Political Geography: India / Topic: Energy Policy

1. Unfinished Connectivity in the Bay of Bengal

Author:: Amit Bhandari, Sagnik Chakraborty, Naren Punjabi, and Gitanjoli Dasgupta
Publication Date:: 10-2021
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
Abstract:: The Bay of Bengal is a bridge between the Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean, and with a population of 1.4 billion, an increasingly important economic zone in its own right. India has been slow to build regional connectivity. The space has been filled by China's Belt and Road Initiative projects, which have not always been beneficial for host countries. The region may be better off pursuing digital connectivity by enabling tech startups – areas of India’s strength. This research uses maps to explore the potential for energy, transport, and financial connectivity across the Bay of Bengal.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Science and Technology, Infrastructure, Regional Integration, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and Transportation
Political Geography:: China, South Asia, India, Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, and Bay of Bengal

2. Comments on the Draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Author:: Ashwini K. Swain, Parth Bhatia, Ira Sharma, Prasanna Sarada Das, and Navroz K. Dubash
Publication Date:: 06-2020
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: The draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020, released on April 17, 2020, is an improvement from its predecessors. It has dropped some significant proposals that were resisted and has added new provisions. Are these reform proposals adequate and appropriate to address India’s long-standing electricity challenges? Are these prescriptions based on a proper diagnosis of current trends and future challenges? How will these reforms proposals affect India’s ongoing transition to 21st century electricity? While we appreciate the endeavours and intent, in our comments we focus on some serious concerns the draft raises, vital gaps and issues that need serious consideration.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Governance, Legislation, Electricity, Public Service, and Utilities
Political Geography:: South Asia and India

3. Evaluating Recent Proposals to Reform the Power Sector in India

Author:: Deepak Sanan and Sanjay Mitra
Publication Date:: 11-2020
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: Reforms designed to address core issues and their sequencing and timing would be critical to ensure the eventual success of the latest initiatives in the power sector. Lessons from the experience of earlier sectoral reform programmes and recommendations regarding the general architecture of central interventions, would need to be taken on board. Through a simple scenario building exercise, this paper concludes that the parlous financial position of the distribution utilities after lockdown requires that “reforms” follow “recovery”. The concurrent roll out of stringent reform measures on several fronts during a period of severe financial stress could seriously impair the prospects of a viable power sector in the near future. This, in turn, will not only hamper our planned promotion of renewables-based electricity but act as a brake on the entire process of economic recovery.
Topic:: Economics, Energy Policy, Governance, and Reform
Political Geography:: South Asia and India

4. Delhi Green Deal

Author:: Rohit Azad and Shouvik Chakraborty
Publication Date:: 06-2020
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:: In this paper, we propose a carbon tax policy for Delhi, the most polluted capital in the world, which will fundamentally change the energy mix of Delhi's economy toward clean, green energy and will guarantee universal access to electricity, transport and food, up to a certain amount. Any carbon mitigation strategy needs to alter our dependence on fossil fuels, requiring a systemic overhaul of its energy mix. Implementing a carbon tax will mitigate emissions and mobilise revenue for our proposed re-distributive program of Right to Food, Energy and Travel (RFET). The policy is designed to prefer `the poor over the rich' as a way of compensating for `rich hiding behind the poor' in terms of emissions and polluting the environment. Using the input-output analysis, we estimate the class-wise distribution of carbon emissions in Delhi. We find that in order to implement this programme, the necessary estimated tax would be $112.5 per metric ton of carbon dioxide. The free entitlement of fuel and electricity per household comes out to be 2040 kWh per annum and there is an annual universal travel pass of $75 per person for use in public transport, and annual per capita availability of food of $205. The purpose of this proposed policy is two-fold in the context of Delhi: bring emissions under control and provide relief to the people who are at the receiving end of this climate crisis.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Inequality, Carbon Tax, Carbon Emissions, and Green Deal
Political Geography:: South Asia and India

5. India-Canada Energy Cooperation

Author:: Amit Bhandari
Publication Date:: 07-2020
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The energy sectors of India and Canada complement each other: India is a large and growing oil importer, while Canada is a large and growing exporter of oil and gas. However, as they invested in oil fields across the world, Indian oil companies have missed out on the Canada story. Investing in Canada’s oil sector can help India guard against the risk of spikes in oil prices and provide Canada with long-term demand security. In this paper, first presented as a backgrounder at Track 1.5 meetings in Mumbai, India, in November 2019, Gateway House outlines its findings on the feasibility of Indian investment in Canada’s petroleum sector, suggesting a path forward and best prospects for investment.
Topic:: Energy Policy, International Trade and Finance, Oil, Gas, and Investment
Political Geography:: Canada, India, Asia, and North America

6. Sustainable Energy through Green Bonds in India

Author:: Olaf Weber and Vasundhara Saravade
Publication Date:: 07-2020
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Emerging economies, such as India, will need significant international investment in climate action in order to transition toward a future that is low-carbon and climate-resilient. India needs fossil fuels at an affordable price and needs to protect itself against price fluctuations. It can meet these needs by investing in Canadian oil companies, given the country’s political stability and rule of law. As an emerging economy, India could attract greater foreign direct investment into its economy through green bonds, a climate finance debt instrument that addresses environmental and climate-related challenges. Not only are green bond issuances linearly increasing over the years, but they also seem to be driven by institutional pressure, provided in part by the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s regulation, as well as by the informal advocacy efforts of market stakeholders. These findings are consistent with institutional theory and contribute to it by introducing the regulatory perspective of the green bond market.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Green Technology, and Sustainability
Political Geography:: India and Asia

7. India-Canada energy cooperation

Author:: Amit Bhandari
Publication Date:: 07-2020
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
Abstract:: Canada has been one of the biggest success stories in oil over the past few years. India should consider financial investments in Canadian energy assets as a means to secure its energy supplies. This paper studies the feasibility and prospects for Indian investment in Canada's petroleum sector.
Topic:: Energy Policy, International Cooperation, Oil, and Investment
Political Geography:: South Asia, Canada, India, and North America

8. Sustainable Energy through Green bonds in India

Author:: Olaf Weber and Vasundhara Saravade
Publication Date:: 07-2020
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
Abstract:: India’s energy future needs to be low-carbon, climate-resilient and protected against price fluctuation. It can meet these needs by investing in Canadian oil companies, given the country’s political stability and rule of law. India can also attract greater foreign direct investment at home through the issuance of green bonds, a climate finance debt instrument that addresses environmental and climate-related challenges. This paper explores the regulatory perspective of the green bond market.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Foreign Direct Investment, Rule of Law, and Renewable Energy
Political Geography:: South Asia, Canada, India, and North America

9. Should Regulators Make Electric Utilities Pay Customers for Poor Reliability?

Author:: Shefali Khanna and Kevin Rowe
Publication Date:: 06-2020
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: In September 2017, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) required that the city’s regulated electricity distribution utilities pay compensation to customers experiencing power outages of three hours or longer. The measure was intended to incentivize the utilities to invest in the infrastructure and management practices needed to deliver higher levels of service quality. In 2019, India’s central government announced that it was considering rolling out a similar policy for utilities across the country. Can outage compensation policies help India’s power system achieve better reliability for all customers? This policy brief describes the persistent challenge of poor electricity reliability in India and how it interacts with key regulatory policies, analyzes Delhi’s experience with outage compensation since 2017, and highlights areas for additional economic and policy research on this topic.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Resources, Infrastructure, Economic Policy, and Electricity
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Asia-Pacific

10. The Just Transition in Energy

Author:: Ian Goldin
Publication Date:: 12-2020
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:: With each new year of data, and each new intergovernmental report, it becomes harder to deny the scale and urgency of the energy transition required to prevent catastrophic anthropogenic climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change urges countries to take action to prevent a rise in temperature by more than 1.5°C, and warns of catastrophic consequences of a rise above 2°C. Yet current policies and pledges fall far short of hitting these targets. Worse, since harmful climate change is caused by the stock of carbon in the atmosphere, the longer we delay measures to limit the flow of new carbon into the atmosphere, the more drastic those measures will have to be. This uneven distribution of threat and responsibility raises difficult questions. Developed countries are generally more advanced in their transition to renewables, which means that some of the cheapest opportunities to reduce emissions are in developing countries. Yet the fact remains that developed countries are responsible for a larger share of historic emissions—and developing countries may have a right to pursue development unhindered, as developed countries did in earlier decades. There are therefore several elements of the “just transition” in energy. The world needs to transition to cleaner energy, and the developing world needs to keep developing, all while supporting the countries and communities that bear the highest costs of mitigation measures—and supporting those areas already beginning to feel the negative effects of climate change. This report will outline the key challenges and opportunities and conclude with a series of practical steps available to policymakers.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, International Security, Crisis Management, and Inclusion
Political Geography:: China, Europe, South Asia, Middle East, India, East Asia, South Africa, Latin America, West Africa, United States of America, and Sub-Saharan Africa

