Last year, according to a WEF report on green investing 2011, global clean energy investment surged 30% to a new record of $243 billion. In India, which is now the world?s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases but where per capita emissions still remain pretty low, both industry and policymakers see an opportunity to demonstrate how a country can transition into a low carbon economy even from a developing stage. On the government front, we have seen announcements like the world?s first national market-based energy efficiency trading mechanism and the National Solar Mission. On the industry front, the trend is confirmed by data gathered by the third edition of the FE-EVI green business survey. The survey of a group of companies that averaged a revenue growth rate of 30% over 2007-10 shows that energy intensities decreased by 11% over the period. While the trend is promising, much more will need to be accomplished along these lines since the national target is carbon intensity reduction of 20-25% by 2020. As a first step towards robust carbon management, it is good that 78.57% of the respondents are measuring their carbon footprint. As a second step, 59% of the respondents have set targets to reduce either their absolute emissions or emissions intensity. Projects involving improvements in energy efficiency are less controversial than renewables as improvements are easier to verify. Said improvements must be accompanied by innovations in clean technology to truly deliver a game-changing shift.
Investments are one benchmark for measuring innovation. India has emerged as one of the top 10 clean energy destinations in the world, securing $4 bn in private investments in 2010. This puts us at an inflection point. We see promises and we see challenges. Read the Suzlon story, which survived the global meltdown but only by taking some hits from the financial headwinds. It?s now looking at stiffer competition from Chinese companies, which are also buttressed by stronger subsidies.
