UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 29)

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QUESTION 1

How “Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge” will pace and scale of deployment of renewables and energy?

QUESTION 2

Low sugar stocks and production uncertainties have forced the government to slow its successful ethanol blending programme (EBP). Discuss.

General points on the structure of the answers

Introduction

QUESTION 1: How “Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge” will pace and scale of deployment of renewables and energy?

Introduction:

— According to the “Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge”, countries have to “double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements from around 2% to over 4% every year until 2030”.

— Recognising that, in order to meet the global community’s collective goal of keeping warming well below 2°C while pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C, the pace and scale of renewables and energy efficiency deployment must accelerate significantly between now and 2030, propelling the global transition to energy systems free of unabated fossil fuels well ahead of and by mid-century at the latest.

Body:

— The pledge is neither legally binding nor a part of the official COP28 calendar.

— The pledge was spearheaded by the EU, the US and the UAE and supported by Brazil, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Canada, Chile and Barbados. India and China have stayed away as the initiative calls for phasing down of coal and “ending the continued investment in unabated new coal-fired power plants”.

— The issue of tripling renewable energy is also on the agenda for COP28, and the outcome is eagerly anticipated. The pledge indicates that world leaders want to take a more active role in reducing global emissions.

— The International Energy Agency (IEA) has found that, between 2022 and 2027, renewables will account for over 90% of global electricity capacity expansion.

— The upward revision is primarily driven by China, the EU, the United States, and India, which are all implementing existing policies, regulatory and market reforms, and introducing new ones faster than expected in response to the energy crisis,” according to the IEA.

— Solar, wind, hydropower and biofuels are seen as the fuels of the future, even in developing countries. According to the pledge, the tripling of renewable energy is expected to practically eliminate fossil fuels as energy sources by 2050.

Conclusion:

— According to India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the country is the world’s third-largest producer of renewable energy, with non-fossil fuel sources accounting for 40% of installed energy capacity.

— India has announced its aim to meet 50% of its electricity demands from renewable energy sources by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2070.

— The IEA has found that the electricity sector is the brightest spot globally for renewables, with the strong growth of solar photovoltaics and wind energy in recent years, building on the already significant contribution of hydropower.

(Source: Global Renewables And Energy Efficiency Pledge at COP28: what is the tripling renewable energy target? by Dipanita Nath, On the sidelines of COP28, over 110 countries agree to renewable capacity tripling target by Amitabh Sinha, http://www.cop28.com)

Points to Ponder

COP 28

International Energy Agency

Renewable energy

Related Previous Year Questions

With growing energy needs should India keep on expanding its nuclear energy programme? Discuss the facts and fears associated with nuclear energy? (2018)

Explain the purpose of the Green Grid Initiative launched at World Leaders Summit of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November, 2021. When was this idea first floated in the International Solar Alliance (ISA)? (2021)

QUESTION 2: Low sugar stocks and production uncertainties have forced the government to slow its successful ethanol blending programme (EBP). Discuss.

Introduction:

— Ethanol is an agro-based product derived primarily from molasses, a byproduct of the sugar industry.

— The Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP) aims to achieve ethanol-motor-spirit blending to reduce pollution, conserve foreign exchange, and increase value addition in the sugar industry, allowing farmers to clear cane price arrears.

— Under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme, the government has been promoting ethanol blending in petrol with multiple goals in mind, including reducing import dependence, saving foreign exchange, boosting the domestic agriculture sector, and reaping associated environmental benefits.

Body:

— Ethanol – or even 94 per cent pure industrial-grade rectified spirit and 96% extra neutral alcohol for potable liquor – is normally made from so-called C-heavy molasses.

— Cane is typically crushed with 13.5-14 per cent total fermentable sugars (TFS) by mills. Around 11.5 per cent of it can be recovered as sugar from the juice. Uncrystallised, non-recoverable 2-2.5 per cent TFS is used to make C-heavy molasses. On fermentation and distillation, one tonne of this liquid, which contains 40-45 per cent sugar, yields 220-225 litres of ethanol.

— Instead of recovering 11.5% sugar, mills can extract 9.5-10% and divert the remaining 1.5-2% TFS to an earlier ‘B-heavy’ stage molasses. This molasses, having 50%-plus sugar, yields 290-320 litres of ethanol per tonne.

— The real fillip to EBP programme came with the Modi government paying mills more for ethanol produced from feedstocks other than C-heavy molasses.

— The government’s ethanol policy has been very supportive, especially with regard to pricing and use of alternative feedstocks.

— The EBP programme no longer relies on a single feedstock or crop. Earlier, 100% of ethanol was from sugarcane-based feedstocks (it fell to 76% in 2022-23).

Conclusion:

— The all-India average blending of ethanol with petrol has risen from 1.6 per cent in 2013-14 to 11.8 per cent in 2022-23.

— Under the Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP), the Central Government has increased blending targets from 5% to 10%. The EBP procurement procedure for ethanol has been simplified in order to streamline the entire ethanol supply chain, and the remunerative ex-depot price of ethanol has been fixed.

(Source: Food versus Fuel: What’s happening with Centre’s ethanol blending scheme by Harish Damodaran, dfpd.gov.in)

Points to Ponder

Sugar supply concerns

What is Ethanol?

Related Previous Year Questions

What is oil pollution? What are its impacts on the marine ecosystem? In what way is oil pollution particularly harmful for a country like India? (2023)

Each year a large amount of plant material, cellulose, is deposited on the surface of Planet Earth. What are the natural processes this cellulose undergoes before yielding carbon dioxide, water and other end products? (2022)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 28)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 27)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 27)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 28)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 28)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 27)

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