Sunita Narain set the context in her opening address, reminding the community of scientists and civil society organisation that while India needs to reduce emissions, it also has to develop in a sustainable way.
Parth Kumar, programme manager, Industrial Pollution, CSE, highlighted the possibilites and struggles to reduce dependence on coal and scale up renewable energy.
To scale up renewable energy, diversifying energy sources as well as looking at hybrid systems and storage mechanisms will be imperative, he added.
Talking about subsidy for transition, Kumar noted that it will be beneficial to have targeted benefit subsidies. "Support for vulnerable consumers is the need of the hour."
Amit Garg, professor, Public Systems Group, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, Gujarat, shared a reminder for the scientific and policymaking community developing a decarbonisation plan. He said, "We can adopt new technologies, and try new ways, but we in India cannot eradicate coal just yet."
Transition should encompass growth and development, ensuring inclusivity at every step, the expert added.
While developing and implementing decarbonisation pathways, taking stock of the projects and their impacts are important. Kaveri K Iychettira, assistant professor, School of Public Policy, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi, weighed in on the mechanisms for doing this.
Raghav Pachouri, associate director, Low Carbon Pathways and Modelling, Vasudha Foundation, highlighted how storage can play an important role in making energy transition successful.
Swasti Raizada, Policy Advisor (Energy), International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Bengaluru, Karnataka, said, "We need to bring co-benefits approach for energy and development outcomes."
Ann Josey, Fellow, Prayas (Energy Group), Pune, pointed out that states need a comprehensive vision document; so that they can take better investment decisions.
Simran Grover, founder and chief executive, Centre for Energy, Environment and People (CEEP), Jaipur, Rajasthan, shed light on the best practices for energy modelling. It is a scientific process but can also become political, he warned.
In the short video below, Grover talks about the importance of energy modelling and how it should be done.
Bhaskar Natarajan, senior fellow, Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), raised a concern regarding the current status of energy modelling in the country. We need a collective contribution to the national power planning exercise, he said.
Manish Kumar Shrivastava, associate director, Earth Science and Climate Change, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), flagged another limitation in this regard.
Anjan Kumar Sinha, technical director, Intertek, said energy security in India is currently dependent on coal. "In phasing it out, we have to improve flexible operations of coal-based plants for electricity dispatch, especially with increasing levels of renewable energy."
How can hard-to-abate sectors such as iron and steel, cement, aluminium and fertiliser in India decarbonise? The following are some suggestions that came up during today's deliberations by industry insiders and scientists:
1. There has to be mandated demand creation for greener production.
2. India needs to invest in R&D to lead the green transition.
3. Blended and public financing is the necessary first step.
4. Ambitious decarbonisation targets of these sectors is a positive sign and the start of the change journey.
5. Material efficiency is the Indian way to lower emissions but the country needs to do more on this.
The day ended with a riveting conversation under the moonlit night sky in Nimli, Rajasthan on climate finance.