Wind Energy #GreenEnergy

I remember a conversation with my husband around renewable energy sources. We had  just seen a powerful video on disruptive technology. Disruptive technology is something which arrives and completely changes the way consumers buy things. The iPod, the mobile phone are all examples of disruptive technologies. Eventually, our discussion veered toward energy. He said that with the low fossil fuel reserves in India, we should quickly move toward renewable sources and we talked about Solar and Wind. During that time, neither of us knew much about the Wind energy and I got curious to know if India does have wind energy sources.

I read up a little about it and was quite pleased to know that India is the fifth largest producer of wind energy worldwide. There are wind farms in several states in the country, including Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra. I was surprised to learn that Tamil Nadu has been focussing on wind energy for about 30 years now and generates more than one third the total capacity all by itself. As a child, we have probably read picture books of faraway lands and spotted the occasional windmill in the illustration. Do any of you remember those pictures of stocky little windmills? To me they looked like a ceiling fan installed like a table fan! However, the wind farms today are nothing like that. Utilizing state of the art technology, the sleek windmills of today are an engineering marvel.

We are well aware that power cuts are common throughout India and this has affected our country’s growth. A cheaper, non-polluting and environment friendly solution for power is the need of the hour in India. The Indian Government too realises the importance of renewable energy. Speaking at the United Nation’s Conference on Climate Change currently on in Paris, India’s key negotiator Ajay Mathur who is the DG of Bureau of Energy Efficiency said “We have made it very clear that solar and wind are our first commitment. Hydro, nuclear – all of these non carbon sources are what we will develop to the largest extent that we can. What cannot be met by these will be met by coal”. Clearly, the government is focusing on this renewable and cheaper solution that can be deployed in rural India. The pictures below show how the wind farms can be constructed amongst the agricultural farms and co-exist.

Wind energy is a clean and potentially endless energy source and India is looking to increase it renewable energy sources capacity by over seven times. I can only imagine the kind of economic growth we will zoom to, if this happens.

What do you think?

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I have written this piece for Windergy India – a digital platform to create awareness about the Wind Energy sector in India. Windergy India aims to create wider public awareness on the benefits of wind energy, and the sectors efforts in India. Its mission to develop recommendation for Wind Energy among the general public.