Energy in India
By Nadir Godrej
3rd June 2019
The elephant in the room is
climate change
The weather now has a wider
range
And though it seems
exceedingly strange
Some blatant liars deny the
change.
It wasn’t my intent to grouse
But this extends to the White
House.
For energy we clearly see
That climate change is the
key.
This is a problem for every
nation
And until we succeed in
sequestration
The constant emission of GHGs
Will very soon just have to
cease.
Technology can pave the way
Technology can save the day.
It already has played a role
In getting us closer to the
goal.
Economists quite quickly saw
That solar also tracks Moore’s
law.
It already has surpassed the
goal
Of being cheaper than dirty
coal.
No one now can make the claim
That if development is our aim
We can’t afford to be green
No contradiction should be
seen.
But to be completely fair
One challenge is clearly there
While wind and solar are both
clean
One challenge though is
clearly seen.
The critics justifiably scoff
These power sources go on and
off
When both of them are in the
mix
We easily can find a fix
The variability is then less
But all the same there is some
stress.
Biomass can fill the breech.
For storage solutions we can
reach
Super capacitors and batteries
Are the solutions one usually
sees
But scientists are very bold
Thermal storage both heat or
cold.
Mechanical is a way
Flywheels, pumps can also
play.
I’m sure that all of you can
see
We have enough technology.
The growth’s an exponential
trend
We’re very far from the end.
But all the same we clearly
see
The need in policy and economy
For constantly expanding
innovation
In the service of the nation.
And though renewables have
grown
Most of the money is still
thrown
At coal. Hopefully we will see
Much progress in mobility.
The sharing economy is growing
fast
Ownership’s a concept of the
past.
If assets are better utilised
Of course the cost is
optimised
And resources are better used
And Nature too is not abused!
There’s extra benefit we see
In the case of shared
mobility.
The vehicle runs for many an
hour.
This encourages electric power
As variable cost is very low
And even though as we all know
The capital cost is rather
high
But since the cab is known to
ply
For many hours, the high
utilisation
Leads to lower amortisation.
And thus it is clearly seen
That shared mobility’s doubly
clean.
Since Petrol and Diesel are
quite dirty
Our Government by 2030
Wants an all electric fleet.
There is no better way to beat
Climate Change, that deadly
scourge
Than to give up that senseless
urge
To ruin our planet and our
health.
We don’t need to compromise
our wealth.
Green technologies can lower
cost
By being green nothing’s lost.
But India is no pretty picture
The Discoms have their
discomfiture.
Subsidies proliferate
The rate of theft is very
great.
The Generators are not paid
Disastrously the game is
played.
You can see I’m very cross
Alas! I am at a loss.
But don’t despair for very
soon
You’ll hear from Arunabh and
Arun.
Our speakers will show us the
way
Their brilliance will save the
day.
From them you’ll very clearly
see
Innovation in technology and
policy.