11. India’s energy investments: A fresh approach

Author:: Amit Bhandari
Publication Date:: 12-2020
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
Abstract:: Oil is the single largest item in India’s import bill as India relies on imports for over 80% of its oil requirement. The annual import of 1.6 billion barrels of crude oil makes India vulnerable to sharp spikes in energy prices. With limited domestic reserves, India has tried to reduce its vulnerability by investing in oil and gas fields overseas. State-owned oil companies have over 50 overseas investments spread across South America, Africa, West Asia and the former-Soviet Union, all of which have large oil reserves. Investments must be made where the oil is, and often, these tend to be volatile regions. Political volatility in some places like Venezuela, Iran and Sudan/South-Sudan, for example, has led to trouble for a few of India’s investments. The purpose of investing as protection against price fluctuations gets defeated when geopolitical or other unrest leads to oil production reduction.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Oil, Sovereign Wealth Funds, and Investment
Political Geography:: South Asia, Canada, India, Australia, and United States of America

12. Engaging with India’s Electrification Agenda

Author:: Stephen Naimoli and Kartikeya Singh
Publication Date:: 07-2019
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: In 2019, India completed its program to provide electricity connections to every village and every home in the country. However, even though millions more are now connected, problems remain, including unreliable supply of power and a lack of workforce capacity for utilities to serve an expanded customer base. While India’s central government sets national policy, India’s powerful states have jurisdiction over the power sector and are responsible for implementation of central government programs and policies. For foreign stakeholders interested in supporting India’s electrification agenda, this presents an opportunity for them to engage with states to help meet their energy access priorities. To identify key areas for international engagement, CSIS conducted a survey of government, civil society groups, and energy access practitioners in the Indian states of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan on their energy access priorities. Opportunities for collaboration include metering and bill collection, operations and maintenance, quality and reliability of supply, and off-grid technologies, including solar-powered pumps and other appliances.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Infrastructure, Electricity, and Renewable Energy
Political Geography:: India and Asia

13. Engaging with India’s Electrification Agenda: Powering Assam

Author:: Stephen Naimoli and Kartikeya Singh
Publication Date:: 09-2019
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Assam is the most populous and economically active of the northeastern states and thus acts as the nexus between the mainland and the northeast. Due to insurgencies and armed conflict spanning several decades, Assam struggled to deliver many basic services to its citizens, including electricity, and failed to attract major industries. Coupled with the state’s unique topography of Himalayan foothills, forests, and a massive floodplain dominated by the mighty Brahmaputra River, infrastructure development in the state has not been easy. However, with the settling of several conflicts, the state is poised to be the economic engine of India’s northeast and take its place as India’s gateway to southeast Asia. To do so, it is focusing on agriculture, led by a thriving tea industry and energy resources—the state accounts for 15 percent of India’s total crude oil and 50 percent of onshore natural gas output. On the power sector side, Assam has increased the share of its population with electricity access from 44.57 percent in 2015 to 100 percent in 2019. An important measure of the health of the state’s electric power sector is aggregate technical and commercial losses (AT&C), which measure line losses from transmission and distribution equipment, power theft, billing and collection inefficiencies, and customers’ inability to pay. Assam’s AT&C losses in 2015 were 24.2 percent. Under the state’s Power for All plan formed with the central government, the state’s utility Assam Power Distribution Corporation Limited (APDCL) would target AT&C losses of 18.15 percent in 2019. As of August 2019, this goal has virtually been met—APDCL’s AT&C losses are currently 18.2 percent. Under the central government’s Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme, which aims to improve the financial health of the country’s utilities, Assam has a target of 150,000 smart meters for customers with monthly consumption between 200-500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) by December 2019. As of August 2019, the state has deployed 15,567 smart meters for these customers, 10 percent of its goal. The state also had a target to deploy 31,000 smart meters for customers with monthly consumption of over 500 kWh per month by December 2017, but to date has only deployed 11,881 smart meters, 38 percent of its goal. Assam has a target to install 663 megawatts (MW) of solar power in the state to contribute to the central government’s target of 100 gigawatts by 2022. As of May 2019, data from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy indicate it has installed 22.4 MW, 3.38 percent of its goal.
Topic:: Development, Energy Policy, and Electricity
Political Geography:: India and Asia

14. Engaging with India’s Electrification Agenda: Powering Chhattisgarh

Author:: Stephen Naimoli and Kartikeya Singh
Publication Date:: 09-2019
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Chhattisgarh is a mineral-rich state with abundant coal and iron ore resources and whose coal production gives it an energy surplus, but it is also one of India’s poorest states, with a poverty rate of 40 percent and low human development indicators. Long plagued by left-wing violence, with which it still struggles, Chhattisgarh’s government is trying to diversify the state’s economy by making it an attractive destination for non-extractive industries. Dense forests which house scattered communities coupled with the conflicts have made setting up infrastructure to support household electrification through a centralized grid a challenge for the state government. Absent such infrastructure, the state has been a ripe market for decentralized renewable electrification efforts. Chhattisgarh has increased the amount of its population with electricity access from 84.5 percent in 2015 to 99.67 percent in 2019. An important measure of the health of the state’s electric power sector is aggregate technical and commercial losses (AT&C), which measure line losses from transmission and distribution equipment, power theft, billing and collection inefficiencies, and customers’ inability to pay. Chhattisgarh’s AT&C losses in 2015 were 20.5 percent. Under the state’s 24x7 Power for All plan formed with the central government, Chhattisgarh’s utility Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Corporation Limited (CSPDCL) would target AT&C losses of 16 percent in 2019. Unfortunately, losses have grown—as of August 2019, they are at 23.28 percent. Under the central government’s Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme, which aims to improve the financial health of the country’s utilities, Chhattisgarh has a target of 652,146 smart meters for customers with monthly consumption between 200-500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) by December 2019. As of August 2019, the state has not deployed any smart meters for these customers. The state also had a target to deploy 488,307 smart meters for customers with monthly consumption of over 500 kWh by December 2017 but has not deployed any smart meters for those customers either.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Infrastructure, Electricity, and Safe Energy
Political Geography:: India and Asia

15. Engaging with India’s Electrification Agenda: Powering Odisha

Author:: Stephen Naimoli and Kartikeya Singh
Publication Date:: 09-2019
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Odisha struggles with significant challenges, including having some of the poorest and most isolated districts in India. Endowed with rich mineral resources and a long coastline, all the key topographical ingredients are in place to catapult the state’s economic development. To address some of the deep-seeded challenges faced by the state’s population, the state government, led by the Biju Janata Dal, has responded with populist measures that have won it unusual stability in office. Odisha’s governments have in the past shown that they are willing to play risk taker as the state, though shaky in its eventual execution, was an early adopter of power sector reforms. Paired with relative political stability, Odisha’s stature as an investment destination is rising. Those wanting to power it’s economic development will find that the key to success is supporting skills development and entrepreneurship in the power sector while supporting renewable energy integration efforts that pair well with the state’s broader development and service delivery initiatives. Odisha has increased the share of the population with electricity access from 82 percent in 2015 to 100 percent in 2019. An important measure of the health of the state’s electric power sector is aggregate technical and commercial losses (AT&C), which measure line losses from transmission and distribution equipment, power theft, billing and collection inefficiencies, and customers’ inability to pay. Odisha’s AT&C losses in 2015 were 38 percent. Under the state’s “24x7 Power for All” plan formed with the central government, the state’s utilities would target AT&C losses of 20 percent in 2019. As of 2018, the state’s utilities have decreased losses to 28 percent. Unlike the other states in this series, Odisha is not participating in the central government’s Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme to improve the financial health of the country’s utilities, so it does not have targets for smart meter deployment. While smart meters have not yet been deployed in the state, government officials indicated in interviews that they were working with the central government’s Power Finance Corporation to do so. The city of Bhubaneswar has a target of deploying one million smart meters as part of its “Smart City” plan implementation. Odisha has a target to install 2,377 megawatts (MW) of solar power in the state to contribute to the central government’s target of 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2022. As of July 2019, data from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy indicate it has installed 397.28 MW, 17 percent of its goal.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Electricity, Safe Energy, and Power
Political Geography:: India and Asia

16. Petro Dollar. Petro Yuan. Petro Rupee?

Author:: Amit Bhandari
Publication Date:: 08-2019
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
Abstract:: Over the last two decades, every component of the global energy scenario has changed: demand, supply and energy-type. The only constant has been the U.S. Dollar as the currency of energy trade. Lately, the Chinese Yuan has emerged to challenge the Dollar. Can the Indian Rupee be a third player? India is now the world’s third-largest consumer and second-largest importer of energy. Its open market, transparent regulation and growing demand give it an opportunity to become the hub of a vibrant new oil market, simultaneously ensuring its energy security and raising the international profile of the Rupee. This paper explores the possibility the Rupee could be the third currency in which energy is traded, and the challenges and opportunities it presents.
Topic:: Security, Energy Policy, Markets, Oil, Currency, and Trade
Political Geography:: China, South Asia, India, Asia, North America, and United States of America

17. Fuel Subsidy Reform and Green Taxes: Can Digital Technologies Improve State Capacity and Effectiveness?

Author:: Alan Gelb and Anit Mukherjee
Publication Date:: 07-2019
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Reforming inefficient and inequitable energy subsidies continues to be an important priority for policymakers as does instituting “green taxes” to reduce carbon emissions. Simply increasing energy prices will have adverse impact on poorer consumers, who may spend substantial budget shares on energy and energy-intensive products even though the rich typically appropriate more of the price subsidy. Equitable pricing reforms therefore need to be accompanied by programs to transfer compensation: depending on the situation, this can be targeted or universal. Successful reforms require measures to raise awareness-of the subsidies and the problems they cause, effective dissemination of the reform to the population, and rapid feedback loops to facilitate mid-course corrections. Digital technology, including for unique identification and payments, as well as general communications, can help build government capacity to undertake such reforms and respond to changes in fuel markets. The paper outlines the use of digital technology, drawing on four country cases. The technology is only a mechanism; it does not, in itself, create the political drive and constituency to push reform forward. However, it can be employed in a number of ways to increase the prospects for successful and sustainable reform.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Science and Technology, Reform, and Digitalization
Political Geography:: Africa, Middle East, India, and Latin America

