• Home
  • EV News
  • EV Blogs
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Vehicles
    • Sales
    • Electric Cars
    • Tata Electric Cars
    • Electric Scooters
    • OLA Electric
    • Electric Cycles
    • Electric MotorCycles
    • Electric Cargo Vehicles
    • Campus Vehicles
  • Categories
    • Community Charging
    • Buyer's Guides
    • Real Life EV Stories
    • How To Guides
    • EV Test Reports
    • EV Travelogues
    • EV Conversions
    • Events
    • Educate
  • About Us
  • Community
    • Discord
PluginIndia Electric Vehicles

How clean is our grid?

27/2/2014

2 Comments

 
By Kamlesh Mallick
When you plugin to the grid and charge your electric car or e-bike, do you ever wonder, if you are running on clean electrons?  Or in other words, have you ever thought about, how the electricity that charges your battery, is generated?
Sadly, our Indian grid is one of the dirtiest among many nations, due to our over dependence on coal.
But this is changing, many states are pushing for clean energy in their portfolio. 
In this blog, I try to answer some questions - Which state has the cleanest grid?  Which has the dirtiest? Which state ensures that your electric vehicle is running on clean electrons?
This is where we stand.
Picture
Source : http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/
Basically our grid is the dirtiest among major countries.  We rely heavily on coal and only in recent years, there has been effort to diversify and move towards renewables. 

The following  tables show the state wise distribution of electricity generation (Numbers as of December 2013 ; Source - Link)

Table 1 shows the dirty power generated (in MW)
Picture
Table 1 - Dirty power generation (Source - http://www.cea.nic.in/)
Table 2 lists the leaders in dirty power generation
Picture
Table 2 - Leaders in Dirty Power generation (http://www.cea.nic.in/)
Picture
Coal fired power plant = Dirty Power
What is surprising is that, Delhi has one of the dirtiest grid being the national capital. Industrialized states like Gujarat and Maharashtra really depend on coal.  If you own an EV in these states, it would be better to go for those solar panels, if you want to run on clean electrons.  Nevertheless, using an EV is still a greener alternative as compared to using a ICE based vehicle, due to the high efficiency of the electric motor. 
States like Gujarat and Maharashtra are investing huge money in renewable energy.  This leads to a very important point - that as these states clean up the grid, your electric vehicle will get cleaner as the years go by.

Table 3 shows clean power generated by various states (in MW)
Picture
Table 3 - Clean power generation (http://www.cea.nic.in/)
Table 4 lists the leaders in clean power generation
Picture
Table 4 - Clean power leaders (http://www.cea.nic.in/)
The Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand use the mighty Himalayan rivers to their advantage and generate enough clean hydro electricity for their needs.  This also makes them the states with the cleanest grid!  Electric Vehicles driven here will almost use clean electrons!
The southern states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu lead the industrialized states in generating clean energy.  EV owners in these states can be sure that their vehicles will definitely be cleaner than oil based vehicles.
Picture
Hydroelectric Power = Clean Power

PictureMr Narendra Modi at the Narmada Canal Top Solar Project
Political Support to clean up the grid
Mr Narendra Modi of the BJP, talks about our grid
“With the country having so much natural resources, India hasn't progressed much in the 21st century,”
“With eastern part of the country rich in water resources, it is a heaven for hydro power generation; also our coasts are fit for wind energy. Similarly our plains such as Gujarat and Rajasthan are fit for solar energy generation. If the planners had thought of these factors and formed a policy India wouldn't be so dependent on energy imports,”


Our national action plan on climate change recommends that we generate 10% of the power production from solar, wind, hydropower and other renewable sources by 2015, and 15% by 2020.
Our next government should absolutely take measures to clean up the grid and slowly but surely increase the generation of clean energy powered by renewable energy sources.


Final Words
Despite India's coal based grid, electric vehicles offer enormous hope for reducing carbon emissions, improving local air quality and limiting noise pollution.
And the fact that cleaning up our grid in the coming years, will automatically ensure that your electric vehicle will also get cleaner in time.

2 Comments
Johnson
28/2/2014 05:11:02 am

One of the easiest method would be to make it mandatory for all buildings to set up Solar Panels on their roof top and use LED lamps in :

1. All common areas.
2. For all lighting needs even inside houses.

The rest of the generated power can be used to charge Electric cars.

Reply
Farah
1/3/2014 02:29:37 am

Yes I did wonder how green is the electricity, when I plug my car..

More awareness could be created for Green buildings in India. This is something we can do in small ways. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_building_in_India

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Ask Your EV Guru
    Blogs From Heart & Soul
    Buyers Guides
    Charging Stations
    Clean Energy
    Commercial Vehicles
    Community Initiatives
    Conversion Kits
    Electric Bikes
    Electric Bus
    Electric Cars
    Electric MotorCycles
    Electric Scooters
    Events
    EV Expos & Exhibitions
    EV Industry News
    EV Sales
    EV Technology
    EV Travelogues
    How To Guides
    Interviews
    Podcasts
    RE:LIVE Events
    Student Projects
    Surveys

    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Picture

    RSS Feed

Plug in india

About us
Advertise with us
Contact us

Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

Support US

Get access to exclusive perks
  • Become a YouTube member
  • Become a Patreon

Subscribe to our newsletter

© COPYRIGHT 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • EV News
  • EV Blogs
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Vehicles
    • Sales
    • Electric Cars
    • Tata Electric Cars
    • Electric Scooters
    • OLA Electric
    • Electric Cycles
    • Electric MotorCycles
    • Electric Cargo Vehicles
    • Campus Vehicles
  • Categories
    • Community Charging
    • Buyer's Guides
    • Real Life EV Stories
    • How To Guides
    • EV Test Reports
    • EV Travelogues
    • EV Conversions
    • Events
    • Educate
  • About Us
  • Community
    • Discord