He said that during his visit to Chhattisgarh he found that 10,000 MW of power is produced in one district. Imagine the impact it will have on environment there.

He regretted that mukhiyas have indulged in large scale corruption in purchasing of solar lamps. In this regard 225 of them are about to go to jail in Sitamarhi district alone.

The deputy chief minister felt that the demand of bio-diesel is also going down.

The report illustrated the changes that have to be made, both in terms of institutional and government policies to enable the state of Bihar meet its energy requirements.

The report suggests that a decentralised approach based on renewable sources of energy would not only solve the prevailing issue of limited access to reliable energy in rural areas, but also transform the economic situation of the state.

Decentralised energy systems offer opportunities to transform the state’s rural areas significantly by enhancing the overall socio–economic capacities. The state has several natural and strategic advantages like solar potential, which could be the main source of energy for the state in the coming years. Being an agriculturally dominant state it has the potential to produce abundant agricultural residue that could be used for energy generation.

Along with this, it also has potential for developing small scale hydro-power and wind power in the northern parts of the state.
Greenpeace has been campaigning on decentralized renewable energy (DRE) in Bihar since 2010 and believes that DRE can revolutionize the energy situation of the state.

Ramapati Kumar, Campaign Manager, Greenpeace India, said, “Greenpeace is recommending a state-wide network of decentralized renewable energy plants developed with support from state government agencies, in collaboration with private entrepreneurs for an effective and accelerated economic development of the state. What is needed is a robust policy that would enable an environment to kick start the process.”

Dr Anjula Gurtoo, lead author of the report said, “The report recommends integrated energy planning and institutional changes in the immediate short term while demanding adequate governance structures and policy changes in the long term. The suggestions in the report are aligned with the state’s need to increase its investment capacity, generate developmental benefits and minimize environmental damage.” However, she could not make it to Patna because of some reason.

She said the biggest challenge before the government is to provide reliable energy access to approximately 89 per cent of its rural population.

Prof D Lahiri of IIT, Kharagpur, also spoke on the issue.

According to Arpana Udupa, Campaigner, Greenpeace India “Greenpeace envisions that Bihar can become a champion state by becoming self-reliant in energy and thereby effectively provide quality energy services to its rural populace in a short period of time. Greenpeace is committed to help Bihar government to strengthen the renewal energy policy and have suggested various policy option in bringing about a comprehensive policy and facilitate a process in the state.”

The report was released in the presence of Shaibal Gupta of Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI). He said that he is a recent convert to the concept of renewal energy.

Comment

comments...