Coal contributes to 66 per cent of India’s emissions, while Oil and Gas contributes another 30 per cent. The industries that call for the consumption of these fossil fuels are primarily energy production and mobility. However for India as a whole to achieve net zero, it’s very important that the source of energy powering the vehicles also be green. If electric vehicles (EV) have to contribute to India’s goal of net zero emissions by 2070 then an integrated action is needed failing which there will be only shifting of emissions from tailpipes to power plant chimneys. Thus the energy source has to majorly turn green.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a paper said India has made significant progress towards meeting its emissions reductions targets under the Paris Agreement, but with current policies total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions would nonetheless increase by more than 40 per cent by 2030. “While a modest increase in short-term emissions may be necessary to meet poverty reduction and energy security goals, a more rapid scaling up of current policies could help lower emissions considerably over the medium-term and bring India closer to a path to net zero by 2070,” IMF said.
India is moving towards its stated goal of cutting down its emissions. According to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology, India is set to achieve its short term and long term targets under the Panchamrit action plan, like reaching a non-fossil fuel energy capacity of 500 GW by 2030; fulfilling at least half of its energy requirements via renewable energy by 2030; reducing CO2 emissions by one billion tons by 2030; reducing carbon intensity below 45 per cent by 2030; and finally pave the way for achieving a Net-Zero emission target by 2070.
While that is on diversification of energy sources, transitioning to EVs is a very important step in reducing emissions — especially in urban environments where vehicular pollution is the leading cause of emissions. The government subsidies on purchase have fuelled the adoption of EVs in a major way. For large-scale adoption of EVs across different segments, there should be fast charging infrastructure across the country, adoption of battery swapping technology which will cut down the cost of vehicle acquisition. There should be a move towards electric commercial vehicles on the Indian roads to drastically cut down the carbon emissions.
Widespread adoption of EV’s necessary infrastructure has to be created hand in hand in an integrated manner. With the government’s recent announcement on cutting down on the demand subsidy for EVs under FAME II, the indications are that a slower and more cautious policy approach to EV adoption is likely to prevail in the coming months and years. The constraints related to charging infrastructure, development of an indigenous value chain, and the prohibitive costs of transition and persisting range anxiety on the part of the consumers are possibly making the government take a step back.
