Help achieve Energy Independence: Kalam

New Delhi, Jun 26: President A P J Abdul Kalam today called upon Indian corporates to participate vigorously to help achieve ''Energy Independence'' for the country by the year 2030.

Addressing a gathering of captains of Industry and experts from environment and other fields here, he reiterated that Energy Independence was critical for fuelling growth in future.

India had to achieve Energy Security by 2020 leading to Energy Independence by 2030 and beyond, he said.

A fourth of the targeted 400,000 MW power generating capacity by 2030 has to come through renewable sources of energy such as wind power, biomass, municipal waste and solar thermal power in which the corporates should play a big role, he said.

The President was speaking after giving away The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) awards to eight companies -- Sakthi Masala Ltd, Hindustan Lever Limited, Singareni Collieries, Northern Coalfields, the Madras Aluminium Company, Mecpro Heavy Engineering Ltd, Usha Martin and Solaris Chemtech Ltd -- for excellence in environmental protection and for fulfilling social responsibility.

While expressing hope that the function would ''motivate many in the corporate sector towards certain special missions'', he pointed out that the world energy forum has predicted that fossil-based oil, coal and gas reserves would last for less than ten decades.

Solar power could be used on a massive scale in the agricultural sector, where farmers needed electricity exclusively in the daytime.

''We need to embark on a programme in solar energy systems and technologies, for both large, centralized applications as well as small, decentralized requirements concurrently, for applications in both rural and urban areas''.

Efforts should be made to create a ''rural household solar mission'' which would provide LED-based nano crystal lighting system through small solar PV Power Plants to the 70 million households presently using kerosene oil for lighting, he said.

''I am sure that this project will provide a very good business opportunity for energy industrialists''.

Dr Kalam also called upon the scientific community to develop Carbon Nano Tube (CNT)-based Photo Voltaic (PV) cells with an efficiency of at least 50 per cent. This work should be completed within three years so that their commercial production could start within five years, he said.

Since the transportation sector was the fastest growing energy consumer, there was need for innovation and work towards production of bio-fuels, hydrogen-based fuel and electric-powered vehicles also, he added.

There was also scope for collaboration with local authorities for generation of as much as 6,000 MW of power by setting up 900 electric power plants across the country fueled by municipal waste, he said.

Corporates should also come forward for productive use of the over 100 million tonnes of flyash generated by thermal power plants per year, he said.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, TERI Director General R K Pachauri and Hero Group Chairman Brijmohan Lall Munjal were among others present on the occasion.

UNI