Page 199 - IJES Special Issues for AIEC2016

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Rural Electrification through Solar Energy: Insights from

Chattisgarh State of India

Meenal Jain1*, Meenakshi Mital1, and Matt Syal2
1Department of Resource Management and Design Application, Lady Irwin Col-
lege, University of Delhi, Sikandra Road, New Delhi, India
2Construction Management, School of Planning, Design & Construction, Michigan
State University, USA

International Journal of Abstract. The Indian energy sector has witnessed a rapid growth in an effort to
Environment and meet the demands of a developing nation. However, continued use of fossil fuels
Sustainability [IJES] is set to face multiple challenges: depletion of fossil fuel reserves, global warming
ISSN 1927-9566 and other environmental concerns, geopolitical and military conflicts and of late,
Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 99-104 continued and a significant increase in fuel price. Renewable energy is the solu-
(2016) tion to the growing energy challenges as they are abundant, inexhaustible and
environmentally friendly. Accelerating the use of renewable energy, specifically
solar energy, is also indispensable if India is to meet its commitments to reduce
its carbon intensity. Given the vast potential of solar energy in India, all that India
needs is put comprehensive policies in place to be a global leader in sustainable
and green energy. The Government has taken a number of steps towards improv-
ing the adoption of solar energy on a large scale in the country. Many programs
and policies have been initiated at both the National and State levels to promote
solar energy, but its use and production in the country is still limited. On studying
one of the major initiatives of the National government, the “Remote Rural Village
Electrification” in Chhattisgarh as a case, it was found that there was a gap be-
tween the policies and the actual scenario. The awareness level among the bene-
ficiaries was found to be very low. Thus, there is an urgent need to create aware-
ness among the stakeholders regarding the government initiatives, so that solar
energy is widely accepted and used.

Keywords. Awareness, Government Policies, Rural Electrification, Solar Energy

*Correspondence:
meenal_11287@yahoo.co.in

1. Introduction inevitable for human life and a secure and acces-
sible supply of energy is crucial for the sustaina-
Energy is the prime mover of economic growth bility of modern societies (Asif and Muneer,
and is vital to sustaining a modern economy and 2007). Energy has been recognized as one of the
society. Future economic growth significantly most pertinent contributors of economic growth
depends on the long-term availability affordable, and human development universally. There is a
accessible and secure sources of energy. Alt- strong two-way relationship between economic
hough 80% of the world’s population lies in the development and energy consumption. On one
developing countries (a fourfold population in- hand, the growth of an economy hinges on the
crease in the past 25 years), their energy con- availability of cost-effective and environmentally
sumption amounts to only 40% of the world’s to- benign energy sources, and on the other hand,
tal energy consumption. The high standards of the level of economic development relies on the
living in the developed countries are attributable energy demand (India Energy Portal, n.d.). To-
to high-energy consumption levels. In industrial- day, India can well be identified as an energy
ized countries, people use four to five times more guzzler. The demand for power in India is grow-
than the world average and nine times more than ing exponentially and the scope of growth of this
the average for the developing countries (Bureau
of Energy Efficiency [BEE], 2009). Energy use is