Clean energy is the most crucial requirement that we have today. We are facing energy shortage and climate change at the same time. The whole world is working on ways to create sustainable energy sources and clean energy is the most important thing which can probably change the future of our world. India is also taking lead in adopting solar energy.
Mr. Ramesh Lakhulal Chaurasia is an entrepreneur and a philanthropist who has been working to promote the use of solar power in villages and other rural areas. He is also the president of the Akhil Bharatiya Adarsh Chaurasia Mahasabha. It is one of his goals to ensure that all people, including those from underprivileged sections of society are aware of the endless possibilities that clean energy, especially solar power can bring to them. We talked to him and he had a lot of great things to share.
He said “When we talk about clean energy sources, most of the times we hear hydro-electricity or wind energy. However, the most abundant source of clean energy is solar energy. If even a fraction of the energy of the sun is harnessed, our whole world can get the power it needs to run without ever falling short of energy. It all comes down to collective will and adoption. India has a culture of sun worship because the sun is considered a god and a giver of life. It only makes sense for it to be considered so because it actually gives enough energy to power millions of worlds if its energy is harnessed.”
Government schemes
There are several government schemes which promote the adoption of solar energy. The Indian government has a goal of promoting sustainable energy production and utilization. It is also done to reduce the carbon emissions.
The adoption of solar energy for agriculture can help millions of Indian farmers who have to buy electricity from the grid in order to irrigate their land. Schemes like the “Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyaan (PM KUSUM)” are aimed to help farmers in getting solar powered pumps for irrigation.
The Atal Jyoti Yojana (AJAY) aims to install a significantly large number of solar street lights in selected north Himalayan, north eastern and few other regions.
A significant number of subsidy schemes are also offered to encourage the adoption of solar energy in various states. Subsidies can range from 30% to 70%.
United Nations’ clean energy goal
It is one of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations to ensure that affordable, reliable, and modern energy services are made available universally. The United Nations aims to encourage investment in sustainable energy resources to generate clean energy. The member countries are also working in their own capacity to work towards this goal.
Talking about solar energy from the point of energy security and other benefits, Mr. Ramesh Chaurasia said – “From the perspective of energy security, it can be said that solar energy is the most secure and reliable because it is in abundance. Most of our country has a tropical climate and has plenty of sunshine throughout the year. Millions of families living in rural areas can benefit from solar energy by using it as their primary energy source. This is also environment friendly so it actually plays a part in saving our planet. There are great social and monetary benefits for women in villages who will not have to spend their day gathering wood and then burning it as fuel. This also saves their eyes and lungs from the effect of smoke, making them eligible for work and getting employment. This will ultimately strengthen the village economies and uplift the people. There are even schemes which allow people to sell the surplus energy back to the grid.”
Mr. Ramesh Chaurasia works along with his team to ensure that people from all communities, including the Chaurasia community are educated about the benefits of adopting clean energy. His team also works in areas like education, healthcare, digital literacy and sustainable agriculture.
