Big policy boost coming for ocean energy sector

by | Aug 23, 2019 | Clean Energy & Transport, Policy, Sustainability

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has stated that energy produced using various forms of ocean energy such as tidal, wave, ocean thermal energy conversion will considered as renewable energy.
Share to lead the transformation

In a decision that would give boost to the ocean energy in India, Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy (IC) and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, RK Singh has approved a proposal to declare ocean energy as renewable energy.

Accordingly, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has clarified to all the stakeholders that energy produced using various forms of ocean energy such as tidal, wave, ocean thermal energy conversion etc. shall be considered as Renewable Energy and shall be eligible for meeting the non-solar Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO).

The Ministry notes that oceans cover 70 percent of the earth’s surface and represent an enormous amount of energy in the form of wave, tidal, marine current and thermal gradient. A variety of different technologies are currently under development throughout the world to harness this energy in all its forms. Deployment is currently limited but the sector has the potential to grow, fueling economic growth, reduction of carbon footprint and creating jobs not only along the coasts but also inland along its supply chains.

As Government of India steps up its effort to reach the objectives to contemplate its Renewable Energy and climate change objectives post 2022, it is opportune to explore all possible avenues to stimulate innovation, create economic growth and new jobs as well as to reduce our carbon footprint. India has a long coastline with the estuaries and gulfs. MNRE looks over the horizon at development of new technology and considers the various options available to support its deployment. Most types of technologies are currently at pre-R&D / demonstration stage or the initial stage of commercialization. Basic R&D is being looked after by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (example: National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai). MNRE intends to support demonstration projects of proven technologies and as approved by expert committee constituted by MNRE.

Potential
Total identified potential of Tidal Energy is about 12455 MW, with potential locations identified at Khambat & Kutch regions, and large backwaters, where barrage technology could be used.
The total theoretical potential of wave energy in India along the country’s coast is estimated to be about 40,000 MW – these are preliminary estimates. This energy is however less intensive than what is available in more northern and southern latitudes.

OTEC has a theoretical potential of 180,000 MW in India subject to suitable technological evolution.

Technology
Although currently under-utilised, Ocean energy is mostly exploited by just a few technologies: Wave, Tidal, Current Energy and Ocean Thermal Energy.

Tidal Energy: The tidal cycle occurs every 12 hours due to the gravitational force of the moon. The difference in water height from low tide and high tide is potential energy. Similar to traditional hydropower generated from dams, tidal water can be captured in a barrage across an estuary during high tide and forced through a hydro-turbine during low tide. The capital cost for tidal energy power plants is very high due to high civil construction and high power purchase tariff. To capture sufficient power from the tidal energy potential, the height of high tide must be at least five meters (16 feet) greater than low tide. The Gulf of Cambay and the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat on the west coast have the locations in the country where potential exists.

Wave Energy: Wave energy is generated by the movement of a device either floating on the surface of the ocean or moored to the ocean floor. Many different techniques for converting wave energy to electric power have been studied. Wave conversion devices that float on the surface have joints hinged together that bend with the waves. This kinetic energy pumps fluid through turbines and creates electric power. Stationary wave energy conversion devices use pressure fluctuations produced in long tubes from the waves swelling up and down. This bobbing motion drives a turbine when critical pressure is reached. Other stationary platforms capture water from waves on their platforms. This water is allowed to runoff through narrow pipes that flow through a typical hydraulic turbine.

Current Energy: Marine current is ocean water moving in one direction. This ocean current is known as the Gulf Stream. Tides also create currents that flow in two directions. Kinetic energy can be captured from the Gulf Stream and other tidal currents with submerged turbines that are very similar in appearance to miniature wind turbines. Similar to wind turbines, the movement of the marine current moves the rotor blades to generate electric power.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC): Ocean thermal energy conversion, or OTEC, uses ocean temperature differences from the surface to depths lower than 1,000 meters, to extract energy. A temperature difference of only 20°C can yield usable energy. Research focuses on two types of OTEC technologies to extract thermal energy and convert it to electric power: closed cycle and open cycle. In the closed cycle method, a working fluid, such as ammonia, is pumped through a heat exchanger and vaporized. This vaporized steam runs a turbine. The cold water found at the depths of the ocean condenses the vapor back to a fluid where it returns to the heat exchanger. In the open cycle system, the warm surface water is pressurized in a vacuum chamber and converted to steam to run the turbine. The steam is then condensed using cold ocean water from lower depths.

