Climate crisis likely to hit India’s renewable energy potential: Study
NEW DELHI: Climate crisis is likely to impact India’s renewable energy potential, according to a research paper published in Current Science journal on Thursday.
While solar radiation over most active solar farming regions is expected to decrease during all seasons, the annual wind speed is likely to reduce in north India and increase in some parts of south India, it added.
Central and south central India must be considered for investments in the solar power sector during the pre-monsoon months as the potential radiation loss is likely to be minimal in these regions, the paper said.
Frequency of high energy-producing wind speeds will decrease as a whole but those of low energy-producing wind speeds are likely to increase, a regional analysis of wind potential indicated. Solar energy production is expected to decrease in the immediate future and this can be attributed to an increase in total cloud cover in the coming years, the paper said.
“The present study shows that renewable energy fields of solar and wind potential in India are likely to face a negative trend in the future. This can be overcome by including more farms and using highly efficient power generators than those available at present,” the paper written by researchers at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, earth sciences ministry, Center for Prototype Climate Modelling and New York University (Abu Dhabi) said.
The researchers said that the future potential of wind and solar energy in India was analysed using ensembles of climate models. The climate simulations for the past 55 years and future projections for as many years were considered from six models for the analysis. The future projections were made for various emission scenarios.
“Climate change is expected to impact future renewable energy production. Therefore, investors should understand and consider possible changes,” the paper said.