SOUTH ASIA HAS LOTS OF NEW ENERGY

'Harness Untapped Renewable Energy Sources' – Experts
Athar Parvaiz, January 7, 2010 (Inter Press Service)

"With its vast renewable energy potential, South Asia can lead the world in achieving energy security…[but] it needs technological and financial support from the developed countries before it can tap its rich energy resources…

"The widely perceived "weak accord" that came out of the recently concluded climate talks in Copenhagen, which contained no binding emissions targets, had agreements on transfer of finance and technology from rich nations to developing countries. But critics said it would take a number of years to see them implemented in the absence of a binding outcome."

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"Some developed countries have already made a mark in the renewable energy sector, using their financial resources and technology…Denmark, for example, is rapidly capitalising on its potential for wind energy and is presently the world leader in wind energy production and consumption, with 20 percent of its electricity coming from wind resources. Spain and Germany, with 13 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively, rank second and third…

"South Asian countries hope to move in the same direction, especially in light of their energy requirements and potential. In India, for example, 100,000 villages are still without electricity even as it has a huge potential for wind and solar energy…According to the Indian Wind Energy Association (IWEA)…with the current level of technology, the onshore potential for utilisation of wind energy for electricity generation [in India] is of the order of 65,000 megawatts…Under its National Solar Mission programme, India is planning to have an installed capacity of 20,000 MWs of solar energy by 2022."

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"…[Experts say India can spearhead change in South Asia.]…In Bangladesh, more than 80 percent of the rural population has limited access to electricity…[W]hile it has a good potential for solar energy…biomass-based renewable energy is [might be a better choice] for electrifying rural Bangladesh…Bhutan…has an estimated 30,000-megawatt potential in hydro-electric power generation, yet it still uses firewood…

"A huge chunk of population in Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka is suffering despite the fact that renewable energy resources exist abundantly in these countries…[With its hydropower resources] South Asia has a great potential for becoming a world leader in renewable energy in the world…"