It is well known that
energy sector has its own impact on the progress and development of any nation.
The availability of various energy resources and in-house capability to use it
in the appropriate manner for productive development of a nation is the key
factor in the economic growth of the country.
The energy crisis all
over the world in the seventies warned the mankind and forced to think about
the appropriate utilization of the energy resources on the earth for the sustainable
development.The energy crisis had led
to many innovations as well as research and development programmes in all
sectors related to the energy. With global climate change issues occupying a
prominent position in science and technology, industry and international
relations, the role of renewable energy, energy conservation and energy
management has come into a sharp focus
in recent years.
In India, the sudden increase
in the price of oil, uncertainties associated with its supply and the adverse
impact on the balance-of- payments position led to the establishment of the
Commission for Additional Sources of Energy in the Department of Science and Technology in March 1981. The
Commission was charged with the responsibility of formulating policies and their
implementation, programmes for development of new and renewable energy apart
from coordinating and intensifying R and D in the sector. In 1982, a new
department, i.e., Department of Non-Conventional
Energy Sources (DNES), that incorporated CASE, was created in the then Ministry
of Energy. In 1992, DNES became the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy
Sources. In October 2006, the Ministry was re-christened as the Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy (www.mnre.gov.in).
The Ministry of Power,
Government of India set up the Bureau
of Energy Efficiency on 1st March 2002under the provisions of the Energy Conservation Act,
2001 (www.bee-india.nic.in). The mission of
the Bureau of Energy Efficiency is to assist in developing policies and
strategies with a thrust on self-regulation and market principles, within the
overall framework of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 with the primary objective of reducing energy intensity of the Indian
economy. This can be achieved with active participation of all stakeholders,
resulting in accelerated and sustained adoption of energy efficiency in all
sectors. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency co-ordinates with designated
consumers, designated agencies and other organizations and recognize,
identify and utilize the existing resources and infrastructure, in performing
the functions assigned to it under the Energy Conservation Act.
The Energy
Conservation Act provides for regulatory and promotional functions. The
Bureau is involved in several regulatory and promotional avenues in energy
efficiency and conservation. The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC),
2007 was launched by the Government of India for new, commercial buildings
having a connected load of more than 500 kW with the objective of bringing down the energy consumption of
commercial buildings through efficient design.
With a view to build
adequate technical capacity and develop economically viable renewable energy
and energy efficient systems and compliance of laudable objectives of the
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, adequate
scientific and technical manpower of all levels is a pre-requisite.Energy conservation and renewable energy
utilization hold tremendous potential of employment generation and social
entrepreneurship for human resources trained in almost all streams of
engineering, technology, sciences and humanities. In fact, several self-employment
opportunities in renewable energyand
energy efficiency sectors for modestly-trained and self-trained human
resources exist in all geographic locations of the country.
The organized training
programmes in renewable energy and energy management sectors inIndustrial Training Institutes and
Polytechnics in India are to be initiated
to develop the skills required in renewable energy and energy management
fields.The Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy is taking steps in this direction.
The post-graduate level
of training offered byvariousuniversities and organizations are detailed
below:
1.M Sc (Renewable
Energy), Department of Physics, University of Lucknow, Lucknow (www.lkouniv.ac.in).
2.M Sc (Physics,
Energy Studies), Department of Pure and Applied Physics, University of Kota, Kota (www.uok.ac.in).
3.M Tech (Energy Studies), School of Energy Studies, Department of
Physics, University of Pune, Pune (www.unipune.ernet.in).
4.Interdisciplinary M
Tech (Energy Studies) and Interdisciplinary M Tech (Energy & Environment
Management) School of Energy Studies, IIT, Delhi (www.iitd.ac.in).
5.M Tech (Energy
Management) and M Phil (Energy and Environment), School of Energy and Environmental
Studies, DeviAhilyaUniversity, Indore (www.seec.dauniv.ac.in).
6.M Tech (Energy Technology), Department of Energy, TezpurUniversity, Tezpur (www.tezu.ernet.in).
7.M Tech (Energy
Science and Engineering), Department of Energy Science and Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (www.iitb.ac.in).
9.M Tech (Energy
Engineering), National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (www.nitt.edu).
10.M Tech (Energy Management), Mechanical
Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Calicut (www.nitc.ac.in).
11.M Tech (Energy
Technology and Environment Management), School of Energy and Environment Management, Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal
12.M Tech (Energy Engineering), Maulana Azad
National Institute of Technology, Bhopal (www.manit.ac.in).
13.M Tech (Renewable Energy Engineering and
Management) and PG Diploma (Renewable Energy)*, TERIUniversity, New Delhi (www.teriuniversity.ac.in).
14.M Tech (Energy Science
and Technology) and Certificate (Energy Management and Audit)*,JadavpurUniversity, Jadavpur (www.jadavpur.edu).
15.M Tech (Energy
Management) and PG Diploma (Renewable Energy), Allahabad Agricultural
Institute (DeemedUniversity), Allahabad (www.aaidu.org).
16.M Phil (Energy), GandhigramRuralUniversity, Gandhigram (www.ruraluniv.ac.in).
17.M Phil (Energy),
Centre for Non-Conventional Energy Resources, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur (www.uniraj.ernet.in).
18.M E (Energy
Engineering), Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore (www.kct.ac.in).
19.PG Diploma (Energy
Management)*,Centre for Distance
Education, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad (www.uohyd.ernet.in).
20.PG Diploma (Electrical
Energy Management and Energy Audit) and Diploma (Energy Engineering)*, AnnamalaiUniversity, Chennai (www.annamalaiuniversity.ac.in).
*Distance Learning Programmes.
Besides the above
indicative list, the Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy has set up four specialized centres on solar
energy, wind energy, bio-energy and hydro-energy as follows :
·The Solar Energy Centre (SEC), established
in 1982, is a dedicated unit of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy,
Government of India for development of solar energy technologies and to
promote its applications through product development (www.mnre.gov.in/sec).
·A Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET),an
autonomous organization under the administrative control of the Ministry,
has been established in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and serves as the technical
focal point for wind power development (www.cwet.tn.nic.in).
·The Sardar Swaran
Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy (SSS-NIRE) is being
established as an autonomous institution in district Kapurthala, Punjab.NIRE will serve as the technical focal
point for development of bio-energy, including bio-fuels, and synthetic
fuels.
·Alternate Hydro Energy Centre (AHEC) is established in the
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee with initial sponsorship of
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in the year 1982. The mandate of the
center is to promote power generation through the development of small hydropower
projects in hilly as well as plain
areas and development of decentralized
integrated energy systems in conjunction with other renewable energy sources
e.g. biomass, solar, wind etc.(www.ahec.org.in).
Additionally,the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has been
established as a non-banking financial institution under the administrative
control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for providing term
loans for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects (www.ireda.in).
The Bureau of Energy
Efficiency, within the framework of the Energy
Conservation Act, 2001 conducts the Energy Managers and Energy Auditors
examinationsfor public and private
sector industries and organizations regularly.
In terms of the Energy Conservation
Building Code, 2007, several rating systems like GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated
Habitat Assessment) developed by The Energy and Resources Institute (www.teriin.org) and LEED India NC
developed by the Indian Green Building Council (www.greenbusinesscentre.org)are being advocated.
Some other organizations offer short-time
courses of various levels. Some of these organizations are :
b)National Petroleum Research Association, New Delhi (www.pcra.org).
c)Renewable Energy Centre Mithradham, Chunangamveli, Aluva
(www.mithradham.org).
d)State nodal agencies of the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy likeNEDA, MEDA,
GEDA, etc.
With a strong industrial base and successful
demonstration of technologies in solar thermal, solar photovoltaics, wind,
biomass and biogas, small-hydro and various energy conservation techniques,
there are numerous career opportunities in the area of renewable energy and
energy conservation and management.Since
the problems of environment, pollution and global warming are in forefront
today, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects are gaining momentum
all over the world with increased career opportunities in renewable energy
and energy management.
The
Author is Coordinator, M.SC Renewable Energy Programme, Department of
Physics, University of Lucknow
