The India Energy Hour Presented by 101Reporters

There is a sudden upsurge of green sector financing in the world - from direct climate financing, ESG goals, to green bonds. India, one of the fastest growing energy markets with ambitious renewable energy plans is looking at these modes to fuel its green targets. How successful though we have been? And as the country and key investors in the green energy space look outward, does India have a robust domestic financing model or agencies to support its green dreams? In this episode, we interviewed Kanika Chawla to understand how climate and green energy financing works. We also explored whether the latest green financing trends are sustainable. Kanika is the program manager for the United Nations Inter-agency Mechanism on Energy where she is working on Sustainable energy for all. She has earlier worked with Centre for Energy Environment & Water in India. Time stamp: 0:00 - Podcast intro 1:22 - Intro of guest 2:17 - Kanika’s journey, key projects by her 9:54 - Challenge or Reward of being a woman professional in a male-dominated energy sector 13:59 - Prevalent financing models in the clean energy sector 22:28 - Financing options for a renewable company who wants to start projects in India 27:56 - Has financing fallen behind the growth of solar and wind in India? 33:11 - Is renewable manufacturing the stepson of financing? 37:43 - Lack and need of proper financing ecosystem for the renewable sector in India 44:04 - Financing support to state owned power distribution companies 51:17 - Are ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) funds a fad or are sustainable? 56:41 - Role and importance of this COP26 in accelerating green energy transition 01:05:43 - Podcast outro Follow TIEH podcast on Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube.

India’s electricity sector is facing two major challenges - low electricity demand and massive overcapacity. On one hand, renewable energy installations are on the rise in the country but it is often curtailed. While 100 GW of solar and wind power have already been installed, 50 GW is under installation and 27 GW is under tendering. On the other hand, India is not cutting down its coal-based power generation but their viability remains under cloud as new efficiency standards kick in. Can India optimize its power sector such that renewables thrive, and efficient coal power plants get preference as India reduces its carbon and environmental footprint? In this episode, we spoke to Dr. R Srikanth, Professor & Dean, School of Natural Sciences and Engineering at the National Institute of Advanced Studies who proposes that India can shut down its old inefficient coal power plants to achieve these optimization goals. This proposal emerged from a large study Dr. Srikanth and his colleagues undertook focusing on the transition plan for thermal power plants in India. Time stamp: 0:00 - Podcast intro 1:19 - Intro of guest 2:49 - Srikanth’s professional journey from corporate to academia 12:16 - New report by Srikanth & his team at NIAS on retirement of old coal power plants 26:02 - Rationals and methodology used in the study 43:16 - Does India need to build more coal power plants? 57:37 - Who benefits from running old & inefficient coal power plants and who loses when they shut down? 01:03:43 - Can India decide on reducing the use of coal and plan for a phase out? 01:16:02 - Podcast outro Follow TIEH podcast on Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube.

Farming communities, forest dwellers, tribals with their rivers, mountains and other natural bounties are in the first line of impact from climate change. The worst part is that the most vulnerable are also the least privileged to save themselves from such havoc. The Indian government has put a strong voice on the global stage of climate discourse but are the climate policies covering the most remotely located climate change affected population? To understand the impact of climate change on the ground and what policy support it will need, we talked with journalist and author Hridayesh Joshi. Hridayesh is a freelance journalist and also contributes to CarbonCopy Hindi - a dedicated news website for environment and climate change reporting. A journalist for close to two decades, Hridayesh has written a definitive account of the Kedarnath flood tragedy in his book The Rage of the River. Hridayesh is considered one of the foremost environment reporters in the country with his ears always on the ground. Time stamp: 0:00 - Podcast intro 1:19 - Intro of guest 2:18 - Hridayesh's journalism journey 8:27 - Evolution of climate reporting in India. 11:36 - Understanding of climate change in rural areas? 14:07 - Impact that rural communities face across India, due to climate change 20:21 - Contradictory phenomenon of rural migration linked with lack of infra development but too much infra leads to ecological damage 29:35 - Climate reporting being devoid of stories of the affected 33:48 - Failure in understanding climate change among policy makers as well as local communities 37:24 - Educating people about climate change & identifying its impact 46:40 - Policy support needed from government to disseminate knowledge about climate change 53:28 - Sensitising policy making to the hazards of climate change, making eco-friendly policies 01:02:25 - Adaptation strategies used by rural communities for tackling climate related impact 01:08:26 - Podcast outro Follow TIEH podcast on Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube.

India's solar manufacturing industry has seen only lows in the past decade when solar energy came to the fore in the country. On one side there were cheap Chinese imports eating into the domestic market, and then there were multiple policy flip flops. It is now that the sector is having its moment in the sun with big names venturing into it - from Adani to Reliance Industries. Even the government seems to be offering a steady policy environment and several sops. To talk about the journey of the sector and what awaits in the future, we talked with Gyanesh Chaudhary, founder and managing director, Vikram Solar. Vikram Solar based in Kolkata was one of the foremost manufacturers in the Indian solar industry and now claims to be the largest. Gyanesh who founded the company comes from manufacturing lineage and started Vikram Solar 15 years ago. The company opened a new unit in Chennai recently. Timestamp: 0:00 - Podcast intro 1:19 - Introduction of Gyanesh Chaudhary 2:12 - About Gyanesh & journey of solar manufacturing 10:43 - Places, people & events that shaped Vikram Solar 16:40 - About China's manufacturing might in solar & their ultra low cost 21:18 -  India's push to renewable power generation without manufacturing ecosystem 23:04 - Business plan of Vikram Solar sans policy support 27:14 - WTO regulations & its impact on Indian manufacturing 29:24 - Comparison between China & India vis a vis financing, government support, sops etc. 33:05 - Is focus now on manufacturing because it makes business sense or there is a policy environment in the country? 35:42 - Ever thought of entering wind manufacturing? 37:24 - Did India miss the bus on solar manufacturing due to initial missteps, pre-2014? 39:49 - Tariff wars in solar and wind and how it impacts manufacturers 43:53 - Future plans of Vikram Solar 45:15 - Entry of conglomerates into solar manufacturing and how it changes the sector's dynamics? 48:18 - Land, Finance, Protection from Imports and Govt Sops. How would you rate these in priority? 51:31 - Weak financing instruments in India for solar manufacturing 56:39 - Contribution of manufacturing to meet 450Gw renewable capacity by 2030. What share of the market is Vikram Solar looking at? 01:02:42 - Podcast outro Follow TIEH podcast on Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube.

