In recent years, the great threat of climate change, global warming, and environmental imbalance has driven us to other forms of energy sources that will reduce our reliance on non-renewable energy sources like fossil fuels, coal, and other polluting sources. These problems have intensified the need for alternative energy.

There has been a debate over the definition of this term; alternative energy.
Some refer to it as using those forms of energy that help us in not increasing our carbon footprint by including facilities like hydroelectric power, nuclear facilities, clean coal, and natural gas. Some refer to alternative energy as using those ‘non-traditional’ methods of energy such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, etc.

The main aim of using alternative energy is to reduce or eliminate the emission of substances and pollutants into nature which causes these climate change problems. This has come up as a long-term goal to replace the use of fossil fuel and coal for energy production and using non-harmful methods of production of energy.

Solar Power
This is a way of harnessing the energy directly from the Sun. In this, the sun rays are converted to energy with the use of photovoltaic cells. Sometimes, the heat produced by the Sun is also harnessed into energy; this is known as solar-thermal energy.

Wind Power
Large turbines and windmills produce energy which is spun by the airflow.

Hydroelectricity
This is generated by the flow of water. Large hydroelectric dams have falling water, which is channeled through specific apparatus which helps to spin the turbines in return generating electricity.

Nuclear Power
Slow-fission reactions are the way of producing this type of energy. Rods of radioactive elements like uranium are used to heat water, which produces steam and in turn spins the turbines to produce electricity.

Geothermal Power
This energy is produced by the heat and steam produced by the activities within Earth’s crust. A type of pipe is placed in the ground above active geological regions to carry steam from the turbines which produce electricity.

Tidal Power
This energy source is produced by using tidal turbines near shorelines. As the water flow changes, the turbines generate electricity and transfer it to power stations.

Biomass
Biogas or biomass is a fuel that’s produced by plants and biological sources. These include bacteria, fungi, and ethanol.

Hydrogen
Energy from the process of hydrogen gas. This can be used to generate various forms of energy, such as fuel cells, internal combustion engines, and nuclear fusion.

Alternative energy is still in its infancy. However, it is rapidly changing due to various factors
such as climate change, political pressure, and technological breakthroughs.

BEE is a government agency that carries out energy efficiency projects. It was established under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. Climate change and the rising temperature levels are threatening the environment with various threats. The emission of CO2 in the atmosphere must be regulated to prevent these harmful effects.

Although wind and solar energy are capable of producing clean and environment-friendly energy, their capabilities are not up to the mark yet. The BEE was created to promote energy efficiency and self-operating through regulations. Its goal was to develop effective methods and strategies that can help achieve energy savings. The BEE has set regulations on many appliances.

Energy efficiency ratings are usually written in stars on the labels of major appliances. These markings help consumers identify which type of device is most
energy-efficient.

The BEE Star Label is usually found on the label of most heavy electrical home appliances. It lets the consumers know that the product they are buying has a certain number of stars it has received in its life cycle. Due to the increasing number of consumers wanting better-labeled products, the manufacturers need to develop energy-efficient appliances and devices.

The BEE star rating reflects the product's quality. It is mainly based on the number of output points. BEE is a non-profit organization that enforces the rules and regulations while rating a device or a product. The BEE Star Program has been improving annually since it was first implemented.
This is due to the continuous improvement of the energy-efficient appliances and the markings on them.

Shoppers need to turn out to be more capable so we can accomplish the greatest force saving and energy effectiveness in the coming future. BEE is filling its need by assisting us with picking the best items, however, it is primarily the obligation of the purchasers to utilize them.

Then again, BEE continually makes individuals mindful of the items that are not like a predefined label rating which is an extraordinary drive. In this way, we can examine the website of BEE prior to buying an appliance and check whether the item is listed with false ratings.

As consumers, we have a responsibility to conserve and improve our energy efficiency. Doing so will help us lower our carbon footprint and provide a better
quality of life.

BEE is a great initiative that informs the consumers about the false labels of products. This is a great way to avoid buying an expensive product.

We as electricity consumers, are always on the lookout for better and efficient energy plans, but there are more ways to reduce your monthly bills than just buying your electricity cheaper. The most efficient way to get a lower electricity would be to have cheaper electricity costs and optimised use of this electricity. This combination results in the overall lowest electric bill.

It’s never too late to begin doing these things to use electricity smartly and ultimately get lower electricity bills.

Choose the right electricity plan
Your electricity plan has a huge impact on your bill. You should always choose your electricity plan wisely. You should always compare the rates that your provider is offering with some alternate sources. This can help you realise if you have been paying the fair price.

You should always choose a fixed rate electricity plan or else you might end up paying the off-contract prices.

Always turn off appliances when not in use
This point is a no-brainer. We have all learned to always turn off appliances when not in use but hardly any of use actually instils this habit in their daily lives. Some appliances like your stereo, television, and computer can be big energy suckers when not in use. Many of use turn on the television and continue scrolling on our mobiles, this results in absolutely unnecessary consumption of energy by the television.
Small things like these can make a big difference in the bigger picture so always remember to turn off the appliances not in use.

Try to include more Energy Star appliances
Many think that the Energy star logo is just a sham, and it does no good. It can actually make a very impactful difference. If you use these appliances, your appliances will consume less electricity, up to 10 to 50 percent less. Since home appliances result to about 20 percent of our bills, using Energy Star appliances can show some significant results.

Here are some more ways to save your electricity bills:

1. Install ceiling fans
2. Start changing your AC filters often
3. Make your home smarter
4. LEDs are a good transition to save electricity
5. Install smart meters, they can be very advantageous
6. When you go for work, shut the blinds of the house to make it cooler to reduce AC consumption
7. Adjust the temperature in your freezer and refrigerator
8. Adjust the water heater temperature
9. Increase the utilisation of smart power strips
10. Buy energy efficient appliances
11. Try to decrease the use of lightbulbs

With some minor changes in our daily life activities and our buying habits, we can save a lot to money on our electricity bills. Apart from saving money these steps will also help in better utilisation of energy.

Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at a time for later use. This reduces the imbalance between energy consumption and energy production. A device that usually stores energy is called a battery or an accumulator.

In our daily lives, we use electricity for almost all major and minor tasks. Even to read this article, you are using some device that is powered by energy; we consume energy 24/7 and we need a constant and reliable supply of this energy.

We have also been depending on non-renewable sources of energy like coal, oil, and gas and this has caused serious depreciation in these fossil fuels. We need to make more use of renewable energy resources like wind and solar energy. It is a good way of energy production but it’s not very reliable as it can be cloudy someday or the wind may be fast or slow, we can never get a steady flow of energy by using these resources.

This is where the concept of energy storage comes into play. We can store the energy generated by wind and solar power in safe and powerful batteries. This will
provide us with a reliable energy source and will be available 24/7 without depleting our nature of its resources.

Energy storage is an enabling concept that can save money, reduce environment depreciation, and improve reliability.

Save Money
Energy storage can save money for operational costs for powering the grid and for consumers who install energy storage systems in their businesses and homes. By using this technique, costly disruptions can be avoided by the companies and normal operations can be resumed. The inconvenience of not having electricity will be saved in households.

Reduce environment depreciation
Energy storage can help reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. Wind and solar energy can be utilized in place of our natural resources. This can also help to avoid the need for building new power plants with peak pollution emissions. With the use of renewable power sources, we will have a constant supply of power for energy production without exploiting the fossils and this will also help reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, etc.

Improve Reliability
Energy storage will provide us with a reassurance of having a power backup in case of an emergency. This will also ensure to provide the businesses and large companies with an uninterrupted power source.

Energy storage is a necessity in today’s time and we need to improve our energy storage systems to overcome power outages, depletion of non-renewable resources, reduce pollution, and improve energy reliability.

In today’s world, sustainability and energy efficiency have come out to be major concerns for companies and businesses as they aim for a future with low carbon footprints. While the cost of storage, computing, and bandwidth are improving rapidly, the cost of technology is decreasing swiftly.
One big change that is come to be in the past few years that combines production, consumption, and transmission is – decentralization. This is leading to one of the biggest changes in the energy grid sector.

Decentralization is the shutting of mass-energy production in remote areas and shifting to a nimbler and smaller source of energy production. The process of decentralization is coming into prevalence due to the increase in the opportunities for companies and new technologies to utilize different methods of power
generation, transmission, and storage.
Decentralization is the revolution in the process of the production of energy. It also acts as a boon in the generation, storage, movement, and consumption of energy.

This entire progress is really convoluted. The fundamental issue that we as a whole need to address is that we need to decrease the expense of energy, we need to lessen our carbon impression, at a singular level as well as at a public level, and we need to build the unwavering quality and the flexibility in the framework.

Also, accomplishing that requires things at a methodical level to occur. We need federal leadership from the government, we need clearness on the way ahead. We need market-based pricing for purchasers evolving conduct. We need individuals to take care of consumers by turning their appliances off when it’s a hot day and the framework needs individuals to turn their cooling down for an hour or so.

We need the organization administrators and regulators to arrange every one of the data generated around ownership and consumption with the goal that they can perceive what’s really occurring and settle on better choices around foreseeing when we’re going to have to get things done. We need market-based pricing to flag the worth to shoppers for changing their conduct.

This may seem like a far-fetched dream but it’s definitely possible with perseverance. This, if accomplished, can be one of the best changes that affect our carbon footprint and also help us to reduce the cost of production of energy. This is a way to make these energy sources reliable.

The Energy Sector is comprised of many assets such as oil, electricity, and natural gas. These assets are scattered geographically and are connected by networks and systems.
To keep protecting and improving on the versatility of the Energy Sector is a continuous effort, despite all the manmade and natural disasters, that requires planning, vigilance, and training.

Energy Security
Energy Security is a term that is defined as a country’s capacity to provide affordable, consistent, and sufficient energy requirements for all of its industrial, domestic, military, and transport necessities. This comes through as security and implies that the country’s current and future energy needs have a promising likelihood of being met, regardless of the financial and political drawbacks.
Knowing the fact that energy request covers numerous types of energy — oil for transport, gas for cooking and daily needs, power for — different requirements, then, at that point, an energy-secure state refers to having an accessible admittance to several energy sources.

How to reach the desired energy security?
Following measures have been adopted by many countries:

Taking advantage of their own resources. This can be done to accomplish as near full independence as could be expected. Norway has a population in excess of 5 million individuals, and it can reach up to the required energy mark by 96% with the help of its HEP resources and offshore oil and gas fields.

By bringing in energy from consistent and reliable provider countries. USA and Canada form the biggest incorporated energy network in the world. Canada exports gas and oil in bulk to the USA and the USA exports coals to Canada. These two countries provide electricity to each other in various regions.

Energy is taken in from a wide range of providers. The main providers can be changed rather easily and switched to alternative sources when one energy maker becomes undesirable because of supply, cost, or other factors. Japan imports Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) from over five nations going from the USA (3%) to Indonesia (51%) due to lack of its energy resources.
Cycling between internal and external(imports) energy resources. The oil and gas imports from the Middle East and South America over the recent 20 years have been diminished by the USA as it is taking advantage of its own onshore shale gas through a questionable cycle known as water-driven cracking or ‘deep earth drilling’.

Reducing domestic demand for energy. Expanding protection of homes and empowering more prominent use of cycles instead of vehicles or by sponsoring sunlight-based chargers for business rooftops and houses will try to lessen the need of depending on different nations for energy imports.

Energy efficiency is the process of using less energy for getting a task completed. This process helps cut our energy bills, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, reduces demands for energy imports, and also reduces pollution.
Energy efficiency is one of the easiest ways to lower energy costs and eliminate energy waste. One of the most immediate ways to improve energy efficiency is to reduce the use of fossil fuels. In many sectors of society, there are numerous opportunities to improve energy efficiency.

Protects the environment
The outlet of greenhouse gases is one of the major factors that contribute to climate change. When we use electrical appliances, these appliances pull energy from our nearby power plants, and these plants, in turn, burn fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. The burning of these fossil fuels leads to the emission of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, etc.
With the help of energy efficiency, we can find ways to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and in turn reduce the emission of these greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. This will help us fight climate change and will also impact our health and environment.

Saves money
When we decrease energy use in our day-to-day routines, we lower month to month energy bills and assist with making energy more available to organizations and families. There are energy-efficient items available and despite the fact that they cost more than ordinary home devices, they will set aside you cash over the long haul. We should attempt to adjust to these gadgets for more efficient energy utilization and lower energy bills.
If you buy an energy-efficient heat pump, it will definitely cost more than a normal pump would, but you would save much more energy, up to 30% more than a standard pump. These high prices for energy-efficient appliances become an offset when compared to the energy bills and savings that they help with in the future.

Energy equity is addressed
There are many households where a higher percentage of the income is spent on the energy bills. These families can make energy more affordable by installing energy-efficient appliances like light bulbs and windows, this will help bring down the energy burden of the household.
It becomes a war between paying energy bills and putting some food on the table for some families. The comfort, safety, and health can be improved for many families by energy efficiency.

Conclusion
It is never too late to move to energy-efficient appliances. It may seem insignificant in the beginning, but the result will present itself in the long run. Energy is very important for our survival and with the efficient use of this energy, we can help our surroundings significantly.

In a renewed push to cut India’s dependence on fossil fuels, the central government wants state-run companies to build massive clean energy parks at a cost of around $2 billion each, with built-in incentives to ensure states and operators are invested in the success of the parks.

The proposed ultra mega renewable energy power parks (UMREPP) of 2,000 megawatts (MW) each will help developers achieve economies of scale and further bring down solar and wind power tariffs.

