Challenge to energy security, access should be deliberated upon: R K Singh

Union Power Minister R K Singh on Sunday said discourse on energy transition needs to be expanded, and stressed upon deliberation on challenges such as energy security and access.

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the first energy transitions working group (ETWG-1) meeting, under G20 India Presidency here.

Stating that the meeting is in preparation of a G20 declaration which is energy, Singh said, "It is the most critical aspect today, as you cannot develop without energy. Development means energy."

At the same time, there is a climate crisis and the world needs to ensure that emissions are brought down in order to restrict global warming to below two degrees centigrade, which is achievable, he said in the conference that the different challenges for energy transition like technology, finance, supply chain would be looked at, as they are critical.

Stressing the need to expand the discourse, the Minister said one cannot talk about energy transition alone, and there is need to have deliberations on energy access and energy security too.

"There are about 600-800 million people without access to energy in the world, and you cannot go and talk to them about energy transition, you cannot tell them to not chop wood for running your kitchen, you cannot talk to them about deforestation and other things," he said.

Noting that the world has been going through concerns related to energy security, supply chain disruption, the Minister said energy security had hit even the developed countries, when the supply chain of gas and other things were disrupted.

"When faced with the issue of energy security, for that country energy transition fades into the background, as energy security comes first, as it is the question of energy availability being under threat," he explained.

So, the discourse has to be expanded, it needs to include supply chain, energy security and affordability, access, and technology, he added.

Further suggesting that then there is the question of storage, as there cannot be renewable energy round the clock without it, the Minister said, but it is expensive as not much has been done by the developed world to build up the capacity.

"It is something that we as a world have to do collectively. Without storage we cannot ask countries to move away from fossil fuels," he added.

Singh said energy storage is essential as the world moves towards renewable energy sources, and stressed the need for it to be made viable and also investment in the area.

Developed countries have been talking about energy transition, climate action, he said, "but I don't see any evidence of that... once it (storage) becomes viable then coal will be done away, otherwise, sorry, no! I'm not going to compromise on the availability of energy for the requirements of my growth and for a better standard of living for our people."

"We are growing at 7 per cent, we may grow at 8, 9, 10 or 11 per cent, and we shall provide the energy that is required, wherever it comes from be it fossil or non-fossil. We shall provide the energy required for retaining our rate of growth. If storage becomes viable, I will use round-the-clock renewable energy, if not coal, absolutely," he said, adding that other people have gas to use, but it emits carbondioxide and methane which is worse.