Varun Sivaram : India's historic opportunity to industrialize using clean energy

Varun Sivaram·Countdown

India’s historic opportunity to industrialize using clean energy 

Summary 

The speaker is Indian, a physicist and clean energy executive and he explains energies that Indians use every day. 

Indian population is over one billion, they live in rural areas, and use wood, cow dung, and bioenergy. Just six percent of Indians own cars, and two percent have air conditioning. For escaping poverty, they need far more energy. 

However, coal, oil, and gas energy must ravage the country and endanger the planet. 

The speaker suggests three goals. 

1, India will need to build solar and wind power at an unprecedented scale and speed to replace coal-fired power plants. 

2, India will need to extend the reach of that renewable energy to power sectors of the economy like industry and transportation that haven’t traditionally used electricity. 

3, India must become radically more energy-efficient. 

Technology and renewable energy must offer India a cleaner and more prosperous future than coal ever can.