18. New Powers: How India’s Smart Cities are Governing and Transitioning to Low-carbon Energy

Author:: Ankit Bhardwaj, Federico De Lorenzo, and Marie-Hélène Zérah
Publication Date:: 08-2019
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: Despite the potential of cities to foster a low-carbon energy transition, the governance of energy in India broadly remains within the purview of central and state governments. However, the Smart Cities Mission, a new urban scheme launched in 2015, gives Indian cities new powers to govern energy, a surprising departure from previous urban and energy policies. We argue that this shift is significant and we therefore raise three questions: 1) what kind of energy projects are planned and what does it reveal about the cities’ vision towards energy? 2) does the Smart Cities Mission foster a low-carbon energy transition and if so, how is this transition envisaged? 3) and finally, what are the rationale and the drivers behind this apparent shift? To address these questions, we build on a database of projects and financing plans submitted by the first 60 cities selected in the Smart Cities Mission. We find that cities have earmarked an immense 13,161 INR crore (~1.4 billion GBP) for energy projects, with most funds dedicated to basic infrastructure, primarily focused on enhancing the grid and supply. Cities also proposed projects in solar energy, electric vehicles, waste to energy and LED lighting, indicating their appetite for low-carbon projects. While cities were given institutional space to prioritise certain technologies, their interventions were conditioned by centrally sources of financing which were limited to certain mandated technologies. A focus on technology, rather than planning, undermined the role of cities as strategic decision-makers. What emerges is a dual faced reading of the Smart Cities Mission, indicating the potential and pitfalls of contemporary decentralized energy governance in the Global South.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Social Policy, and Urban
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Asia

19. Infrastructure development in the Northeast: Hydropower, natural resources, legal and institutional frameworks and compliance

Author:: Manju Menon
Publication Date:: 05-2019
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: In 2000, the central government declared Northeast India as India’s hydropower hub. Over 165 large dam projects were proposed to come up in the region. These projects were held as crucial to India’s energy and environmental security as well as the economic development of the country’s marginalised northeastern borderlands.However, nearly two decades on, this proposal to regulate the region's water resources remains unimplemented. In addition, the projects have generated a lot of public opposition in Arunachal Pradesh where most of these dams are supposed to be situated, and in the downstream Brahmaputra valley of Assam. This article will look into the government's hype and failure to construct hydropower dams in the Northeast region. It points to the need for a reflexive political decision on water resource management from the BJP-led governments in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and at the Centre.
Topic:: Development, Energy Policy, Government, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Asia

20. Mapping Power: A Collection of Insights on the Political Economy of Electricity in India's States

Author:: Navroz K. Dubash, Sunita S. Kale, Ranjit Bharvirkar, Ashwini K. Swain, Elizabeth Chatterjee, Hema Ramakrishnan, Jonathan Balls, Kalpana Dixit, Meera Sudhakar, Megha Kaladharan, Rohit Chandra, and Siddharth Sareen
Publication Date:: 09-2019
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: This is a compilation of blogs by the authors of 'Mapping Power: The Political Economy of Electricity in India’s States' (Oxford University Press), edited by Navroz K. Dubash (Centre for Policy Research), Sunila S. Kale (University of Washington), and Ranjit S. Bharvirkar (Regulatory Assistance Project). Featuring analysis from the book, this compilation highlights the politics of electricity access and distribution in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, and the National Capital Region in India.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Political Economy, Infrastructure, Social Policy, and Electricity
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Asia

21. State-led Responses to the Indian Energy Challenge: Infrastructure Expenditure, Central Public Sector Enterprises and Electrification

Author:: José Eduardo Cassiolato, Maria Gabriela von Bochkor Podcameni, Elisa Possas Gomes, and Manuel Gonzalo
Publication Date:: 03-2019
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: BRICS Policy Center
Abstract:: In the 21st century, economic growth, increasing urbanization, demographic expansion, and advances in electrification as important drivers of energy demand have put significant pressure on the Indian energy landscape. Indeed, energy infrastructure problems are a major hindrance to India’s economic growth. The central objective of this paper is to present and analyze some of the main State-led policy efforts that have been put in place to address India’s energy challenge. In particular, we examine three main types of state-led energy policy in India: a) infrastructure expenditure, b) Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) investments and Research and Development (R&D) strategies, and c) electrification. Firstly, we present and examine current data on the role of the state in the development of India’s energy sector. Secondly, we provide a nuanced examination of the role of public-private relations in India’s energy sector, especially in contrast to the widespread advancement of the neoliberal agenda in the country recent years. We conclude that the Indian State has fostered an increasing participation of the private sector in infrastructure, especially in renewable energies in which PPPs type of procurement have been more relevant. CPSEs’ expenditure in R&D has been of main importance in oil as well as in power. However, most of them tend to adapt foreign technologies instead of balancing foreign technologies with domestic technological efforts. Therefore, a main contemporary challenge for the Indian CPSEs performing in the energy sector is to deepen their connections and interaction with the other Indian NSI actors. Through the electrification process, the State has created markets for the private sector. Finally, we recommend further energy-related questions to be addressed in future research projects.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, United Nations, Public Sector, Renewable Energy, Private Sector, and Sustainability
Political Geography:: India

22. Costly Options: Will India Keep Buying the Iranian Oil After US Sanctions?

Author:: FARAS
Publication Date:: 10-2018
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Future for Advanced Research and Studies (FARAS)
Abstract:: The Indian energy sector faces a dilemma amid the US administration plans to impose the second batch of sanctions on Iran in November. The US exerts pressure on the main buyers of Iranian oil, including India, to stop importing it in the coming period. For India, Iranian oil is one of the indispensable options for its energy security because of the preferential terms granted by Iran. Despite the Indian stance rejecting the US sanctions, Indian refineries have decided to halt the Iranian oil shipments starting from next November, and hence they may turn to other producers to fill the potential gap, but at a higher cost.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Oil, Sanctions, and Donald Trump
Political Geography:: Iran, South Asia, Middle East, India, North America, and United States of America

23. Russia-India relations: Long-term obstacles remain despite sectoral achievements

Author:: Marcin Kaczmarski
Publication Date:: 10-2018
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: Despite concrete achievements in energy and military-technical cooperation, long-term trends, such as Russia’s growing dependence on China, India’s tilt towards the US, and tense Sino-Indian relations are not conducive to closer strategic cooperation between Moscow and New Delhi.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Energy Policy, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:: Russia, China, Europe, India, and Asia

24. Comments on the Proposed Amendments to the Electricity Act 2003

Author:: Ashwini K. Swain, Parth Bhatia, and Navroz K. Dubash
Publication Date:: 11-2018
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: The proposed amendments to the Electricity Act 2003, released on 7th September 2018, are most critical among the set of planned reforms in the power sector. With significant changes, it seeks to provide an enabling framework for transformations in electricity market, pricing reforms, regulatory oversight, quality of supply and energy security. While we appreciate the endeavours and intent, in our comments we focus on some serious concerns the draft raises, vital gaps and issues that need serious consideration. These comments have been drafted based on an internal discussion at the Centre for Policy Research, and should not be considered an institutional position, as CPR does not take institutional positions on issues. Rather, these comments reflect the result of internal deliberations, aimed at understanding and reflecting on the draft amendments, with the aim of constructive feedback to the Ministry of Power.
Topic:: Security, Energy Policy, Government, Social Policy, and Legislation
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Asia

25. Plugging In Energy Demand in Indian Residences

Author:: Radhika Khosla
Publication Date:: 03-2018
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: India is poised at the edge of an energy transformation. This shift is shaped in large part by the country’s ongoing economic, social, and technological transitions. Indian cities will host an influx of 200 million more people by 2030. Most of these people will come from a low base of development, and will demand modern fuels, appliances, and vehicles for improved quality of life. Demographically, at least 10 million people are expected to enter the Indian job market annually for the next two decades (India’s Half-A-Billion Jobs Conundrum 2017). In addition, two-thirds of India’s buildings that will exist in 2030 remain to be built (McKinsey Global Institute 2010). Managing these transitions is a significant challenge in itself, further complicated by the need to address their immense energy and climate implications. This policy piece examines an important driver of India’s energy future—electricity demand in households—and argues for why a broader consideration of energy consumption is central to Indian energy and climate debates.
Topic:: Climate Change, Demographics, Development, Energy Policy, Science and Technology, and Electricity
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Asia

