New Delhi (NVI) India ranks 109th among 128 nations in the global energy trilemma Index which was recently released by World Energy Council. The Index shows the sustainability of national energy policies of a country.
Across all three broad indicators, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark are the top performers. The Index ranks 128 countries on their ability to provide sustainable energy through three dimensions: Energy security,energy equity, and environmental sustainability.
Even India’s security score has been steadily declining since 2000 due to reduction in energy storage, lack of diversity in primary energy supply and increase in import dependency, the report shows. But Equity and Sustainability have been gradually rising, owing to reduction in energy prices in some parts and improvement in efficiency.
India’s ambitious renewal energy targets, set as part of the Paris Climate Accord,will help it improve its sustainability record. It has set renewable energy capacity targets of 175GW by 2022 and 500 GW by 2030.
The Narendra Modi government had recently announced that it has achieved 100% electrification of villages, another step towards making energy easily accessible. The Government has also taken steps to boost bio fuels and electric vehicles
But challenges ahead include reducing its dependence on imported oil and gas, and ensuring renewable energy sources are given adequate priority.
Sweden, Denmark and Finland topped in Energy security indicator for their robust infrastructure and ability to effectively manage supply and demand. On the equity indicator, Luxembourg, Bahrain and Qatar rank the highest. Generally wealthy countries with concentrated populations and abundant energy supplies perform well in this category.
In Environmental Sustainability, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden lead the way by making steady gains toward decarbonisation and pollution control. Though several Middle Eastern and Gulf states score high on the index, it’s largely due to cheap and easy access to energy and not necessarily sustainable practices stable supply.
-sb
