72. Renewable Energy Potential and Prospects – Emphasis on Bioenergy

Energy plays a vital role in our society. It affects all that we do. Its role in economic development of a region needs no emphasis, because of its qualitative effects it exercises greater influence. Energy is the key element in the production process, and the lack or shortage of energy has serious impact on our economy. Since energy is essential to make things happen, it is a central concept in most branches of natural science, social science and engineering. Energy plays a crucial role in diverse processes such as chemical reactions, cloud formation, functioning of cells, production of goods, transportation etc. Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are the basis of industrial society but they are disappearing at an increasing pace. Present fossil fuel potential is unable to meet the growing demand of our society. There is a need to look for viable alternatives to meet the scarcity. In this regard rational decision making is necessary to eliminate wasteful use of resources and use it for productive purposes. The development of renewable sources of energy will increase the diversity of energy sources in a region and thereby increase the security meeting energy service needs. The regional planning machinery could play a leading role in the sensitive development of renewable resources to the benefit of the environment and the local community. However at present the vast majority of region's planning machinery (at state and district level) have little or no knowledge of the renewable energy potential that exists within their boundaries. The central theme of the regional energy plan be to prepare an area based decentralised energy plans to meet energy needs for subsistence and development of alternate energy sources at least cost to the economy and environment. Centralised energy planning exercises cannot pay attention to the variations in socio-economic and ecological factors of a region which influence success of any intervention. Decentralised energy planning is in the interest of efficient utilisation of resources. The regional planning mechanism takes in to account various resources available and demand in a region. This implies that the assessment of the demand and supply and the intervention in the energy system which may appear desirable due to such exercises must be at a similar geographic scale. In this regard, the District is accepted as the appropriate planning level. Planned interventions to reduce energy scarcity can take various forms such as (a) energy conservation, through promotion and use of energy efficient stoves for cooking and water heating, compact fluorescent bulbs in place of ordinary incandescent bulbs, (b) supply expansions through energy plantations and (c) alternatives – renewable sources of energy such as micro/mini/small hydro power plants, wind, solar and biomass based systems. Ecologically sound development of the region is possible when energy needs are integrated with the environmental concerns at the local and global levels. For this purpose an integrated planning framework is necessary.