26. A Tale of Three Coal Markets Common Challenges and Unique Attributes of U.S., Chinese, and Indian Markets

Author:: Jane Nakano and Sarah Ladislaw
Publication Date:: 03-2018
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: The United States, China, and India together constitute about 70 percent of global coal consumption and 64 percent of global coal production. Each country is an important contributor to the global coal supply and demand picture and yet each stands at a very different stage in its relationship with coal. The history of coal in the United States is predicated on a long-term decline in its share of the electricity fuel mix, but deep regional socioeconomic ties give the fuel an outsized role in national energy politics. Coal makes up 15 percent of the total U.S. energy mix and 30 percent of the electric power mix while the power sector accounts for about 90 percent of coal use in the United States. Over the years, electricity demand has flattened thanks to strong efficiency gains. Moreover, the abundance of inexpensive natural gas and rapid decline in renewable energy costs have significantly diminished the competitiveness of coal-fired power generation. Unlike in China and India, the U.S. coal fleet is in contraction as a wave of retirements is underway, with little evidence of reversal, indicating that the current downturn appears structural and not cyclical. After a recent period of decline and bankruptcy for the U.S. industry, a political movement to revitalize the coal sector has emerged from the current presidential administration. Notwithstanding the renewed political support, however, the regulatory uncertainty clouds a future pathway for a coal power resurgence. The notion of economic and energy security benefits long associated with the use of coal has effectively disappeared in one of the largest producer and consumer markets for coal in the world. China is far and away the largest coal consumer and has built coal-fired power generation capacity at an unprecedented rate over the past couple of decades. As it enters a new phase of development, China seeks to reduce the role of coal in its economy both to mitigate the environmental impacts of coal production and use but also to harness its domestic power consumption to drive its competitive advantage in things like solar, wind, and nuclear power generation. China has concrete targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ambitious plans, such as a nationwide emissions trading system, that can influence the pace and scope of shift in its power supply mix. Despite these government targets and the ongoing industrial structural reform that can reduce coal’s dominance in the electric power sector, the trajectory for coal use remains significantly subject to the future of state-owned enterprises and economic liberalization. In contrast to the United States and China, India is a fast-growing market for coal where economic development and universal energy access goals often override concerns about environmental pollution and climate change. India also sees enormous opportunity in renewable energy development—for the positive environmental attributes, the potential commercial opportunities, and the ability to lessen reliance on imported sources of energy like oil, gas, and coal. The Indian central and state governments have set up ambitious policies to foster a greater share of renewable energy in the electric power mix. The growth in renewable power-generation capacity shows early indications that renewables as an indigenous resource have the potential to challenge not only coal’s economic advantage but also its energy security value propositions as an indigenous resource, warranting close attention for some potentially valuable lessons for power-sector management in other developing economies where renewables increasingly beat out coal. How India will calibrate its desire to phase out coal imports despite the quantitative and qualitative issues its domestic supply has is another issue with major implications for both global coal markets and the future of its power supply mix, particularly solar and wind. Even as each market navigates a unique set of circumstances surrounding the role of coal-fired power generation, the availability of midstream infrastructure looms large as a universally important determinant of the competitiveness of coal resources, and thus the fuel hierarchy. Railways are the dominant mode for transporting coal in China and the capacity constraints continue to intensify, disadvantaging domestic resources to imports. Midstream is also a major topic in the United States, where a lack of west coast export terminals limits the U.S. ability to take advantage of continued demand growth in Asia. Low utilization rates also reflect the headwinds facing coal-fired power generation in all three countries. For example, U.S. coal-fired power generation experienced a 20 percent decrease in coal fleet utilization rates and a 12 percent decrease in the generation capacity from 2015 to 2016. Also, while China is expected to add another 200 GW of new coal-power capacity by 2020, the utilization rate of 47.5 percent for the thermal power fleet in 2016 indicates a complex nexus between capacity investment and power demand in the country, where the capacity growth does not give a solid indication of electric power output or fuel consumption. The local air pollution and climate implications of coal-fired power generation in each country also depend on the age of their fleet and capital stock turnover. The perceived future direction of coal in each country impacts the willingness of investors to upgrade or build new, more efficient plants. Whereas the ever-weakening coal-power demand in the United States is diminishing investor appetite for new coal plants with higher efficiency, lower emissions (HELE) technology, the capacity expansion in China is enabling the modernization of its fleet that includes more HELE plants. The pace and scope of modernization for India’s coal fleet, which is much younger yet remains low efficiency and high emissions today, will be an important indicator for its future emissions profile. Lastly, various noneconomic forces at play can generate a tension between the needs of a changing electricity market and the political-economic pressures of expanding coal-power capacity. The coal sector enjoys a powerful narrative on its socioeconomic benefits like jobs and tax revenues for coal-mining communities, but enabled by technology advancements, the emerging focus on values like flexibility in the power sector has elevated attributes of many alternative sources of electricity, including renewables and natural gas in the United States. Likewise, the Chinese expansion of coal capacity appears to be misaligned not only with the projected level of power demand growth but also with government efforts to expand alternative sources of electricity, thus raising the risk of stranded or severely underutilized coal plant assets.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, and Coal
Political Geography:: United States, China, India, and Asia

27. Down to the Last Mile: Key Research Needs for Energy Access

Author:: Kartikeya Singh
Publication Date:: 08-2018
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: The Issue According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the World Bank, approximately 1.06 billion people around the world still lack access to electricity. Furthermore, both institutions predict that despite efforts to expand universal access, the world will fail to meet the 2030 “sustainable energy for all” (SE4All) target. India remains one of the largest contiguous economic markets of unelectrified people, along with the sub-Saharan Africa region. In India, the challenge of electrification is complicated by politics of electricity, which have left state-owned utilities struggling to expand distribution networks and provide reliable power at below-market rates for residential and agricultural needs. Recognizing the limitations of centralized grid extension, the government of India has plans to achieve universal electrification with the help of off-grid systems, suggesting a sizeable potential market for decentralized energy technologies and business models lasting well into the future. Questions remain that if answered could help development practitioners and scholars understand what factors are affecting access to electricity and what kinds of issues need to be resolved to achieve quality universal access. This brief acknowledges that many institutions at the global and country level are hard at work helping address and analyze the energy access challenge. To further their efforts, this brief compiles the key research needs in energy access, based on extensive interviews conducted in-person and via email 1, with scholars and development practitioners in the energy access sector mainly in India, with a special emphasis on solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies used for electrification.
Topic:: Energy Policy, World Bank, Electricity, and Renewable Energy
Political Geography:: Africa, India, Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa

28. Gender and Energy approaches by BASIC countries

Author:: Alice Amorim and Marco Antonio Teixeira
Publication Date:: 01-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: BRICS Policy Center
Abstract:: This Policy Brief analysis how the BASIC countries have incorporated gender and energy issues in their NDCs and assesses some of the interrelations between key energy and gender inequalities of the bloc.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Gender Issues, Renewable Energy, and Sustainability
Political Geography:: China, India, South Africa, and Brazil

29. Changing Energy Geopolitics: What is the Role of Sustainability in the Global Energy Geopolitics

Author:: Maria Candida Arrais de Miranda Mousinho, Ednildo Andrade Torres, and Silvo Alexandre Beisi Vieira de Melo
Publication Date:: 12-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: The act of dominating energy resources undoubtedly permeates the conquest of territories and their respective societies. Energy and geopolitics have always walked conjointly in the process of economic and social development in which societies have been based over the time. The multiplicity of issues that geopolitics gathered helped broaden the spectrum of analysis of geopolitical turning it more complex. This paper has the main objective to contribute for a discussion about the transition from the geopolitics based on the physical space to the geopolitics based on sustainability in which renewable energy has consolidated in the international scenario. The final considerations highlight the quest for energy security requires more than the quest for energy self-sufficiency itself. In addition, the sustainable paradigm introduced in the geopolitics of energy new challenges as the insertion of renewable energy in a context dominated by traditional sources of energy that provokes a reflection on how the challenges related to geopolitics will be dealt with. In that way, China and India appears as a global players. The choice of cooperative dialogues appears as an essential element in the balance of the energy system.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Geopolitics, Renewable Energy, and Sustainability
Political Geography:: China, India, and Asia

30. Placing India in the Emerging Regional Dynamics of Central Asia: From ‘Look North’ to ‘Connect North’

Author:: Meena Singh Roy and Rajorshi Roy
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Revista UNISCI/UNISCI Journal
Institution:: Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
Abstract:: The present article tries to examine India’s initiatives in the region in the context of the emerging regional geo-strategic landscape. With an aim to enhance political, economic and strategic ties, India’s policy towards the region has moved from ‘Look North’ to ‘Connect North’. Notably, the full membership of SCO offers India greater synergies to play a more active role in the region. India is, thus, all set to build more meaningful partnerships with the region in the context of new geo-political changes shaping Central Asia. More importantly, the region is seeking India to play a more active role. It is argued that the beginning of a new era of cooperation initiated by PM Modi can only be sustained if New Delhi continues to implement its various agreements and commitments. While building stronger bilateral ties with the region is important, working closely in the regional groupings will also help address regional economic and security challenges
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, Energy Policy, Economy, and Narendra Modi
Political Geography:: Central Asia and India

31. Comments on Draft National Energy Policy

Author:: Navroz K. Dubash, Partha Mukhopadhyay, Radhika Khosla, Shibani Ghosh, Ankit Bhardwaj, and Swetha Sridhar
Publication Date:: 07-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: The Draft National Energy Policy released by the Niti Aayog in June 2017 was a roadmap describing the priorities of the government with regards to India's energy future and a critical reference document for all actors working in this field. This working paper reflects the result of internal deliberations, aimed at understanding and reflecting on the draft NEP, with the aim of constructive feedback to NITI Aayog.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Environment, Government, Finance, and Legislation
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Asia