The International Energy Agency estimates that over the period to 2040, an estimated 270 million people are likely to be added to India’s urban population. How fast India urbanises and industrialises over the coming decades, and the policies that governs these processes will be of crucial significance for countries’ energy future and global climate mitigation efforts. To understand the implications of India’s current and future urbanization, we interviewed Siddharth Singh, co-lead author of India Energy Outlook 2021, published by the International Energy Agency. Siddharth has researched and written extensively about global and indian energy sector policies. Suggested Reading: https://www.iea.org/reports/india-energy-outlook-2021 Timestamp: 0:00 - Podcast intro 1:19 - Introduction of Siddharth Singh 2:06 - About Siddharth: Life & career 10:34 - Syriana: Do movie scenes replay in real life? 15:00 - IEA Energy Outlook - How urbanisation is linked to energy use? 24:59 - What urbanisation means in India 30:32 - Impact of construction activities on energy & commodities demand 35:55 - Balancing rising energy need with climate mitigation plans 44:14 - Heat pumps as an alternative to ACs in India 47:50 - Incentivising Energy Efficiency for residential segment 51:05 - Contribution of urban transport to Green Economy 58:18 - Urbanisation & carbon emissions 01:10:40 - What urbanisation scenario India is likely to follow 01:13:32 - Imagining future urban landscape of India 01:18:07 - Transition towards greener mobility options 01:22:20 - Role of public spaces in energy efficiency & urban infra 01:26:13 - Podcast outro Follow TIEH podcast on Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube.

The 10th episode is hosted by Mayank Aggarwal, Contributing Editor, Mongabay India. Mayank is one of the best writers on environment and climate change in India, whose work has been a trailblazer. Mayank will interview co-host & co-founder of The India Energy Hour, Sandeep Pai on his recently published dissertation on Just Transition and talk about the unique datasets that Sandeep used, and the ground work he did to underline the challenges of jumping from fossil fuel to clean energy in developing economies. Suggested Readings: https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0398719 https://india.mongabay.com/by/mayank-aggarwal/ https://india.mongabay.com/series/just-transitions/ Follow TIEH podcast on Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube.

G7 nations or group of world's most advanced economies of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States are reportedly planning to ban all fossil fuel finance globally. In fact, G7 has already declared its intention to stop international funding for coal projects. This fossil fuel finance ban could have an adverse impact on countries in the Global South who are trying to balance their growing energy needs while taking action on climate change. To understand this decision of G7 and its far-reaching repercussions, we spoke with Vijaya Ramachandran, Director for Energy and Development at the Breakthrough Institute in the US. Vijaya is a renowned economist with over three decades of experience working in public policy and academia. She has served on the faculty of Duke University and Georgetown University as well as worked at the World Bank, the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the Center for Global Development. Suggested readings: 1. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01020-z 2. https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/541554-economic-growth-in-africa-will-not-be-achieved-by-a Follow TIEH podcast on Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube.

Covid-19 pandemic continues to have a crushing impact on economies around the world including India. Facing an economic crisis never seen since Independence, the central and state governments are realigning their focus towards welfare and developmental sectors. Renewable energy which is the newest infrastructure sector in India could take a backseat. To understand the impact of Covid on the renewable energy in India, we spoke with Sunil Jain, former CEO, Hero Future Energies and a renewable sector veteran. Sunil has led two clean energy companies in India. He has also been vital in pushing the government to adopt policy changes that shaped the renewable energy sector in the country. Follow TIEH podcast on Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube.

Globally, nearly 2.8 billion people depend on solid fuels such as firewood and biomass for their cooking needs and nearly 1 billion people live without electricity connection. Majority of such people lacking basic energy access reside in African and Asian countries including India. In the last two decades, India has made substantial progress in enhancing energy access through policies that support greater use of LPG cylinders and by expanding the electric grid. However, several issues still remain. To understand the Indian and global energy access challenge and the required interventions, we interviewed two renowned energy access experts - Shalu Agrawal, Program lead at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water and Dr Hisham Zerriffi, Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia. Over the years, both Shalu and Hisham have independently led numerous studies on energy access in India and in other countries. This is our first episode with two guests. An important disclaimer - Hisham is Sandeep’s PhD supervisor at the University of British Columbia. Follow TIEH podcast on Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube.

More than 100 countries have pledged to get to net-zero emissions in the next 30 years. There is increasing international pressure on India to join the bandwagon of countries that have declared net zero. Within India, this has sparked a deeper debate. While some groups contend that India can leapfrog and declare a net zero target by 2050, others warn that such a target will impede India’s developmental needs. In our sixth episode, we asked Dr. Navroz K. Dubash whether India should declare a net zero target? Dr. Dubash is India's leading climate expert and has been a scholar, policy adviser and an activist for over three decades. Follow TIEH podcast on Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube.