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ENERGY Notes

Contents
NANOTECHNOLOGY.................................................................................................................... 3
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) ............................................................................................ 4
Tissue Nano Transfection ....................................................................................................... 5
Top-down and bottom-up methods ....................................................................................... 5
Dip Pen Nanolithography........................................................................................................ 6
Nano Composite ..................................................................................................................... 6
Ecophagy................................................................................................................................. 7
UNNATI Program by ISRO ....................................................................................................... 8
Carbon Nanotubes .................................................................................................................. 8
Fullerenes ............................................................................................................................... 8
GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES..................................................................................................... 9
ENERGY ..................................................................................................................................... 11
India’s Renewed Ambition at COP26 .................................................................................... 11
Key Concepts ............................................................................................................................ 15
Monazite ............................................................................................................................... 15
Methanol .............................................................................................................................. 15
E20 fuel ................................................................................................................................. 16
Cold Fusion ........................................................................................................................... 17
Coal Gasification ................................................................................................................... 17
Shale Gas .............................................................................................................................. 18
Hydrogen Bomb .................................................................................................................... 19
Hydrogen Fuel Cells .............................................................................................................. 19
Global Energy Transition Index ............................................................................................. 20
Energy Trilemma Index ......................................................................................................... 21
International Energy Security Risk Index .............................................................................. 21
Biofuels ................................................................................................................................. 22
Space-based Solar Power (SBSP) .......................................................................................... 24
Solid State Battery ................................................................................................................ 25
Clean Energy Transitions Programme (CETP) ....................................................................... 26
India H2 Alliance (IH2A) ........................................................................................................ 27
NUCLEAR ENERGY ..................................................................................................................... 29
United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) .................................................... 29
United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) ............................................ 29
Resolution 1540 (2004)......................................................................................................... 29
Geneva Protocol ................................................................................................................... 29
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ............................................................................... 29

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Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (NWFZ) ..................................................................................... 30 Notes

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ......................................................................... 30
Nuclear Power in India ......................................................................................................... 31
India’s Three Stage Nuclear Programme .............................................................................. 33
Nuclear Diplomacy and India ................................................................................................ 35
Physics of Nuclear Fusion and Fission................................................................................... 37
ITER: International Thermonuclear Energy Reactor ............................................................. 40
Additional Protocol ............................................................................................................... 41
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) ........................................................................................ 41
Department of Atomic Energy .............................................................................................. 42
Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) .............................................................................. 42
Important Terminologies ...................................................................................................... 43
Do You Know ............................................................................................................................ 45

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NANOTECHNOLOGY Notes

NOTE- You need not go deep into such topics. Just a basic understanding and
updates from current affairs is enough. Keep a sincere follow up of Babapedia
in this regard.

Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the

nano-scale, which is about 1 to 100 nano-meters. One nanometer (nm) is one
billionth, or 10−9, of a meter.

Nano-science and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely

small things and can be used across all the other science fields, such as
chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering. Areas of
physics such as nanoelectronics, nanomechanics, nanophotonics and
nanoionics have evolved during the last few decades to provide a basic
scientific foundation of nanotechnology.

Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology:

• In the "bottom-up" approach, materials and devices are built from
molecular components which assemble themselves chemically by
principles of molecular recognition.
• In the "top-down" approach, nano-objects are constructed from larger
entities without atomic-level control.

The ideas and concepts behind nanoscience and nanotechnology started with
a talk entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” by physicist Richard
Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at the California Institute of
Technology (CalTech) on December 29, 1959, long before the term
nanotechnology was used. Feynman described a process in which scientists
would be able to manipulate and control individual atoms and molecules.
Note: Size distribution, specific surface feature and quantum size effects are
the principal factor which causes the properties of nanomaterials to differ
significantly from other materials.

The nano-materials field includes subfields which develop or study materials

having unique properties arising from their nanoscale dimensions.
• Interface and colloid science has given rise to many materials which
may be useful in nanotechnology, such as carbon nanotubes and other
fullerenes, and various nanoparticles and nanorods.
• Nanomaterials with fast ion transport are related also to nanoionics
and nanoelectronics.

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• Progress has been made in using these materials for medical Notes
applications such as Nanomedicine.
• Nanoscale materials such as nanopillars are sometimes used in solar
cells which combats the cost of traditional silicon solar cells.
• Development of applications incorporating semiconductor
nanoparticles to be used in the next generation of products, such as
display technology, lighting, solar cells and biological imaging.
• Recent application of nanomaterials includes a range of biomedical
applications, such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, and biosensors.

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning force microscopy (SFM) is a very-
high-resolution type of scanning probe microscopy (SPM), with demonstrated
resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times
better than the optical diffraction limit.

The information is gathered by "feeling" or "touching" the surface with a

mechanical probe. Piezoelectric elements that facilitate tiny but accurate and
precise movements on (electronic) command enable precise scanning.

The AFM has three major abilities: force measurement, imaging, and
manipulation.
• In force measurement, AFMs can be used to measure the forces
between the probe and the sample as a function of their mutual
separation. This can be applied to perform force spectroscopy, to
measure the mechanical properties of the sample, such as the sample's
Young's modulus, a measure of stiffness.
• For imaging, the reaction of the probe to the forces that the sample
imposes on it can be used to form an image of the three-dimensional
shape (topography) of a sample surface at a high resolution. This is
achieved by raster scanning the position of the sample with respect to
the tip and recording the height of the probe that corresponds to a
constant probe-sample interaction (see section topographic imaging in
AFM for more details). The surface topography is commonly displayed
as a pseudocolor plot.
• In manipulation, the forces between tip and sample can also be used to
change the properties of the sample in a controlled way. Examples of
this include atomic manipulation, scanning probe lithography and local
stimulation of cells.

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Tissue Nano Transfection Notes

Nanochip could heal injuries or regrow organs with one touch. A tiny device
that sits on the skin and uses an electric field to reprogramme cells could be a
breakthrough in the way we treat injured or ageing tissue. A novel device that
reprogrammes skin cells could represent a breakthrough in repairing injured or
ageing tissue.
The new technique, called tissue nano-transfection, is based on a tiny device
that sits on the surface of the skin of a living body.
• An intense, focused electric field is then applied across the device,
allowing it to deliver genes to the skin cells beneath it – turning them
into different types of cells.
• It offers an exciting development when it comes to repairing damaged
tissue, offering the possibility of turning a patient’s own tissue into a
“bioreactor” to produce cells to either repair nearby tissues, or for use
at another site.
• It avoids an intermediary step where cells are turned into what are
known as pluripotent stem cells, instead turning skin cells directly into
functional cells of different types. It is a single step process in the body.
• The new approach does not rely on applying an electric field across a
large area of the cell, or the use of viruses to deliver the genes.

Top-down and bottom-up methods

Top-down and bottom-up methods are two types of approaches used in
nanofabrication. The bottom-up approach is more advantageous than the top-
down approach because the former has a better chance of producing
nanostructures with less defects, more homogenous chemical composition,
and better short- and long-range ordering.

A bottom up synthesis method implies that the nanostructures are

synthesized onto the substrate by stacking atoms onto each other, which
gives rise to crystal planes, crystal planes further stack onto each other,
resulting in the synthesis of the nanostructures. A bottom-up approach can
thus be viewed as an synthesis approach where the building blocks are added
onto the substrate to form the nanostructures.

A top down synthesis method implies that the nanostructures are

synthesized by etching out crystals planes (removing crystal planes) which are
already present on the substrate. A top-down approach can thus be viewed as
an approach where the building blocks are removed from the substrate to form
the nanostructure.

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• Molecular self-assembly is the process by which molecules adopt a Notes

defined arrangement without guidance or management from an
outside source. There are two types of self-assembly. These are
intramolecular self-assembly and intermolecular self-assembly.
• Molecular Beam Epitaxy is an evaporation process performed in an
ultra-high vacuum for the deposition of compounds of extreme
regularity of layer thickness and composition from well-controlled
deposition rates.
• The agglomeration of metallic nanoparticles can be performed using
the well-known inert gas condensation process.

Dip Pen Nanolithography

Dip pen nanolithography (DPN) is a scanning probe lithography technique
where an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip is used to create patterns directly
on a range of substances with a variety of inks.
• DPN is the nanotechnology analog of the dip pen (also called the quill
pen), where the tip of an atomic force microscope cantilever acts as a
"pen," which is coated with a chemical compound or mixture acting as
an "ink," and put in contact with a substrate, the "paper."
• DPN enables direct deposition of nanoscale materials onto a substrate
in a flexible manner. Recent advances have demonstrated massively
parallel patterning using two-dimensional arrays of 55,000 tips.
Applications of this technology currently range through chemistry,
materials science, and the life sciences, and include such work as ultra-
high density biological nanoarrays, and additive photomask repair.

Nano Composite
Nano Composite is a multiphase solid material where one of the phases has
one, two or three dimensions of less than 100 nanometers (nm), or structures
having nano-scale repeat distances between the different phases that make up
the material.
• The idea behind Nanocomposite is to use building blocks with
dimensions in nanometre range to design and create new materials
with unprecedented flexibility and improvement in their physical
properties.
• In the broadest sense this definition can include porous media, colloids,
gels and copolymers, but is more usually taken to mean the solid
combination of a bulk matrix and nano-dimensional phase(s) differing
in properties due to dissimilarities in structure and chemistry. The
mechanical, electrical, thermal, optical, electrochemical, catalytic

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properties of the nanocomposite will differ markedly from that of the Notes
component materials.
• Nanocomposites are found in nature, for example in the structure of
the abalone shell and bone.
• The use of nanoparticle-rich materials long predates the understanding
of the physical and chemical nature of these materials.
• In mechanical terms, nanocomposites differ from conventional
composite materials due to the exceptionally high surface to volume
ratio of the reinforcing phase and/or its exceptionally high aspect ratio.
The reinforcing material can be made up of particles (e.g. minerals),
sheets (e.g. exfoliated clay stacks) or fibres (e.g. carbon nanotubes or
electrospun fibres). The area of the interface between the matrix and
reinforcement phase(s) is typically an order of magnitude greater than
for conventional composite materials. The matrix material properties
are significantly affected in the vicinity of the reinforcement.
• This large amount of reinforcement surface area means that a relatively
small amount of nanoscale reinforcement can have an observable
effect on the macroscale properties of the composite. For example,
adding carbon nanotubes improves the electrical and thermal
conductivity.

Ecophagy
Grey goo (also spelled gray goo) is a hypothetical end-of-the-world scenario
involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating
robots consume all biomass on Earth while building more of themselves, a
scenario that has been called ecophagy ("eating the environment", more
literally "eating the habitation").

The original idea assumed machines were designed to have this capability,
while popularizations have assumed that machines might somehow gain this
capability by accident.

Self-replicating machines of the macroscopic variety were originally described

by mathematician John von Neumann, and are sometimes referred to as von
Neumann machines or clanking replicators.

Note: A grey goo scenario was shown in a Hollywood movie – G I Joe.

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UNNATI Program by ISRO Notes

Unnati or Unispace Nanosatellite Assembly and Training by ISRO is a capacity
building program on nano-satellite development.
• ISRO’s U.R Rao Satellite Centre at Bengaluru will be conducting the
program for the next 3 years starting from January 2019.
• It also will cooperate and help the participant countries to strengthen
their capabilities in assembling, integrating and testing nano satellites.

Carbon Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are an allotrope (Not isotope) of carbon.

• They take the form of cylindrical carbon molecules and have novel
properties that make them potentially useful in a wide variety of
applications in nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other fields of
materials science.
• They exhibit extraordinary strength and unique electrical properties,
and are efficient conductors of heat.
• Inorganic nanotubes have also been synthesized.
• Nanotubes are members of the fullerene structural family, which also
includes buckyballs.
• Whereas buckyballs are spherical in shape, a nanotube is cylindrical,
with at least one end typically capped with a hemisphere of the
buckyball structure.
• Their name is derived from their size, since the diameter of a nanotube
is on the order of a few nanometers (approximately 50,000 times
smaller than the width of a human hair), while they can be up to several
millimeters in length.
• There are two main types of nanotubes: single-walled nanotubes
(SWNTs) and multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs).

Fullerenes
Buckminsterfullerene C60, also known as the buckyball, is a representative
member of the carbon structures known as fullerenes. Members of the
fullerene family are a major subject of research falling under the
nanotechnology umbrella.
Fullerenes are also called Buckyballs due to their shape.
• Buckyballs may be used to trap free radicals generated during an
allergic reaction and block the inflammation that results from an allergic
reaction.
• The antioxidant properties of buckyballs may be able to fight the
deterioration of motor function due to multiple sclerosis.

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• Combining buckyballs, nanotubes, and polymers to produce Notes

inexpensive solar cells that can be formed by simply painting a surface.
• Buckyballs may be used to store hydrogen, possibly as a fuel tank for
fuel cell powered cars.
• Buckyballs may be able to reduce the growth of bacteria in pipes and
membranes in water systems.
• Researchers are attempting to modify buckyballs to fit the section of
the HIV molecule that binds to proteins, possibly inhibiting the spread
of the virus.
• Making bullet proof vests with inorganic (tungsten disulfide) buckyballs.

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
• Department of Science and Tech-Nanomission (nano-biotechnology
activities) through DBT, ICMR and CoE in Nanoelectronics by MeitY
support nanoscience, nanotechnology, nanobiotechnology and
nanoelectronics activities.
• Eighteen sophisticated analytical instruments facilities (SAIFs)
established by DST across India play a major role in advanced
characterisation and synthesis of nano-materials for various
applications.
• Center of Excellence in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology established
by DST-Nanomission helps research and PG students in various thrust
areas.
• Thematic Units of Excellence (TUEs) for various areas of nanoscience
and nanotechnology play a major role in product-based research to
support nanotechnology.
• Visveswaraya PhD fellowships offered by MeitY supports various
nanotechnology activities in the country.
• INSPIRE scheme supports research fellows to work in interdisciplinary
nanotechnology, nanoscience and nano-biotechnology areas.
• DST-Nanomission supports more than 20 PG teaching programmes to
create a baseline for nanoscience and nanotechnology in India, out of
about 70 PG programmes currently running in India.

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Application in Medicine Notes

Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the
nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers. It is a field of research and
innovation concerned with building ‘things’ – generally, materials and devices
– on the scale of atoms and molecules.

• Drug delivery: Nanomaterials have been introduced to the therapy of

multiple diseases, including drug delivery system and nanodrugs. Drug
delivery is one of the typical applicliposomes Nanomaterials in
medicine. For example, tumor targeting, imaging and drug delivery can
be accomplished by administrated gold nanoparticles and nanorods,
iron oxide nanoworms and drug loaded liposomes.
• Stem cells: The application of nanotechnology has opened a new realm
in the advance of regenerative medicine. The development of
nanotechnology offers more opportunities of applying stem cells in the
regeneration of tissues and organs.
• Implantation: Nanotechnology has also found applications in tissue and
implant engineering. The possibility to enhance the surface area of the
material and to tune the roughness of its surface at the nanometric
scale should yield better biological responses of osteogenic cells and
effective mechanical contact between tissue and implant.
• Imaging: In vivo imaging is another area where tools and devices are
being developed. Using nanoparticle contrast agents, images such as
ultrasound and MRI have a favourable distribution and improved
contrast.
• Antibacterial treatment: Researchers are developing a technique to kill
bacteria using gold nanoparticles and infrared light. This method may
lead to improved cleaning of instruments in hospital settings.
• Medical Device: Neuro-electronic interfacing is a visionary goal dealing
with the construction of nanodevices that will permit computers to be
joined and linked to the nervous system.