32. Plugging In: A Collection of Insights on Electricity Use in Indian Homes

Author:: Radhika Khosla and Aditya Chunekar
Publication Date:: 12-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: Electricity use in Indian homes – from lights, ceiling fans, televisions, refrigerators, among other appliances – has increased 50 times between today and 1971, even though India’s per capita residential electricity consumption is less than a third of the world average. Residential electricity now outpaces growth in industrial, commercial and agriculture sectors. This striking statistic is on the increase, as India moves towards one of the largest urban transitions in history in the coming decades. What is the implication of this transition for household electricity use, as the urban population grows and income levels rise? What do we know about how electricity is currently used in homes across the country? And what drives our dramatically changing consumption patterns?These questions form the basis of a series on residential electricity consumption, jointly authored by the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi and the Prayas (Energy Group), Pune. The collected insights that formed the series are compiled in this document.
Topic:: Demographics, Energy Policy, Urbanization, and Electricity
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Asia

33. Could the G-20 Become Coherent on Climate?

Author:: Gwynne Taraska and Henry Kellison
Publication Date:: 08-2016
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for American Progress - CAP
Abstract:: The G-20—a forum of 20 of the world’s largest economies—has a record of ambivalence on the topic of climate change. One case in point is the disconnect between the group’s efforts to address climate risks and its efforts to reduce the shortfall in global infrastructure investment. On one hand, the G-20 is aware that investing in projects that are high-carbon or vulnerable to the physical effects of rising temperatures carries risks that could have a destabilizing influence on the global economy. On the other hand, the G-20 is seeking to narrow the infrastructure gap in the absence of a guiding principle that infrastructure investments must be climate-compatible. Members of the G-20 Argentina Australia Brazil Canada China European Union France Germany India Indonesia Italy Japan Korea Mexico Russia Saudi Arabia South Africa Turkey United Kingdom United States In September 2016, world leaders will convene for the G-20 summit in Hangzhou, China. One focus of the climate agenda will be ensuring that the Paris Agreement takes effect in the near term. Negotiated by more than 190 nations and finalized in December 2015, the agreement set many collective goals, including limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels and ensuring that global financial flows are compatible with low-greenhouse gas development.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, Japan, China, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Turkey, India, South Korea, France, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Italy, and Mexico

34. Competition and Choice in Electricity Distribution in India

Author:: Daljit Singh
Publication Date:: 08-2016
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: Introduction of competition and providing consumers choice of supplier have been two of the main aims of reform of the electricity sector in India. This paper examines the experience with three measures to fulfill these aims: (1) open-access to the transmission and distribution system; (2) allowing multiple distribution licensees in an area; and (3) proposed Electricity Act Amendments (EAA) for separation of carriage and content in the distribution system for electricity. Open access and multiple distribution licenses have not been very successful for two main reasons. First, there is a mismatch between the perspective of the Centre and the States; the Centre has a long-term perspective focused on competition and efficiency while the States are concerned about more immediate issues of protecting the discoms’ revenues and maintaining affordable tariffs. Second, incomplete and/or faulty legislation and regulations have resulted in ad-hoc rule-making and the Courts having to step in to fill the legislative and regulatory gaps. Two particularly significant examples are: (1) provision in the Electricity Act allowing multiple distribution licensees in the same area that has led to duplication of resources and high tariffs for consumers in Mumbai; and (2) the lack of comprehensive regulations defining the relationship between discoms and open access consumers that has led to difficulties for discoms in managing load swings and in power procurement planning; development of model regulations would be useful. The paper also identifies difficulties in achieving retail competition due to fragmented fuel markets, and suggests ensuring effective wholesale competition first. The proposed framework for separation of carriage and content in EAA is very cumbersome and may not achieve the stated goals. In addition, there are concerns about the impact on small consumers and the finances of the provider of last resort. The implications of EAA should to be thought through more thoroughly before implementation.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Natural Resources, Legislation, and Electricity
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Asia

35. Renewable Energy in India: An Analysis of the Regulatory Environment and Evolving Policy Trends

Author:: Megha Kaladharan
Publication Date:: 08-2016
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: India emerged as a key player in the recent international climate talks in Paris. On the global stage, India reiterated its commitment towards clean energy and reducing carbon emissions.1 India’s increased thrust on renewable energy is outlined in the 2015 national budget, which set a five-fold increase in renewable energy targets to achieve 175 GW by 2022. This comprises 100 GW solar, 60 GW wind, 10 GW biomass and 5 GW small hydropower capacity, supported by a substantial budgetary allocation. The existing generation capacity is dominated by conventional coal-fired thermal power (211 GW as of May, 2016, 70% of total capacity). State distribution companies (Discoms) are by far the largest purchaser of electricity, including that from renewable energy sources. Therefore, the ability of the Discoms to purchase such power lies at the heart of the success of the national level directional shift from conventional to renewable power. However, presently, Discoms are reeling under massive debts and their actions are often dictated by local political factors rather than the achievement of operational and technical efficiency. Working towards the ambitious national renewable energy targets necessarily requires a revamp of the electricity distribution sector. Major legislative amendments and policy changes have been made and are underway at the central level to create an enabling environment for the nationwide growth of renewable energy. This paper proposes to analyse the existing constitutional and regulatory framework within which Discoms and other key stakeholders in the renewable power sector operate. The implications of the recently proposed amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003 (Electricity Act), the National Tariff Policy and provisions of the Draft Renewable Energy Act will be discussed in detail. A discussion on renewable energy is incomplete without an understanding of the legislative and judicial trends that govern the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) imposed on Discoms. The paper offers an insight into the perspectives of Discoms, regulators and governments on RPO compliance. Further, the larger debate surrounding electricity sector reform and its implications for the renewable power sector have been analysed.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Regulation, and Renewable Energy
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Asia

36. Political Economy Of Distribution Reforms In Indian Electricity

Author:: Ashwini K. Swain
Publication Date:: 08-2016
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: Despite sustained efforts to reform the sector, electricity distribution in India remains amidst complex problems, manifested in the form of loss-making distribution utilities, poor quality of service, governance ambiguities, and absence of basic data. The current wave of reforms seeks to turnaround the sector’s performance by transforming the generation mix, strengthening the network infrastructure, ensuring universal access and better consumer experience, and financial revival of discoms. While policy signals from the centre appear to be promising and ambitious, given the past records, execution of these reform plans at the state level is uncertain. Against this backdrop, the paper analyses the distribution reform initiated from the centre and the role played by the central government in shaping ideas and stimulating change at the state level. Looking into various diagnoses of the challenges and subsequent reform initiatives, the paper seeks to explain the political economy of successive reform attempts and their outcomes. It also identifies gaps in the current wave of reforms and raises questions for further exploration.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Political Economy, Infrastructure, Governance, Reform, and Electricity
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Asia

37. India: Meeting Energy Needs for Development While Addressing Climate Change

Author:: Radhika Khosla
Publication Date:: 12-2016
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: India is undergoing structural urban and economic transitions and has set ambitious policy targets to meet its rising energy needs for development. Expanding coal and renewables are two important pillars of this undertaking and, since 2008, climate protection is of increasing concern. India’s international engagements reflect these motivations of both energy security and climate change, where India is increasingly engaging in transfer of clean and efficient energy technologies to developing countries like itself.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, Economic Growth, and Urban
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Asia

38. India’s Sustainable Development Led Approach to Climate Mitigation for Paris

Author:: Navroz K. Dubash
Publication Date:: 08-2015
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:: What should India put forward as the mitigation component of its climate contribution? India has dual interests in climate negotiations: safeguarding adequate energy for development, and promoting an effective international agreement to limit its climate vulnerability. To balance these interests, India should pledge well-developed sector-specific actions that maximize synergies across development and climate outcomes. This approach will avoid lock-in to a high carbon growth path while enhancing development. Sectoral actions could include an additional component conditional on availability of international climate finance. In addition, an updated emissions intensity target would serve as a useful complement to sectorally focused action.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: South Asia, India, and Global Focus

39. Quenching India's thirst for energy

Author:: Costanza Caputi
Publication Date:: 01-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:: India's impressive economic growth and rapidly expanding population are fuelling the country's demand for energy, and increasingly, shaping India's external relations and foreign policy. In addition to altering regional dynamics in South Asia, this shift will have significant implications for global energy governance, as well as for climate change discussions.
Topic:: Demographics, Development, Emerging Markets, Energy Policy, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: India

40. New Nuclear Suppliers Encouraging Responsible Nuclear Supply by China, Republic of Korea, and India

Author:: Sharon Squassoni
Publication Date:: 12-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Nuclear energy seemed set for revitalization until the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011. The accident that melted the cores of three light water reactors raised questions about the costs and risks of nuclear energy in many countries. Some countries have cancelled procurement, others have shut down reactors, and still others have declared a shift away from a nuclear future.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Disasters, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:: China, South Asia, India, Asia, and Korea

41. Iran and the BRICS: The Energy Factor

Author:: Akbar Valizadeh and Seyyed Mohammad Houshialsadat
Publication Date:: 12-2013
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The global economy is undergoing a paradigm shift, from a Western-dominated economic model to one that is more complex and multi-polar. The centres of consumption, production, and innovation are no longer concentrated solely in the Western economies, but are shifting to new emergence economies in different continents, specifically China, Russia, Brazil, and India, as well as South Africa, named BRICS. One of the central issues for the future of this new coalition is energy security. This concept is a top priority of policymakers not only in the West hemisphere, but also in countries of the economically emerging world in current and also coming decades. Worldwide demand for primary energy will increase in next years either and based on international forecasts, hydrocarbon will still be the dominant source of energy. Consequently, widespread energy relationships with other oil and gas-rich countries outside BRICS like OPEC, in general, and Iran, in particular, seems much more significant. The latter, as the second country throughout the world in terms of combined fossil reserves, benefits an outstanding geo-economic position. Obviously, Iran would be able to play a prominent role in this respect. So, this question could be raised that what are the main challenges, as well as opportunities for Iran and BRICS in any actual and potential interactions in energy field?
Topic:: Energy Policy
Political Geography:: Russia, China, Iran, India, South Africa, and Brazil

