ENERGY LAWS AND RENEWABLE RESOURCES OF ENERGY IN INDIA

Introduction

“A man doesn’t need brilliance or genius, all he needs is energy”.

– Albert M. Greenfield

Practically all of us are surrounded by energy and we require energy for the completion of each task. From eating to sleeping, charging electronic devices to driving vehicles we want energy for everything and every time. It is essential for surviving. We use energy in both every movement and non-movements of the body and object. The above conditions are answering where and why we need energy but the principal query which always arises in people’s heads is ‘what is energy’? So the answer is “the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity” is energy’s dictionary meaning. Science says ‘energy is the ability to do work’ and divides it into two forms ‘kinetic’ and ‘potential energy’. And the present development of humanity is only happening because we have discovered the means and ways to produce or reproduce energy. One of the greatest inventions is electricity and heat. 

“There is no genius in life like the genius of energy and industry”. – D.G. Mitchell

Now the question arises how do we use and convert the forms of energy in industries and why exactly the energy industries are genius? They are geniuses because they produce or make energy from different natural and artificial resources. They change one form of energy into another form of energy (electricity) for commercial purposes and at a huge level. The companies in commerce also worked as a bridge between production houses and consumer houses. These companies purchase, explore, refine and store the energy. And sometimes these companies also transport coal, crude oil and other primary resources.

The ways of producing or regulating energy in India

Many strained assets are standing with heavy feet on the energy sector to complete the energy needs of the world’s second most populated nation. Presently, India is depending upon coal for the majority of the production of energy or electricity, ‘50% commercial energy and 70% electricity. We are one of the prime coal producers in the sphere, the third in number following China and the USA.

India is a developing nation that keeps emerging from every edge. Emerging energy resources are one of the new areas of development in which India is moving forward. We are trying to adopt new measures to generate electricity to meet the needs of the masses. We are using renewable resources and green energy to generate power and electricity. For the last four years, the renewable energy sector and green energy sector are alluring “USD 42 billion investments and crafting 10 million of new employment” every fixed interval. Governing or regulation is the prime need of everything and energy also needs to be regulated for our convenience. So, we have some laws in the land to regulate the generation and supply of energy and power.

The “Electricity Act, 2003”, this law has institutional guidelines to manage production, channelling, circulation and commerce of electricity which is governed by the ‘Electricity Regulatory Commission’ (ERC). This commission was established and works at both the central and the state levels. An “Appellate Tribunal for Electricity” (APTEL) was also formed under this act. One of the massive changes introduced after this act was ‘delicensing for generators’, now organisations don’t need licenses for the production of electricity. We also have tariff policies under the electricity act which aim to provide electricity 24 hours for 7 weeks, try to be efficient by reducing the consumer charges, have renewable energy deeds and provide an ‘ease in doing business environment’ to the producers.

In 2014 the “Electricity (Amendment) Bill”, 2014 presented in Lok Sabha targets production and uses of renewable sources of energy even for commercial purposes. The production of “natural gas” and its study falls under the “Oil Field (Regulation & Development) Act, 1948” and the “Petroleum Act”, 1934. “LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas)” in India operates and needs operational, construction and installation permission under the “Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board, Act 2006” (PNGRB). The ‘atomic energy’ in India is regulated by the “Atomic Energy Commission” (ACE) established under the “Atomic Energy Act, 1962”. This act gives authority to develop, use and control energy generated from the atoms.    

We have a “Ministry of Power” which is responsible for ‘the production and development of electricity in India’ and launching or changing the policies related to energy. Earlier this ministry was known as the ‘Ministry of Energy Resources’. In order to fulfil the energy needs of the people of our nation, the government of India keeps launching different policies. As a result of that, we now have a separate renewable energy ministry called “Ministry of New and Renewable Energy”. One of the major renewable resources India is using to produce energy is “solar energy”. We have three of the largest solar parks from the world’s top five which includes the world’s largest also (Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan). We also have a very strong energy production system with “wind energy” and “hydroelectricity” power. We are fifth in number in the ‘installing capacity’ of hydropower plants.

Conclusion

The energy sector in our nation is facing payable loans of USD 78 billion due to lack of supply in coal, flaws in the duration of the power purchase agreement, lack of regulatory orders and late payments. We need to fix all these flaws by implementing proper regulating policies with changing times and changing environmental conditions. The more and more use of renewable resources can also solve the problem of power shortage, electricity crisis and extinction of natural resources (like fossil fuels).

And currently, we are making huge progress in the renewable energy production sector. We are marking a huge growth shift in renewable energy production with water, wind, solar energy, nuclear power, bioenergy (biogas, biofuels & bio protein) and ethanol. And most importantly we need to reduce the amount of energy we waste every year to maintain the cycle and move towards sustainable development. We can also run some awareness programs regarding the sustainable use of electricity among peoples.

Author(s) Name: Agrima Singh (Lloyd Law College, Greater Noida)