Setting up such parks will bolster India’s image as a clean energy champion at a time the world is grappling with concerns related to climate change. Clean energy projects now account for more than a fifth of India’s installed power generation capacity.

These green energy parks will be set up under the existing Solar Park scheme, which provides the building blocks—land and grid connectivity—and will be implemented by a special purpose vehicle (SPV).

“Various public sector undertakings have been urged to set up ultra mega renewable energy plants in major states in collaboration with state governments through SPV mechanism for these parks,” said Anand Kumar, secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy, adding that the SPVs can either purchase land or take it on lease from state governments or private parties.

To get states on board and facilitate the requisite clearances, state governments will be paid ₹0.02 per unit of electricity generated from the projects over their lifetime.

The power ministry’s ultra-mega power project programme was India’s earlier attempt to create large power generation capacities at a single location. However, it has had its share of problems, weighed by environmental concerns and local resistance.

“The state governments will facilitate the SPV to identify and acquire land, and obtain required statutory clearances,” a government official aware of the plans said, requesting anonymity.

The SPVs will also be paid park development and operations and maintenance (O&M) charges by the developers, and ₹0.02 per unit on the electricity generated over their lifetime. The operators that will set up renewable energy projects such as wind or solar inside the clean energy park will be selected through tariff-based competitive bids.

India is seeking additional clean energy investment of around $80billion till growing more than threefold to $250 billion during 2023-30.

According to a government note reviewed by Mint, “the capacity of the UMREPP may be in the range of 2,000MW. However, the minimum capacity of any UMREPP at a single location may be 600MW where there is need for creation of new transmission system by CTU (central transmission utility). The UMREPP, connected to any existing transmission system of CTU/STU (state transmission utility), shall be of the size of 250MW at a single location. For floating solar PV (photovoltaics) parks, the minimum size should be 50MW”.

These mega solar park plans comes against the backdrop of Tesla, China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd (CATL) and BYD Co. Ltd, among others, showing an initial interest in the Indian government’s plan to build large factories to make lithium-ion batteries at an investment of about ₹50,000 crore. Aimed at securing India’s energy needs, the plan to set up these 50 gigawatt hour (GWh) factories has been cleared by the expenditure finance committee, with the final tender expected to be awarded by February. Each gigawatt hour (1,000 megawatt hours) of battery capacity can power 1 million homes for an hour and around 30,000 electric cars.

The government wants to make India a global manufacturing hub for electric vehicles and their components. This is aimed at arresting the South Asian country’s reputation as the world’s third-largest crude oil importer, saving on precious foreign exchange and also controlling pollution in its major cities.

In what is being marked as a turning point for India’s green economy, investments in the country’s renewable energy sector doubled over the last five years to around $20 billion in 2018, surpassing the capital expenditure in the thermal power sector, according to a joint study by Paris-based International Energy Agency and Council on Energy, Environment and Water.

India has been trying to rejig its energy mix in favour of green energy sources. At present, India has an installed power generation capacity of 357,875MW, of which around 22%, or 80,000MW, is generated through clean energy projects. India has become one of the top renewable energy producers globally, with ambitious capacity expansion plans to achieve 175GW by 2022 and 500GW by 2030, as part of its climate commitments.

A broad decline in automobile sales coupled with excess rainfall and floods in some parts of the country may have finally caught up with diesel demand in India, which fell to its lowest level in 10 months to 6,116 Thousand Metric Tonne (TMT) in August, data published by the oil ministry’s statistical arm Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) showed.

Demand for the fuel in August 2019 declined 1.13 per cent to 6,116 TMT.

“Diesel demand fell 1.1 per cent year-on-year for the first time since Nov 2018 and may remain sluggish. Industrial production is soft as are foreign trade and port traffic with poor freight economics unlikely to lift CV sales too even if GST falls,” research and equity firm Jefferies said in a note.

While India’s overall petroleum consumption during the month increased 2.78 per cent to 17,044 TMT, the consumption recorded in the month was the lowest in the last eight months, historical data analysed by ETEnergyWorld showed.

The fall in automobile sales seems to have not impacted the country’s demand for petrol, which registered a growth for two years in a row. Petrol demand in August rose 9 per cent to 2,574 TMT.

The demand for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) increased 13 per cent to 2,396 TMT in the month, primarily due to an aggressive roll-out to achieve the target of rolling out 8 crore LPG connections under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).

Demand for Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) declined marginally to 681 TMT in August as compared to 686 TMT recorded in the corresponding month last year.

Data also showed demand for pet coke in August increased 3.77 per cent to 1,786 TMT.

