TEAM

Following India’s bold renewable energy targets announced at the Glasgow climate conference, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has released a policy framework for developing and advancing Decentralized Renewable Energy Livelihood Applications. Decentralized renewable energy is often produced closer to the point of consumption and built as small-scale projects benefitting rural communities that do not have reliable access to the electricity grid. Growth in decentralized renewables will lead to a robust diversified green electricity grid and is key to meeting India’s non-fossil fuel electricity generation target of 500GW by 2030.

NRDC and partners are organizing a two-day webinar, Women-Led Clean Energy Solutions, to highlight technologies that enhance energy access, improve livelihood options, and create jobs. India’s tremendous climate and clean energy ambitions have the power to truly transform how people use energy in India’s villages. And decentralized renewable energy, which is usually small scale and generated close to the point of use, benefits entire households in many ways, maximizing the impact of clean energy.

Climate solutions in India's villages can improve livelihoods and bring transformative social change, emphasized women-leaders in a two-day event "Women-Led Efficient and Clean Energy Solutions in India: Discussion with the Farmers" organized by NRDC, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and partners. Women are inequitably affected by climate change and more vulnerable to its impact due to social structures. Climate resilience must be inclusive and include partnerships with women.

While the renewable sector is growing at a fast pace in India, the quality and reliability of electricity has remained a major challenge, particularly in rural areas. Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) is a medium to provide 24 X 7 energy access to all. DRE can not only help bridge the energy access gap, but can be a powerful tool for creating jobs. Our analysis shows 3.4 million (34 lakhs) jobs, many of which would be in the DRE sector, can be created through widescale deployment of India’s clean energy goals.

NRDC, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), and partners have implemented the transformative Hariyali Green Villages initiative in 15 villages in Gujarat and Rajasthan over the past year. Navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic and natural calamities like cyclone Tauktae, the implementation has already benefitted over 300 families. A new report, “Hariyali Green Villages: Women-Led Climate and Clean Energy Solutions for Prosperity in Rural India,” with a preliminary assessment of the Hariyali Green Villages, was released today at a clean energy workshop in Anand district in Gujarat.

For several years, the sole source of electricity in Santokben’s house was a 1 kW solar panel, installed on the rooftop of her house in the Fangani village of Gujarat, India. Santokben’s working hours were thus largely dependent on sunlight; as a result, the number of productive hours and income opportunities available to Santokben were limited. Not only Santokben, but thirty-five households in Fangani village were facing similar harsh conditions due to limited access to modern energy.

Women are inequitably affected by climate change due to a long-entrenched history of roles, social structures, and access to resources. However, access to renewable energy, especially at the village-level, can make a difference. In addition to cutting down carbon emissions, and enhancing energy security, renewable energy solutions led by and targeted at women can accelerate economic and social empowerment.