Fossil fuels will not disappear soon, say experts at BS Infra Summit

Despite rapid growth in renewables, experts at the BS Infra Summit highlighted that India's dependence on fossil fuels will still persist for the foreseeable decades

Fossil fuels will remain central to India’s energy mix for decades, even as the country accelerates the shift towards renewable energy and electric mobility, experts said at the Business Standard Infrastructure Summit on Thursday.

 

Alok Kumar, former secretary, Ministry of Power, underlined that fossil fuels continue to be the backbone of energy security not just for India but globally. “More than 80 per cent of energy supplied comes from fossil fuels. Seventy-nine per cent in India comes from coal. India needs to move away from fossil fuel as quickly as possible in an orderly manner. We import more than 80 per cent of oil and more than 50 per cent of gas. We are resource-constrained in energy resources,” he said.

 

 

Kumar stressed that the transition will not be quick. “This transition will take not years but decades. Fossil fuels will continue to be important while we accelerate renewable energy generation. Despite all the push for renewables, our grid factor is not coming down. Till then, if we can make the way we generate, use and transport fossil fuels more efficient, we can reduce emissions. Their share will decline gradually but their absolute use may still grow, albeit in a greener way,” he added.

 

On India’s fast-growing energy demand, Kumar noted, “Your 50 per cent capacity does not help in renewable energy. You need four times renewable energy generation to meet your demand. Fossil fuels overall will grow even though their share in the total pie may decline.”

 

Meanwhile, Mani Khurana, senior energy specialist, World Bank, said India is “on the right track” in power sector decarbonisation but needs sharper focus on transport and industrial energy use. “New technologies are coming and the prices are very low. But all of that will take time. It is so important to focus on transport and industrial sector decarbonisation. Green hydrogen is there but it will still take some time. Let’s focus on what we are doing in the next five years,” she said.

 

Talking about the future of e-mobility, Akshit Bansal, CEO and founder of Statiq, said the last two years have been an “inflection point". 

 

“The EV penetration this year has grown to 4.5 per cent. Price parity between ICE and EVs is getting better. Battery prices have decreased over 90 per cent in the last decade. The question is how fast can we build the electric infrastructure to go greener,” he said.

 

Bansal added, “The cost of capital needs to come down. Secondly, we need to focus on having the tech stack built in India. We do not want reliance on foreign firms. And discoms are the key enablers in this.”

 

Ramanuj Kumar, partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said India must improve grid integration. “In terms of grid integration in renewables we are still at 22 per cent only. We are making progress but the focus now needs to shift to measure how much renewable energy we are integrating into the grid everywhere and set a target for that,” he said.

 

On financing, he noted, “When RBI recently came out with new norms for project finance, I think there is a need to separate the difference between fossil and non-fossil fuel projects. And then assign weightages and decide lending policies as per projects according to their emissions.”

 

Alok Kumar also flagged the importance of carbon capture in the long run. “Technology takes time. China is an EV leader after 20 years. CCUS’ (Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage) time will come. Keep CCUS on radar, work for it. India will require CCUS within two decades,” he said.

 

Khurana meanwhile pointed to power distribution companies as a bottleneck. “If we do not focus on our power distribution companies, because they are customer-facing, they are running from pillar to post to make the system work. Distribution companies are not hiring the way in which they can fulfil the demand being asked from them,” she said.

 

She added that energy efficiency must be prioritised. “We are all galloping towards an energy demand. Energy efficiency in household and industrial bodies is the way forward,” she said.

 

Ramanuj Kumar called for a “national technology mission" for energy transition, led by institutes like IITs and facilitated by government and CSRs, to push forward green hydrogen and other emerging clean energy technologies.