http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Power-cuts-the-cost-for-ignoring-Kosambi/articleshow/46800299.cms
If India had paid attention to D D Kosambi, one of the thorniest problems of our times would have been eliminated. >From 1957, the great Goan polymath, historian and scientist argued against Nehru's energy strategy, "The cost of research on direct utilization of solar energy would be far lower than for atomic energy. India has much greater supply of solar energy than most other countries... the most important advantage would be decentralization. To electrify India with a complete national grid would be difficult [and very costly]. With solar energy, you can supply power locally, with or without a grid." Kosambi believed solar energy was not pursued like atomic research because of military interest in bombs, and the simple reason "the USA, Russia and England do not receive so much solar radiation as India". He thought it was an opportunity for India to lead, "There is no reason why we should ape them in all things, including the development of atomic energy at fantastic cost... solar energy has no evil byproducts; no ash, carbon monoxide or noxious cancer-producing atomic waste." A focus on solar energy would lead to reforestation, "a better climate, springs that flow for a longer period after the monsoon, clear water in the rivers, more timber, better agriculture". In one of the greatest historic errors of independent India that alternate energy blueprint was ignored. Nehru favoured Kosambi's colleague (and professional nemesis) at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha, and India went nuclear, opting for a national power grid which relies heavily on coal to meet electricity needs. Today, those energy-policy choices stands exposed as an unqualified catastrophe that cannot deliver what the country requires, even while creating and exacerbating one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of the world. Goans know all about the inadequacies of India's power supply. India's smallest state has never received what it needs from the national grid—just over 400 MW is what it gets now, chronically far less than demand. The state purchases power at exorbitant prices on the open market, passing that "tariff shock" to consumers. But even as the mess grows worse and more intractable, there is a conspicuous lack of attention to renewable energy, like solar and wind power. Instead, the Goa government still talks coal. It is a national failing. Even while the Centre for Science and Environment warns that India has the least efficient and most polluting plants in the world, the country gets more than half its energy supply from coal. This extraordinarily corrupt sector of the economy—the Supreme Court has cancelled hundreds of licences (including Goa's allocated block in Chhattisgarh)—is nonetheless the only plan the government is pursuing to meet the ongoing national power shortages, and sustain the growth and development that Narendra Modi promised to deliver. Besides utterly failing to match supply with demand, with no end to the problem in sight, India's reliance on coal for energy is literally choking the country to death. A recent joint study by Chicago, Yale and Harvard Universities reported that half of India's population will lose at least three year's lifespan because of horrific air pollution. Delhi is the worst polluted city in the world, with air that is twice as unhealthy as Beijing. Of the 20 cities with the worst air quality in the world, 13 are in India. D D Kosambi's vision is entirely redeemed. Even as India sinks further into smog created by bad decisions to follow the model of western industrialization, the industrialized countries are themselves turning decisively to renewables. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, 2014 was the best year for newly-installed capacity for renewable energy—more than 103 gigawatts of generating capacity. That is more than all the nuclear plants in the USA, and quite amazingly, nearly half of the net power capacity added worldwide. Asia leads the way. Particularly China and Japan, but also India. Here, Modi's Gujarat has been an outstanding leader—nearly two-thirds of the country's photovoltaic power is generated in that state. Asia's largest solar park is being built there. Rajasthan has even bigger plans, including the world's largest solar power plant. Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have interesting projects under way. There is a very long way to go, but some steps are finally being taken to achieve a tiny fraction of D D Kosambi's vision of India illuminated by clean power. It is very sad that none of that progress is taking place in his own, beloved, Goa.