42. Identifying Options for a New International Climate Regime Arising from the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action

Author:: Robert N. Stavins, Ottmar Edenhofer, and Christian Flachsland
Publication Date:: 10-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: The goal of the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements is to help identify and advance scientifically sound, economically rational, and politically pragmatic public policy options for addressing global climate change. Drawing upon leading thinkers in Argentina, Australia, China, Europe, India, Japan, and the United States, the Project conducts research on policy architecture, key design elements, and institutional dimensions of domestic climate policy and a post-2015 international climate policy regime. The Project is directed by Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, Industrial Policy, International Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: United States, Japan, China, Europe, and India

43. India's Turn in Climate Policy: Assessing the Interplay of Domestic and International Policy Change

Author:: Joachim Betz
Publication Date:: 03-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: India has long been regarded as a deal-breaker in international climate negotiations; it was at the summit in Copenhagen that India first abandoned its old strategic line and made a commitment to reduce carbon emissions voluntarily. This shift was accompanied by a proliferation of domestic initiatives to save energy, to develop regenerative energies, etc. Traditional IR approaches remain insufficient to explain this policy shift – which is the aim of this paper – insofar as they fail to adequately take into account the fact that climate policies have to confront two audiences: a domestic and an international one, each presenting different tactical necessities for official reaction. On the international front, we argue that globally, India intended to be perceived as a responsible actor, one deserving of a greater say in global governance matters. On the domestic level, shrinking national energy reserves and mounting import dependence made the co-benefit of energy saving in reducing greenhouse gas emissions evident. The shift was made easier because important business associations aligned with a more eco-friendly development perspective and because the reduction commitments made by the Indian government on an international stage did not demand very stringent domestic emission reductions.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, and Globalization
Political Geography:: India

44. Escaping the Vicious Cycle of Poverty: Towards Universal Access to Energy

Author:: Glada Lahn, Arno Behrens, Jorge Núñez Ferrer, Eike Dreblow, Mathilde Carraro, and Sebastian Veit
Publication Date:: 03-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: Despite the continuous efforts of developing countries and the international community to reduce energy poverty, some 2.7 billion people around the world still rely on traditional biomass for cooking and heating and 1.3 billion people do not have access to electricity. Over 80% of the energy poor live in rural areas and roughly two thirds in sub-Saharan Africa and India. While fossil fuels will inevitably play a major role in expanding on-grid energy supply, this study shows that renewable energy sources – and especially small decentralised solutions – have huge potential for providing reliable, sustainable and affordable energy services for the poor, particularly in rural areas of developing countries. Many challenges remain, including financing, capacity-building, technology transfer and governance reforms. A careful assessment of the environmental impacts of renewable energy technologies, particularly those on water, is an important prerequisite for donor finance. With the right design, energy access projects can also bring a host of developmental co-benefits. It should be possible for international initiatives including the UN's Year of Sustainable Energy for All and the EU's partnership with Africa to build on the rich experience and lessons learned from pilot projects over the last two decades in order to optimise donor effectiveness in this area.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Poverty, Science and Technology, United Nations, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and India

45. The Arctic and Natural Gas in Northeast Asia’s Energy Future

Author:: Isabella Mroczkowski and L. C. Russell Hsiao
Publication Date:: 07-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Project 2049 Institute
Abstract:: The International Energy Outlook 2011 published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that world energy consumption will grow by 53 percent from 2008 to 2035. Asia’s rapidly growing economies will be the primary drivers of increasing global energy demand. By 2035, China’s and India’s combined energy use are projected to account for 31 percent of total world energy consumption. If current projections hold, by some estimates natural gas may make up to 60 percent of the region’s energy mix by 2035. New shipping routes and energy supplies in the Arctic have the potential to multiply the utility of gas in the region’s future energy mix.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Gas
Political Geography:: China, India, Asia, Northeast Asia, Arctic, and United States of America

46. What a Tangled Web: India Caught Between U.S. and Iranian Interests

Author:: Felix Imonti
Publication Date:: 06-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Abstract:: India is caught between the consequences of provoking a United States driven by its fixation upon the Iranian nuclear program and by an Iran that is a major supplier of oil, providing India with access to its vital interests in Afghanistan. The best that the Ind
Topic:: Diplomacy, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, Military Strategy, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:: Iran, Middle East, India, Asia, North America, and United States of America

47. BRICS, Energy and the New World Order

Author:: Stein Sundstol Eriksen, Sverre Lodgaard, Arne Melchior, Karl M. Rich, Elana Wilson Rowe, and Ole Jacob Sending
Publication Date:: 05-2012
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: When a Goldman Sachs executive introduced the ‘BRIC’ (Brazil, Russia, India, China) acronym in 2001, it was an innovative move, since continued success could not be taken for granted for all of the countries: only China and India had sustained high growth in the 1990s. Time has shown that the bet was a safe one: the BRIC constellation has been a rising star. In 2010, the category expanded to BRICS with the inclusion of South Africa, thereby covering all the major developing continents. BRICS is still in the making as an institution, but it may be here to stay, with annual summits held since 2009 and a stronger role in global governance through the G-20. In the geopolitics of energy, the BRICS play several roles, with increasing weight and significance. As large nations with rapid growth, the BRICS are increasingly important as suppliers or consumers of energy (Chapter 1). As emerging economies, they are part of a broader process of reallocation in the world economy, with a ‘New World Order’ emerging and energy affected via GDP growth, new trade patterns and transport-related energy demand (Chapter 2). In this emerging new order, the BRICS are also challenging the old powers in the field of security, and Chapter 3 examines the related implications for energy. While the old world was – at least in the economic field – a ‘hub-and-spoke’ system with Western Europe and North America at the core, a new pattern is emerging with increasing interaction along the rim. As an illustration of these new patterns, Chapter 4 examines the role of China and India in Africa, with the focus on energy and governance. With respect to timing, the focus on the giants rather than the dwarfs may have been a product of its era: Until 1980, there was broad development among poor nations, but the last two decades of the 20th century were a story of two tracks: a minority of important developing nations forging ahead and succeeding, and a large number of failures, especially in Africa. Perhaps that was why G-77 was no longer so much fun, and the rise of the giants seemed a more appealing concept. BRICS are large middle-income countries on the way up. The group is perceived, and perceives itself, as a symbol of development and the emerging world, challenging the ‘old world’. Is this perception true? has there really been a ‘decline of the West’? and have the BRICS been leading this change?
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Energy Policy, and BRICS
Political Geography:: Russia, China, India, South Africa, and Brazil

48. Global Energy Markets in a Time of Political Change

Author:: Bill White
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Aspen Institute
Abstract:: A shift in relative energy consumption among regions and the development of new, unconventional supplies will be the most significant changes over the next twenty years. The dominant fuels in the world energy market until 2030 will continue to be hydrocarbons — oil, coal, and natural gas. Major shifts will occur, however, among the three fuels, among regions and in their supply. Globally, oil will continue to be the most widely used fuel as it supplies more than 90 percent of the energy for transportation. Coal, now the dominant fuel used for electric power generation, will lose ground to natural gas, a less carbon-intensive hydrocarbon. Natural gas will become the second largest overall supplier and well positioned to replace coal as the leading supplier for electric power. Developing countries will lead the way in overall energy growth, with Chinese and Indian energy demand growing fastest. Energy demand in developed countries will remain flat. For the United States, growth in gas shale and oil shale are likely to be “game changers,” altering the supply picture dramatically.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Markets, Political Economy, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: United States, China, and India

49. Explaining the Energy Consumption Portfolio in a Cross-Section of Countries: Are the BRICs Different?

Author:: David M. Arseneau
Publication Date:: 02-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:: This paper uses disaggregated data from a broad cross-section of countries to empirically assess differences in energy consumption profiles across countries. We find empirical support for the energy ladder hypothesis, which contends that as an economy develops it transits away from a heavier reliance on traditional fuel sources towards an increase in the use of modern commercial energy sources. We also find empirical support for the hypothesis that structural transformation--the idea that as an economy matures, it transforms away from agriculture-based activity into industrial activity and, finally, fully matures into a service-oriented economy--is an important driver for the distribution of end-use energy consumption. However, even when these two hypotheses are taken into account, we continue to find evidence suggesting that the patterns of energy consumption in the BRIC economies are importantly different from those of other economies.
Topic:: Development, Energy Policy, Infrastructure, Services, and BRIC
Political Geography:: Russia, China, Europe, India, Asia, Brazil, South America, and Global Focus

50. Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline Possibility or Pipe Dream?

