South Asia

10 Items

May 25, 2011: Sharan Pinto installs a solar panel antenna on a house roof in Nada, India. Across India, small companies and aid programs are bypassing the central electricity grid to deliver solar panels to the rural poor.

AP Photo

Journal Article - Energy Policy

Modern Energy Access to All in Rural India: An Integrated Implementation Strategy

| December 2011

Expanding energy access to the rural population of India presents a critical challenge for its government. The presence of 364 million people without access to electricity and 726 million who rely on biomass for cooking indicate both the failure of past policies and programs, and the need for a radical redesign of the current system. We propose an integrated implementation framework with recommendations for adopting business principles with innovative institutional, regulatory, financing and delivery mechanisms.

In this May 24, 2011 photograph, Boommi Gowda, extreme right , holds an oil lamp as her children study in their house in Nada, a village near the southwest Indian port of Mangalore, India.

AP Photo

Journal Article - Energy

Dynamics of Rural Energy Access in India: An Assessment

| September 2011

India's rural energy challenges are formidable with the presence of majority energy poor. In 2005, out of a rural population of 809 million, 364 million lacked access to electricity and 726 million to modern cooking fuels. This indicates low effectiveness of government policies and programs of the past, and need for a more effective approach to bridge this gap. However, before the government can address this challenge, it is essential that it gain a deeper insight into prevailing status of energy access and reasons for such outcomes. Toward this, we perform a critical analysis of the dynamics of energy access status with respect to time, income and regions, and present the results as possible indicators of effectiveness of policies/programmes.

Visitors look at a Intelligent Energy hydrogen fuel cell motorcycle at the 10th Auto Expo in New Delhi, India, Jan. 6, 2010.

AP Photo

Policy Brief - Energy Technology Innovation Policy Project, Belfer Center

Energy Innovation Policy in Major Emerging Countries

New Harvard Kennedy School research finds that energy research, development, and demonstration (ERD&D) funding by governments and 100 percent government-owned enterprises in six major emerging economies appears larger than government spending on ERD&D in most industrialized countries combined. That makes the six so-called BRIMCS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico, China, and South Africa—major players in the development of new energy technologies. It also suggests there could be opportunities for cooperation on energy technology development among countries.

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Belfer Center Newsletter Winter 2010-11

| Winter 2010-11

The Winter 2010/11 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This issue highlights a major Belfer Center conference on technology and governance, the Center's involvement in the nuclear threat documentary Countdown to Zero, and a celebration of Belfer Center founder Paul Doty.

 

Laborers loud coal onto trucks on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Aug. 2, 2007. Coal from different Indian states is distributed in Jammu and Kashmir for industrial and domestic purposes.

AP Photo

Journal Article - Energy

Sustainable Development of the Indian Coal Sector

| In Press

Increased availability of energy, especially electricity, is important for India to help advance economic and human development. Coal, which currently accounts for more than 50% of total primary commercial energy supply in the country and for about 70% of total electricity generation, is likely to remain a key energy source for India for at least the next 30–40 years. Thus, sustainable development of the Indian coal sector is necessary to ensure the ability to sustain the increased production of coal in the country and to do so in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner.

Discussion Paper - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Assessment of Advanced Coal-Based Electricity Generation Technology Options for India: Potential Learning from U.S. Experiences

| September 2005

India has huge domestic reserves of coal and predominantly depends on coal-based electricity generation to meet a substantial portion of its electricity generation requirements.