By: Thomas Hillig

More than a billion people around the globe do not have access to electricity. In the vast majority, this is not because of a traditional lifestyle, so not by choice.

Generally, many developing countries have insufficient power generation infrastructure. Often only the major metropolitan areas are connected to the national grid and only urban inhabitants have a chance to access electricity. To include remote villages requires much more investment per connection. Building long transition lines to distant settlements can be extremely expensive.

In addition, many villages are scattered across large areas. Families live in huts or small houses and not in multi-story buildings like in urban regions. This means that also the costs of connecting several households within a village is much more expensive than in cities. Many poor countries do not dispose of the necessary financial means for extending their centralized power system to more decentral locations.

The solar power revolution has initiated an evolution that could overcome this unsatisfying situation. Solar allows for a more decentralized concept of power generation. Large solar power plants are also possible, but an attractive characteristic of solar power is that small generation units can be built in a relatively inexpensive way.

This gives hope for electrifying remote areas all over the world. No expensive grid extension projects are needed to reach remote areas. Decentralized power generation often does not require an infrastructure type of investment.

Solar-home systems (SHS): unconnected & completely autonomous electricity supply for individual households

SHS are micro-power plants with integrated energy storage that provide electricity to individual buildings or households. SHS typically provide DC power that can be used without any problems for lamps and mobile phone charging. For newly electrified households, these are typically the main power needs. The electricity from SHS is not fully comparable to AC power that we know in developed countries.

More sophisticated appliances like television, fridges or air conditioning typically require AC power. To overcome these limitations, SHS providers pursue two different solutions:

1. Development and provision of DC appliances
2. Conversion of DC power to AC power

DC solutions for television, refrigerators, or air conditioning are typically much more costly than standard AC appliances — comparing new to new. Already existing AC appliances cannot be used directly. Also, the new-to-new comparison is typically not very relevant in many developing countries as second-hand appliances play an important role.

Converting from DC to AC adds substantial extra costs and requires a certain size of the solar generator. Finally, some conversion losses need to be taken into consideration.

Certain voices in the international development community insist that developing countries merit the same power quality than western nations and that SHS would not be enough. These voices often pursue a different approach by favoring mini-grids.

Mini-grids: Miniature power plants, storage, & distribution on village-level

AC mini-grids resemble a miniature version of the power infrastructure that we know from western countries. Today, on the generation side, mostly solar power plants plus battery energy storage are used, often combined with diesel generators or biomass plants for securing the energy supply during bad weather periods or as a cheaper option during night time.

In comparison to standard grid infrastructure, mini-grids are much smaller: typical plant sizes are in the range of 10–35kWp solar and less than 100kWh battery energy storage for 150–400 connections. Another difference is the missing interconnection through transmission lines between different units. Mini-grids are typically isolated and completely autonomous. AC mini-grids provide electricity of high quality that can be used by private, commercial and small industrial off-takers. Well-designed mini-grids are considered to provide electricity of a quality that is comparable to sophisticated national grids.

The downside is that mini-grids require investments in a rather complex and stationary power generation and distribution infrastructure.

Innovation is driving the development of SHS & mini-grids: a new generation of smart meters

A new generation of relatively inexpensive smart meters that can be coupled with mobile money solutions allows for remotely controlling energy sales in an automated way. Pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) systems allow for setting up payment methods for decentral energy sales that imitate pre-paid mobile phone solutions. The end-customer must “top up” his energy account before consuming the electricity. This approach enables SHS- or mini-grid-operators to manage the payment behavior in an automated way and to optimize the money collection process. The approach avoids losses due to failure of payment. The downside is that the solar power output is determined at the moment of the investment when the technical parameters of the plant are specified. If the electricity from a system is not consumed it cannot be sold elsewhere. Forecasting future electricity needs is a key discipline — above all for mini-grid developers as mini-grids can hardly be removed after construction. SHS companies face more flexibility. In case of non-payment, it is relatively easy — at least from a technical point of view — to dismantle, remove and relocate SHSs.

Solar! Electricity for all? Leaving no one behind?

The business case is however not easy. Both SHS and mini-grid companies have to choose their customers carefully in order to come up with an economically viable business case. SHS providers choose the best customers on a country level or from certain regions in which they operate. Not everyone can afford solar energy. Minigrid developers make two choices: first, they choose a village, then they chose in a particular village the customers that can pay for electricity and that are easy to access. Often, within the village, they are less demanding than SHS providers.

As a certain willingness and ability to pay for solar power is required, both approaches have the tendency to address primarily the rural middle class. Subsides that are often incorporated in both approaches do not reach the poorest of the poor. It becomes obvious that development efforts must be undertaken beyond electrification.