Technology Objectives
The objective of the technology program is to accelerate and enhance support for the resource assessment and deployment of ocean energy in the country and to harness it for power generation and to overcome the barriers. The technology program is open to public and private sectors to carry out projects in India. Industry lead R&D proposals are invited from stakeholders, for solving problems in Indian conditions. Basic R&D is being looked after by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (example: National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai).
All the stakeholders desirous of utilizing Ocean Energy are being invited by MNRE for demonstration projects of proven technologies under Research, Design, Development and Demonstration (RDD&D) program/policy of the Ministry, in force at the time.

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Pradhan releases EoIs for UCO biodiesel in 100 cities

Pradhan releases EoIs for UCO biodiesel in 100 cities

The Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan today released the Expression for Interest (EOI) by National Oil Marketing Companies (IOC, HPCL and BPCL) for procurement of biodiesel, made from Used Cooking Oil (UCO). On the Occasion of the World Biofuel Day today, Pradhan, along with the Chief Guest, Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan, launched a sticker on RUCO viz., Repurpose Used Cooking Oil and a mobile app to facilitate the collection of UCO. This year the theme of the World Biofuel Day is “Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO)”.

As reported earlier by Time Green earlier, the EoI was to be released on World Biofuel Day. (See: EoIs for biofuel coming on World Biofuel Day)

The EOI on biodiesel from UCO provides that the entrepreneurs setting up biodiesel plants get remunerative price and assurance of complete offtake of production by the Oil companies. To be launched in 100 cities, EOI will ensure that Rs 51 per liter is paid for biodiesel for the first year, Rs 52.7 for the second year and Rs 54.5 for the third year. The oil companies will also bear the cost of transportation and GST for the first year, said the PIB release for this news today.

Dharmendra Pradhan, along with Chief Guest Dr. Harsh Vardhan, launched a sticker on Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO) and a mobile app to facilitate the collection of UCO. (pix source: PIB)

Describing biodiesel as low hanging fruit in the scheme of alternate source of energies, the minister said that abundant raw material is available for the purpose (pix source: PIB)

Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan said the Prime Minister has given a target to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to bring down import dependency of oil products by 2022, and this can be achieved by enhancing production, improving energy efficiency, promoting conservation and encouraging alternate fuels. He said that the government is promoting the alternate sources of energy in a big way. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is working on a four-pronged strategy in this regard—promoting Ethanol, 2-G ethanol, compressed biogas and biodiesel. Pradhan said that the ethanol blending in petrol has gone up from 1% to about 8% and is likely to touch 10% soon. He said the Government is planning to allow production of ethanol from surplus food grains which now sometimes go waste and also entail expenditure on storage. On the issue of compressed biogas, the minister said that CGD network being set up in over 400 districts will give a big fillip to it, and already 300 letters of intent have been signed with entrepreneurs for setting up CBG plants. Describing biodiesel as low hanging fruit in the scheme of alternate source of energies, the minister said that abundant raw material is available for the purpose. It is a good waste to wealth concept. He said that the budget this year has underlined the transformation of Annadata to Urjadata.

Mentioning about the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Scheme, Pradhan said that the Scheme will achieve its target of 8 crore beneficiaries by October this year, well before the deadline. He said that the scheme has environmental, economic, social and health benefits. Similarly, the scheme of collecting the Used Cooking Oil and its conversion to biodiesel will have environmental, economic and health benefits, besides helping the country attain self-sufficiency. He called upon the OMCs to support the entrepreneurs in their endeavor, as the biodiesel production also promote Sswacchh Bharat mission.

The minister complimented the Ministry of Health in joining hands with the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, in taking up the projects concerning the health of the people.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan enumerated number of technologies developed within the country to convert the waste into useful products. He said that PMUY has helped millions of people in improving their health. The Health Minister emphasized on enforcement, educating and raising awareness about perils of repeatedly using cooking oil, besides offering incentives for disposing it in productive, useful and safe manner. There is need to develop societal movement around it, he added. He said that the Government has launched Eat Right India campaign, and there is need to extend it Eat Less also.

The RUCO sticker launched today will imply that the establishment having it conforms to the RUCO ecosystem and does not reuse the cooking oil. The RUCO App will enable stakeholders to track and trace all transactions.

Leather Mission launched on World Tribal Day

Leather Mission launched on World Tribal Day

leather mission

As part of the Leather Mission, KVIC is giving leather kits to the leather artisans across the nation.

