Mapping India’s Energy and Emissions Landscape

Executive Summary

India’s socio-economic development and pathways for sustainable growth require a substantial understanding of its energy requirements. Policymakers must have access to comprehensive and reliable data on the country’s energy scenario to make better-informed decisions for India’s transition to a net-zero emissions economy by 2070. This paper offers a robust database of India’s energy landscape by validating and reconstructing the energy balance (EB) and computing emissions data. Policymakers can utilise this framework to assess the impacts of policy interventions on energy consumption and emissions in the country’s energy transition efforts.

Key Takeaways

1. The Energy Balance (EB) is an accounting framework that maps the supply and demand of all forms of energy in a country. It provides data on energy flows in physical and common energy units for comparison.
2. This study identifies various gaps and inconsistencies in data on India’s energy. It reconstructs and validates these statistics by cross-referencing data from other sources, including relevant Indian ministries, to provide a more representative picture of India’s energy landscape. For example, in this paper, the statistical differences in coal and petroleum products have been minimised by refining conversion factors.
3. The results of the study reveal trends in energy consumption and emissions from energy combustion. Non-coking coal, primarily used in power generation, has remained the dominant energy resource in India recently and is responsible for approximately 60% of all combustion emissions. Meanwhile, energy from renewable sources has slowly increased its share in total energy supply.
4. Electrification of machinery is an important step in reducing emissions. This paper presents a framework for estimating the impacts of policies on energy and emissions. It showed that electrification can lead to substantial reductions in emissions, especially when the machinery currently operates on fossil fuels with low efficiencies. A greener power grid would further help reduce emissions in the country.

Energy Resources of India

Data on India’s energy resources can be classified as primary or secondary in nature (i.e., if it is available naturally or requires some processing) and renewable or non-renewable. The major energy resources in India include:

• Coal: This is the largest contributor to emissions from India’s energy sector. The country has abundant resources which are used for power generation, though higher-grade coking coal is imported for use in the steel industry.
• Crude Oil and Petroleum Products: India is highly dependent on crude oil imports to produce petroleum products domestically. Petroleum products contribute significantly to emissions, particularly from the transport sector. Electrification of this sector would result in lower demand for petroleum products, and hence lower import demand of crude oil.
• Renewable Energy Sources: Solar, wind, and hydro are rapidly growing in India’s energy mix and will drive the country’s decarbonisation efforts.
• Natural Gas: India consumes relatively lower amounts of natural gas, though it is important for non-energy uses, such as feedstock for fertilisers and other manufacturing sectors.

Policy Recommendations

1. Broader and Validated Data Collection:

a. Disaggregating energy consumption data by type of consumer, state, and household income levels can provide policymakers with a clearer picture of energy access and usage.
b. Data on biomass usage are important for a comprehensive understanding of the energy landscape in India.
c. India’s diverse energy landscape requires state-specific energy strategies that consider locally-available resources and consumption patterns. Policies can be tailored to help states meet their unique energy needs while contributing to national climate goals.

2. Electrification and the Role of Renewables:

a. Electrification of machinery will help reduce emissions, particularly for less-efficient sectors.
b. Investments in grid infrastructure and energy storage will help accommodate more renewable energy and make electrification more effective in decarbonisation.

3. Energy Losses:

a. Large energy losses in transmission, distribution, and transformation need to be addressed, and incentives can be provided to help reduce these losses.

This study underscores the critical importance of accurate and comprehensive energy statistics for understanding and modelling India’s energy landscape and transition. Through validating, disaggregating, and extending existing energy balances with data on emissions from energy combustion, this study provides a more reliable dataset for policy analysis. As India charts its path towards net-zero emissions, robust energy and emissions data will be essential for designing targeted, inclusive, and sustainable interventions that achieve the country’s long-term goals.