price Cuts To Deter Fresh Exploration Capex, India Ratings Says
The ongoing rupee surge coupled with continuing price reductions of gas will push fuel cost down by around 5 percent, which in turn will lower the gross margins of upstream oil and gas players and deter fresh investment into the sector, says a report. For the fifth consecutive time since implementation of the domestic gas pricing formula in November 2014, the government in March lowered domestic gas prices by 0.8 percent to $2.48 per million British thermal units (mmbtu). The price will be in force from April 1 to September 30, 2017. This came even as the average Henry Hub gas prices rose 12 percent y-o-y to $2.52/mmbtu during the same period. “The latest lowering of domestic gas prices, coupled with the 4 percent rise of the rupee against the greenback in the second half of FY17, will lower the gross margins for upstream players, especially for ONGC and Oil India which contribute around 80 per cent of the domestic production, while their operating cost is around $2.5/mmbtu,” India Ratings said in a note. The price ceiling for gas produced from discoveries in deep-water, ultra-deep water and high pressure-high temperature areas for the period April-September 2017 is $5.56/mmbtu on gross calorific value basis, while the domestic prices has been lowered to $2.48/mmbtu on gross calorific value basis for this period. The report further cautioned that “any reduction in the realization from this level will adversely impact their gross margins and will act as a deterrent for fresh investments towards gas exploration and related capex”. However, it will marginally benefit the midstream entities like Gail (India) Ltd., which will see its trading revenue fall by Rs 2.50 billion from domestic sales during the first half of FY18. But since Gail. sells its domestic gases on a cost-plus basis, its gross margins will be protected. The report also warned that petroleum crack spreads and GRMs will drop in FY18 in the absence of inventory gains, while crack spreads will have a downward bias. The products crack spread, which is the difference between wholesale petroleum product prices and crude prices, is estimated to remain under pressure in FY18, on the back of the fragile global demand growth amid net capacity additions as Chinese and the US export volumes are likely to remain high helping maintain utilisation levels. The agency expects the rally in crude prices to fade and price to remain in a narrow range in FY18. C.J. Miles Jersey