Author:: Madhura Joshi
Publication Date:: 11-2011
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
Abstract:: Oil was the fuel of the 20th century. But depleting sources, volatility of prices and environmental concerns have made it imperative to look for alternate fuels. Natural gas provides one such solution for these concerns. Natural gas has a lower environmental impact than oil, emitting 30% less carbon dioxide, is generally priced at a fraction of the price of crude, and given its suitability as a substitute for oil in industries, makes it an attractive alternative to oil. Natural gas emits 45% less carbon dioxide than coal, making it an equally attractive substitute to iti. With the rapid depletion of most fuel sources, the need to tap into existing and unexplored natural gas reserves has become central to the energy debate. In order to secure a constant source of supply of natural gas to India, the Government of India is looking into the ambitious Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline. This will be an addition to the existing domestic production and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) imports. This project has been in the pipeline for the last 15 years though India signed on to it in early 2008. Since this pipeline passes through Afghanistan and Pakistan, both restive regions, security concerns have triggered wide debate on its viability. This paper briefly looks at the position of natural gas in the world vis-à-vis other fuels. The paper also elaborates on the economics and politics of the TAPI pipeline to conclude that this will remain a very tempting but unfortunately, a ‘Forever Project’ where discussions can go on for years without any concrete results. The paper advocates caution given the tumultuous times prevalent in Afghanistan and Pakistan and lists alternate options and possible courses of action for India.
Topic:: Security, Energy Policy, Gas, and Pipeline
Political Geography:: Pakistan, Afghanistan, South Asia, Central Asia, India, and Turkmenistan

51. Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline Possibility or Pipe Dream?

Author:: Gateway House
Publication Date:: 11-2011
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
Abstract:: Oil was the fuel of the 20th century. But depleting sources, volatility of prices and environmental concerns have made it imperative to look for alternate fuels. Natural gas provides one such solution for these concerns. Natural gas has a lower environmental impact than oil, emitting 30% less carbon dioxide, is generally priced at a fraction of the price of crude, and given its suitability as a substitute for oil in industries, makes it an attractive alternative to oil. Natural gas emits 45% less carbon dioxide than coal, making it an equally attractive substitute to iti. With the rapid depletion of most fuel sources, the need to tap into existing and unexplored natural gas reserves has become central to the energy debate. In order to secure a constant source of supply of natural gas to India, the Government of India is looking into the ambitious Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline. This will be an addition to the existing domestic production and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) imports. This project has been in the pipeline for the last 15 years though India signed on to it in early 2008. Since this pipeline passes through Afghanistan and Pakistan, both restive regions, security concerns have triggered wide debate on its viability. This paper briefly looks at the position of natural gas in the world vis-à-vis other fuels. The paper also elaborates on the economics and politics of the TAPI pipeline to conclude that this will remain a very tempting but unfortunately, a ‘Forever Project’ where discussions can go on for years without any concrete results. The paper advocates caution given the tumultuous times prevalent in Afghanistan and Pakistan and lists alternate options and possible courses of action for India.
Topic:: Security, Energy Policy, Oil, Gas, Volatility, and Energy Crisis
Political Geography:: Pakistan, Afghanistan, South Asia, India, and Turkmenistan

52. Energy Innovation Policy in Major Emerging Countries

Author:: Ruud Kempener
Publication Date:: 12-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: Over the past decade, the six BRIMCS countries— Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico, China, and South Africa—have become important global players in political and economic domains. In 2007, they were collectively responsible for a third of the world's energy consumption, driven by China's growing energy use. Despite their increasing significance in the world's energy sector, very little systematic analysis of their energy investments, innovation institutions, and energy innovation policies has taken place. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is one of the few agencies that have been collecting data on ERD investments, but none of the BRIMCS countries are members.
Topic:: Emerging Markets, Energy Policy, Oil, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: Russia, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico

53. The Political Economy of India's Climate Agenda

Author:: Noriko Fujiwara
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: This Working Document complements the CEPS Policy Brief, Understanding India's climate agenda, and elaborates on three key issues related to the country's energy challenges: access to energy, the future emissions trajectory and energy subsidies. This study looks into the making and framing of the country's domestic climate agenda from a political economy perspective. As long as both GDP and primary energy demand keep growing at the current rates, it may be concluded that the country's future, absolute greenhouse-gas emissions are also likely to grow but remain relatively low. Moreover, India's emissions intensity is expected to continue declining in line with the recent voluntary pledge by the Indian government. The study takes note of the national action plan launched in India, and the adoption of a flexible approach in international negotiations while maintaining a preference for several core principles, including equity. Lastly, the study explores the possibility for addressing issues such as international and intra-national equity in the context of the long-term EU–Indian partnership.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Economics, Energy Policy, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:: India

54. Understanding India's Climate Agenda

Author:: Christian Egenhofer and Noriko Fujiwara
Publication Date:: 02-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: India has become an important partner for the EU in both multilateral and bilateral relations in a wide range of policy areas, including energy and climate change. Despite the strategic importance of this partnership, there may be insufficient awareness and understanding among EU stakeholders a bout India's development needs and challenges, its high degree of vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and the actions it has taken domestically and in international fora to address climate change. The country is among those rapidly and steadily growing economies with an increasing share of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, although it starts from a very low emissions base.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Economics, Energy Policy, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:: India

55. Less Smoke, More Mirrors: Where India Really Stands on Solar Power and Other Renewables

Author:: David Wheelter and Saurabh Shome
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Until recently, India's intransigent negotiating posture has conveyed the impression that it will not accept any carbon emissions limits without full compensation and more stringent carbon limitation from rich countries. However, our assessment of India's proposed renewable energy standard (RES) indicates that this impression is simply wrong. India is seriously considering a goal of 15 percent renewable energy in its power mix by 2020, despite the absence of any meaningful international pressure to cut emissions, no guarantees of compensatory financing, and a continuing American failure to adopt stringent emissions limits. If India moves ahead with this plan, it will promote a massive shift of new power capacity toward renewables within a decade. We estimate the incremental cost of this change from coal-fired to renewable power to be about $50 billion-an enormous sum for a society that must still cope with widespread extreme poverty. If India moves ahead with its current plan, it should give serious pause to those who have resisted U.S. carbon regulation on the grounds on that it will confer a cost advantage on "intransigent" countries such as India.
Topic:: Energy Policy and Environment
Political Geography:: United States, America, and India

56. The Mediterranean Energy Scene: What Now? What Next?

Author:: Silvia Colombo and Ian Lesser
Publication Date:: 04-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:: The paper provides a summary of the key issues raised in the third meeting of the Mediterranean Strategy Group which was convened in Rome to discuss the problem of energy security and cooperation in the Mediterranean from a transatlantic perspective. The meeting looked into the impact of geopolitical and economic variables on energy security around the Mediterranean, including the role and interests of “new” actors such as China, Russia and India. It also examined the outlook for new oil, gas, nuclear and electric power transmission projects, the prospects for alternative energy schemes, and the implications for strategy and policy affecting governments and the private sectors.
Topic:: Security, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, Regional Cooperation, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: Russia, China, Europe, and India

57. Concentrating Solar Power in China and India: A Spatial Analysis of Technical Potential and the Cost of Deployment

Author:: Kevin Ummel
Publication Date:: 07-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Coal power generation in China and India is expected to double and triple, respectively, over the next 20 years, increasing exposure to fuel price volatility, exacerbating local air pollution, and hastening global climate change. Concentrating solar power (CSP) is a growing source of utility-scale, pollution-free electricity, but its potential in Asia remains largely unexamined. High-resolution spatial data are used to identify areas suitable for CSP and estimate power generation and cost under alternative land-use scenarios. Total technical potential exceeds current coal power output by a factor of 16 to 23 in China and 3 to 4 in India. A CSP expansion program and attendant transmission requirements are simulated with the goal of providing 20 percent of electricity in both countries by midcentury. Under conservative assumptions, the program is estimated to require subsidies of $340 billion in present dollars; coal-associated emissions of 96 GtCO2eq are averted at an average abatement cost of $30 per tCO2eq. Estimated costs are especially sensitive to the assumed rate of technological learning, emphasizing the importance of committed public policy and financing to reduce investment risk, encourage expansion of manufacturing capacity, and achieve long-term cost reductions. The results highlight the need for spatially explicit modeling of renewable power technologies and suggest that existing subsidies might be better used through integrated planning for large-scale solar and wind deployment that exploits spatiotemporal complementarities and shared infrastructure.
Topic:: Energy Policy
Political Geography:: China and India

58. The Formation of Preferences in Two-level Games: An Analysis of India's Domestic and Foreign Energy Policy

Author:: Joachim Betz and Melanie Hanif
Publication Date:: 07-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: This paper examines the formation of India's energy‐policy strategy as an act of doubleedged diplomacy. After developing an analytical framework based on the two‐level game approach to international relations (IR), it focuses on the domestic context of policy preference formation. India's energy strategy is shaped by a shortage of energy and the scarcity of indigenous reserves; these problems have together resulted in agrowing import dependence in order to sustain economic growth rates, outdated cross‐subsidies, overregulation, and nontransparent bureaucratic structures which are adverse to private investment. The Indian government still dominates the energy sector, but large electoral constituencies within the country exert a considerable indirect influence. The paper analyzes how all these domestic necessities combine with India's general foreign policy goals and traditions to form an overall energy strategy. We finally discuss how this strategy plays out in a competitive international environment where global resources are shrinking (with most claims already distributed) and environmental concerns are on the rise.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Energy Policy, Environment, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: India