Khadi and Village Industry Commission (KVIC) distributed as many as 50 leather kits and 350 bee-boxes with live bee colonies in tribal-dominated village in Sirohi district of Rajasthan, one of the aspirational districts in India identified by the NITI Aayog, on World Tribal Day today.

While addressing the villagers, KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said that programs like Leather Mission, Kumhar Sashaktikaran Mission, and Honey Mission are the reflection of KVIC’s commitment to uplift the lives of marginalized communities in society.

He said that KVIC is launching a new program ‘Leather Mission’ on World Tribal Day from the tribal-dominated village of Chandala. Under this new program, KVIC will give Leather Kits to the leather artisans across the nation. It will not only increase their incomes manifold but will also inspire the traditional leather artisans who had migrated to other jobs from their traditional skill to adopt this vocation again.”

350 bee-boxes were distributed at the function. Honey Mission has proved as a game-changer in the lives of tribals, farmers, SC/STs and unemployed youths. So far, KVIC has distributed over 1.15 lakh bee-boxes across the nation among the marginalized community, which has provided jobs to over 11,500 people. It has not only increased the income of the bee-keeping farmers but has also increased the yield of the crops by up to 30 percent due to cross-pollination of the honeybees.

3rd global EV conclave held in Delhi

3rd global EV conclave held in Delhi

ev future concept

A futuristic rendition of EV (Representative stock image)

The Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Arjun Ram Meghwal, inaugurated the 3rd International Electric Vehicle (EV) Conclave at the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) in Manesar, Gurugram, today. The Conclave was held to create a knowledge-sharing platform to ensure flow of information at all levels in the automotive sector.

The EV Conclave organized by ICAT in association with India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) has grown and transformed itself into a global event since its inception in 2017. Owing to the growth of electric mobility and in order to meet the demands of the automotive sector, the EV Conclave is organized with a focus on new trends and challenges in the field of electric mobility.

Addressing the Conclave, Arjun Ram Meghwal, said that the Electric Mobility Mission will be implemented in phases based on feedback from the auto industry. He also promised all support to the industry on policy matters to ensure smooth and efficient transformation of the automotive industry from internal combustion (IC) to electric powertrain. He informed that 3 lakh electric vehicles have already been sold under the FAME India Scheme. He said the provision of Rs. 10,000 crore have been made for electric mobility in the Union Budget of 2019-20.

The Conclave was attended by more than 200 delegates from more than 80 organizations. The next Conclave will be organized in July 2020.

On this occasion, an exhibition was organized in which component manufacturers, system suppliers and service providers showcased their products and services to promote self-reliance, encourage designers and promote innovations in the electric vehicle industry in India.

Arjun Ram Meghwal also inaugurated various new facilities including Photometry Lab for General Lighting and Power Train Engine Test Cell (ETC)- Expansion. In the expansion of the Photometry Lab for general lighting, various performance and safety testing facilities like mirror Goniometer, LED testing facilities were also inaugurated. Powertrain ETC lab expansion includes two transient and five Eddy current dynamometers-based test cells for functional validation of engines. (News source: PIB)

Water conservation drive planned for schools

Water conservation drive planned for schools

Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ will launch ‘Samagra Shiksha-Jal Suraksha’ drive to create awareness about water conservation among all school students in the country. This mega drive would be launched at Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Auditorium, Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 2 in Delhi Cantt.

Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s impetus to Jal Sanchay, Government of India has launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA). It is a time bound campaign with a mission mode approach. This concept of water conservation is essential for students so that they can understand the importance of water and how it is shaping their lives meaningfully, thereby enabling them to participate in water conservation activities in their day to day lives.

The Department of School Education & Literacy, MHRD has launched the ‘Samagra Shiksha-Jal Suraksha’ drive to promote water conservation activities for School Students, so that they can become competent, conscientious and committed water citizens of our nation. The department has prepared a detailed outline to implement this program in all the schools of the country.

Five major objectives of the program are:

  • To educate students learn about conservation of water
  • To sensitize Students about the impact of scarcity of water
  • To empower Students to learn to protect the natural sources of water
  • To help every Student to save at least one litre of water per day
  • To encourage Students towards judicious use and minimum wastage of water at home and school level

The program targets to achieve the following:

  • One Student – One Day – Save One Liter Water
  • One Student – One Year – Save 365 Liters Water
  • One Student – 10 Years – Save 3650 Liters Water
EoIs for biofuel coming on World Biofuel Day

EoIs for biofuel coming on World Biofuel Day

World Biofuel Day is observed every year on 10th of August to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels and highlight the various efforts made by Government in the biofuel sector. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas will organize World Biofuel Day on 10th August 2019 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan will inaugurate the program. Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan will be the Chief Guest of the function. This year the theme of the World Biofuel Day is “Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO).”

Biofuels have the benefits of reduction of import dependence, cleaner environment, additional income to farmers and employment generation. Biofuel program also compliments Government of India’s initiatives for Make in India, Swachh Bharat and increasing farmers income. A number of initiatives have been undertaken to increase production and blending of biofuels since 2014.

In India, the same cooking oil is used for repeated frying which adversely affects the health due to formation of polar compounds during frying. These polar compounds are associated with diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, liver diseases among others. UCO is either not discarded at all or disposed off in an environmentally hazardous manner choking drains and sewerage systems.

The National Policy on Biofuels, released by the Government of India in 2018, envisages production of biofuel from UCO. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is implementing a strategy to divert UCO from the food value chain and curb current illegal usage. The benefits of transformation of UCO will help bring health benefits as there would be no recycling of the UCO, employment generation, infrastructural investment in rural areas & cleaner environment with reduced carbon footprint.

At present, approximately 850 crore liters of High Speed Diesel (HSD) is consumed on a monthly basis in India. The National Policy on Biofuels – 2018 envisages a target of 5% blending of Biodiesel in HSD by 2030. In order to achieve the blending target, 500 crore liters of biodiesel is required in a year. In India, approximately, 22.7 MMTPA (2700 crore liters) of Cooking Oil is used out of which 1.2 MMTPA (140 crore) UCO can be collected from Bulk Consumers such as hotels, restaurants, canteens, etc. for conversion, which will give approximately 110 crore liters of biodiesel in one year. Presently there is no established collection chain for UCO. Thus, there is a huge opportunity in production of biodiesel from UCO.

To facilitate the production of Biodiesel from UCO, the Oil Marketing Companies shall float an Expression of Interest (EOI) for procurement of biodiesel from used cooking oil across 100 cities. The purpose of inviting this EOI is to encourage the applicants to set up biodiesel producing plants from used cooking oil (UCO), processing plants and further utilizing the existing potential of UCO based bio-diesel in India.

On this occasion, a sticker on RUCO viz., Repurpose Used Cooking Oil and a mobile app to facilitate the collection of UCO shall also be released by FSSAI.

Interactive sessions on Second Generation Ethanol & Biodiesel from UCO shall also be held. The sessions will focus on issues and hurdles being faced by the sector and dwell on how to overcome these hurdles for effective implementation of the blending program across the country.

Soon, 5,595 new electric buses for 64 cities 

Soon, 5,595 new electric buses for 64 cities 

Electric bus charging (representative image).

The Department of Heavy Industry has approved the sanction of 5,595 electric buses to 64 Cities, State Government Entities, and State Transport Undertakings (STUs) for intra-city and intercity operation under FAME India scheme phase II in order to give a further push to clean mobility in public transportation.

The Phase-II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME-India) Scheme proposes to give a push to electric vehicles (EVs) in public transport and seeks to encourage adoption of EVs by way of market creation and demand aggregation.

The Department had invited the Expression of Interest (EoI) from million-plus cities, smart cities, State/UT capitals and cities from special category states for submission of proposal for deployment of electric buses on operational cost basis.

Eight six proposals from 26 States/UTs for the deployment of 14,988 e-Buses were received. After evaluation of these proposals as per EoI, on the advice of Project Implementation and Sanctioning Committee (PISC) the Government sanctioned 5095 electric buses to 64 Cities / State Transport Corporations for intra-city operation, 400 electric buses for intercity operation, and 100 electric buses for last-mile connectivity to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

Each selected City/STUs is required to initiate the procurement process in a time bound manner for deployment of sanctioned electric buses on operational cost basis. As per EoI, buses which satisfy required localization level and technical eligibility notified under FAME India scheme phase II will be eligible for funding under FAME India scheme phase II.

These buses will run about 4 billion kilometers during their contract period and are expected to save cumulatively about 1.2 billion liters of fuel over the contract period, which will result into avoidance of 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 emission.

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