Sustainable energy: 2012-policy and legislation

Electricity demand in India is increasing at the rate of 7% per annum. This is the result of an increased rate of industrialisation, urbanisation and agricultural activities. At present, the energy and peaking shortages are about 8% and 19% respectively. These shortages can be supplemented by renewable energy sources. There are two kinds of energy generation and distribution systems-centralised and decentralised. The concept of a centralised system is harnessing energy at a centralised centre and then redistributing the same to a wide area around it. Power transmission losses, high investment on laying transmission lines and on repair and maintenance are some of the limitations of the centralised power generating systems. In India, centralised energy distribution systems are predominant and energy sources mostly conventional-70% through coal-fired thermal power plants. Not only is this system expensive in monetary terms, the environmental costs of generating conventional energy are also very high, when compared with nonconventional energy systems. Decentralised energy systems emerge from small-scale systems catering to the needs of small groups of people. This is especially applicable in remote rural areas where the cost of conventional energy systems would be higher and difficult to supply. Nonconventional solar, wind and biomass energy can be harnessed locally and distributed through both centralised and decentralised systems.