59. Venture Capital Investment in the Greentech Industries: A Provocative Essay

Author:: Martin Kenney
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:: In the first decade of the 21st Century there has been increasing awareness of environmental issues and recognition that these are now global in scope. This has occurred for many reasons and is perhaps best epitomized in the global warming discussion. The dramatic rise of China and India, in particular, has reoriented the debate about the sustainability of the current trajectory of fossil fuel usage and environmental degradation. Put quite simply, if the economic growth of China, initially, and then India were to follow the historical trajectory of fossil fuel energy usage and resource consumption that Japan, Taiwan, and Korea followed, the environmental impacts would be nothing short of monumental.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, and Environment
Political Geography:: China, India, Taiwan, and Korea

60. Options for Reforming the Clean Development Mechanism

Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)-established by the Kyoto Protocol of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change-is an emissions offset program that allows industrialized countries to receive credits for funding emissions reduction projects in developing countries. The program is intended to provide a cost-effective way for industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time supporting sustainable development in developing countries. However, the CDM has been criticized for its lengthy and expensive project approval procedures, its exclusion of many categories of potentially important mitigation activities, and its methodologies for calculating whether projects actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In response to these problems, this Issue Brief presents a variety of options for reforming the CDM.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: China, India, and Brazil

61. It\'s One Climate Policy World Out There—Almost

Author:: Nancy Birdsall and Jan von der Goltz
Publication Date:: 12-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: In the run-up to the December 2009 Copenhagen climate conference, the authors surveyed members of the international development community with a special interest in climate change on three sets of detailed questions: (1) what action different country groups should take to limit climate change; (2) how much non-market funding there should be for emissions reductions and adaptation in developing countries, and how it should be allocated; and (3) which institutions should be involved in delivering climate assistance, and how the system should be governed. About 500 respondents from 88 countries completed the survey between November 19–24, 2009. About a third of the respondents grew up in developing countries, although some of them now live in developed countries. A broad majority of respondents from both developing and developed countries held very similar views on the responsibilities of the two different country groups, including on issues that have been very controversial in the negotiations. Most favored binding commitments now by developed countries, and commitments by 2020 by \'advanced developing countries\' (Brazil, China, India, South Africa and others), limited use of offsets by developed countries, strict monitoring of compliance with commitments, and the use of trade measures (e.g. carbon-related tariffs) only in very narrow circumstances. Respondents from developing countries favored larger international transfers than those from developed countries, but the two groups share core ideas on how transfers should be allocated. Among institutional options for managing climate programs, a plurality of respondents from developed (48 percent) and developing (56 percent) countries preferred a UN-managed world climate fund, while many from both groups also embraced the UN Adaptation Fund\'s approach, which is to accredit national institutions within countries which are eligible to manage implementation of projects that the Fund finances. Among approaches to governance, the most support went to the Climate Investment Fund model—of equal representation of developing and developed countries on the board.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: China, India, South Africa, Brazil, and United Nations

62. Towards a new climate regime? Views of China, India, Japan, Russia and the United States in the road to Copenhagen

Author:: Linda Jakobson, Anna Korppoo, Johannes Urpelainen, Antto Vihma, and Alex Luta
Publication Date:: 05-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The fifteenth Conference of Parties to be held in Copenhagen in December 2009 has been set as the political deadline for establishing a comprehensive regime to address the dramatic threat of climate change and follow up the Kyoto Protocol. The EU has a convening role in the position formation for the negotiations as the newly elected presidential administration of the US will need all the time available to establish its position for Copenhagen.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, Japan, China, and India

63. Regional energy security: An elusive objective?

Author:: Stuart Harris
Publication Date:: 08-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Australian National University Department of International Relations
Abstract:: Energy issues are a central feature of economic and political debate. The debate focuses not only on the growing regional energy demands from China and India, but also on the cyclical and structural factors in the international energy market that are significant and that lead to considerable uncertainties about energy accessibility, prices and supply reliability. For the Asian region, considerations of supply security are increasingly part of global energy security concerns. The global debate about long-term resource availability and supply, particularly of oil and gas, centres on the questions of whether adequate resources will exist to meet growing global demands in the next twenty-plus years, or whether the resources are adequate but will not be brought to market because of underinvestment and related higher costs in the oil and gas industry. Options for alternative supply sources and alternative fuels are, at the same time, becoming constrained by concerns about the impacts on climate change and, in the case of biofuels, on food and feed supplies. Adjustments to the expected continuing increases in energy trend prices will be generally difficult for developed countries, including Australia, but especially so for developing countries including those in Asia.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Markets, and Oil
Political Geography:: China, India, Asia, Australia, and Australia/Pacific

64. Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline: Is it a peace pipeline?

Author:: Abbas Maleki
Publication Date:: 09-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:: A major natural gas pipeline that would stretch from the fields of southern Iran to Pakistan and India—itself a remarkable prospect—is being planned. But it faces serious hurdles, not least the fierce opposition of the U.S. government.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Energy Policy, Regional Cooperation, and Gas
Political Geography:: Pakistan, United States, India, and Asia

65. Brookings Foreign Policy Studies Energy Security Series: India

Author:: Tanvi Madan
Publication Date:: 11-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: Growth demands energy. It is no wonder that India — with an economy expected to grow at over 5 percent a year for the next twenty-five years — has developed a ravenous appetite for energy. India is the world's fifth largest consumer of energy, and by 2030 it is expected to become the third largest, overtaking Japan and Russia.
Topic:: Security, Development, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:: Russia, Japan, India, and Asia

66. The New Energy Security: 2005 Global Oil and Gas Forum

Author:: John A. Riggs
Publication Date:: 01-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Aspen Institute
Abstract:: Energy security means different things to different countries. Importing countries primarily focus on supply. Since the oil price shocks of the 1970s, the focus of energy security has been on achieving adequate supplies at reasonable prices, without incurring serious disruptions. Recent high prices have intensified this concern and renewed interest in policies to bring prices down.
Topic:: Security, Energy Policy, and Oil
Political Geography:: Russia, China, Europe, Middle East, India, Asia, and Saudi Arabia

67. Power Sector Reforms in India: Issues Relating to Agriculture

Author:: Rafiq Dossani
Publication Date:: 03-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:: Firstly, the cost-to-serve for each category of consumer varies depending on several factors. There are technical reasons such as power factor, voltage of supply and so on which are set out in the Electricity Supply Act, 1948. There are also commercial reasons. In some situations, the total quantity of power available could not be sold, unless some categories of consumers we are charged a lower tariff. There are also considerations of equity or the need to meet the merit wants of the poorer population, which prompted differential pricing.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:: South Asia and India

68. India's energy needs

Author:: Nick Hordern
Publication Date:: 12-2004
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:: India's exploding demand for energy is confronting New Delhi with two important dilemmas, one internal and one external. India's internal dilemma is that to satisfy its energy needs, India must not only expand but also renovate its energy sector, a huge task. Moreover, New Delhi must balance accelerating the necessary reform of this sector with the need to avoid alienating important domestic constituencies. The external dilemma derives from the fact that India will only be able to meet part of its increased energy demand from its own domestic resources, and therefore will be increasingly forced to rely on energy imports. India is trying to secure its energy supplies in a hostile geo-political climate, since New Delhi's parlous relations with its neighbours make energy cooperation difficult. The resultant fears regarding the vulnerability of India's external sources of energy chime with a core principle of New Delhi's political culture, swadeshi (self-sufficiency), whose influence, while waning, retains its potency. Concerns regarding energy security are particularly prevalent in the case of oil, where India's dependence on imports is becoming acute. The proximity of the Persian Gulf to India's industrialised northwest makes it the main source of growing oil imports. But this in turn increases India's reliance on the unstable Gulf. In order to reduce this risk New Delhi will seek out oil from new energy provinces in the Atlantic Basin, Sudan, Russia and South East Asia. It will also turn to a new energy source - gas - and more imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be one result. India's energy needs have implications for Australia. India's growing demand for energy will see coal continue to dominate the energy mix, and as a result India's demand for imported coking coal, including from Australia, is also set to grow. At the same time, India's quest for diversity of supply means that at least some of India's increased LNG imports are likely to be Australian.
Topic:: Economics, Energy Policy, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:: Russia, Sudan, India, Asia, New Delhi, Australia, and Southeast Asia

69. Energy insecurity: China, India and Middle East oil

Author:: Anthony Bubalo and Mark P Thirlwell
Publication Date:: 12-2004
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:: The rapid expansion of their economies has seen China and India become voracious consumers of energy. Oil, much of it imported from the Middle East, has become an increasingly important part of their energy needs. Both governments are conscious that this growing reliance on one of the world's most unstable regions leaves their countries vulnerable to supply disruptions and/or price fluctuations. As a result, energy security has become a key foreign policy objective and, particularly in the case of China, is shaping their approach to the Middle East. This issues brief provides an overview of current energy demand trends and raises for discussion some of the potential longer term strategic implications of this growing dependence on Mid-East oil.
Topic:: Energy Policy
Political Geography:: China, Middle East, India, and Asia

70. India/Pakistan — Peace Pipe

Publication Date:: 07-2001
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxford Analytica
Abstract:: India and Iran have proposed the construction of a natural gas pipeline connection. While the project would be a major engineering achievement, the principal challenge will be gaining Islamabad's consent for it to traverse Pakistani territory. Pakistan's parlous relations with Tehran and Delhi, the latter little improved by last weekend's summit, will make this difficult.
Topic:: Economics, Energy Policy, and Politics
Political Geography:: Pakistan, South Asia, India, and Asia

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS