A shift towards RE may result in wide range of business and employment opportunities!

It is important to focus on renewable energy as a major source of power and instead of finding faults with it there is need to find solutions to make it successful, according to Greenpeace India which has campaigning to bring about a change in the present energy set up in India and has been promoting the concept of decentralised renewable energy in Bihar.

Recently the Bihar government has made public its intentions of harnessing the potential of renewable energy for the state, which is a positive step. The state has been reeling under extreme power deficit which has been a major obstacle in its growth.

The recent international conference on renewable energy organised by Greenpeace proved to be extremely successful in bringing together all the stakeholders in the renewable energy sector and discuss about the investment scenario in the renewable energy sector; the scope, opportunities, benefits and challenges. Emphasis was given on how to overcome the challenges. The Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, made a public statement through media stating that “the energy requirement of the state can be fulfilled only through renewable energy and if Bihar needs to grow on sustainable path than it needs to invest more and more in renewable.”

A shift towards renewable energy brings with it a wide range of business and employment opportunities. Today, renewable energy is well placed to deliver a range of solutions and applications. There are several constraints to a faster uptake of RE though, these constraints range from issues related to feasibility on the technical and financial front, slow pace of investments, lack of support infrastructure and regulatory hurdles. However, with the support from the government and the industry these constraints can be removed or mitigated.

The main obstacle in the implementation of renewable energy is the lack of an effective policy both at the large and small scale. The government of India has taken certain steps like the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), which has galvanised the growth of the renewables in the country, but still a lot needs to be done to make the renewable energy a force to reckon.

One of the major obstacles that comes in the way of renewables is the perception that the technology is expensive, however, over the recent times, it has been observed that the prices of fossil fuels are rising whereas the cost of renewable energy is headed downwards. With the increase in demand the cost of renewable energy will decrease further, thus giving us a viable, economical and sustainable source of electricity.