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ENERGY Notes

NOTE- We will be covering ‘Energy’ under Environment, Geography and

Economy VANs under various heads.
From Prelims point of view, you must understand the areas encompassing
“Energy” sectors like various industries and segments related to energy. While
preparing current affairs, you must keep an eye on interrelated aspects like:
Solar Cells are in news, coal sector, nuclear sector, Green Buildings etc.
• Energy is critical for many objectives of the Government of India,
including economic recovery from COVID-19; universal access to clean
and modern energy for human development imperatives; reducing
severe levels of outdoor and indoor air pollution; and climate change
mitigation.
• In 2021, at global climate negotiations, the government established a
new commitment to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the
year 2070.
• It also reaffirmed its aim to install 500 GW of non-fossil power capacity
by 2030.
• This is up from 159 GW of non-fossil capacity as of February 2022
(Central Electricity Authority [CEA], 2022).

India’s Renewed Ambition at COP26

At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 26th
Conference of Parties (COP 26):
• India will take its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030.
• India will meet 50 percent of its energy2 requirements from renewable
energy by 2030.
• India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion
tonnes from now onwards till 2030.
• By 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by more
than 45 percent.
• By the year 2070, India will achieve the target of Net Zero.

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Energy is one of the major inputs for the economic development of any Notes
country. In the case of the developing countries, the energy sector assumes a
critical importance in view of the ever-increasing energy needs requiring huge
investments to meet them. Energy can be classified into several types based on
the following criteria:
• Primary and Secondary energy
• Commercial and Noncommercial energy
• Renewable and Non-Renewable energy

Primary Energy sources are mostly converted in industrial utilities into

secondary energy sources; for example, coal, oil or gas converted into steam
and electricity. Primary energy can also be used directly. Some energy sources
have non-energy uses, for example coal or natural gas can be used as a
feedstock in fertiliser plants.

Commercial Energy
• The energy sources that are available in the market for a definite price
are known as commercial energy.
• By far the most important forms of commercial energy are electricity,
coal and refined petroleum products.
• Commercial energy forms the basis of industrial, agricultural, transport
and commercial development in the modern world.
• In the industrialized countries, commercialized fuels are predominant
source not only for economic production, but also for many household
tasks of general population.

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• Examples: Electricity, lignite, coal, oil, natural gas etc. Notes

Non-Commercial Energy
• The energy sources that are not available in the commercial market for
a price are classified as non-commercial energy.
• Non-commercial energy sources include fuels such as firewood, cattle
dung and agricultural wastes, which are traditionally gathered, and not
bought at a price used especially in rural households. These are also
called traditional fuels.
• Non-commercial energy is often ignored in energy accounting.
• Example: Firewood, agro waste in rural areas; solar energy for water
heating, electricity generation, for drying grain, fish and fruits; animal
power for transport, threshing, lifting water for irrigation, crushing
sugarcane; wind energy for lifting water and electricity generation.

Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy

• Renewable energy is energy obtained from sources that are essentially
inexhaustible.
• Examples of renewable resources include wind power, solar power,
geothermal energy, tidal power and hydroelectric power.
• The most important feature of renewable energy is that it can be
harnessed without the release of harmful pollutants.
• Non-renewable energy is the conventional fossil fuels such as coal, oil
and gas, which are likely to deplete with time.

Global Primary Energy Reserves

Coal
• The proven global coal reserve was estimated to be 1.07 trillion metric
tons.
• The USA had the largest share of the global reserve (25%) followed by
Russia (16%), Australia (15%), China (14%) and India (11%).

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Renewable Energy Scenario in India Notes

India's updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris
Agreement says that the country looks at deriving about 50 per cent of
electricity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030 but will miss
the first target set up for 2022 with a shortfall of over one-third of the capacity.
• As per the targets, 175 GW of renewable energy capacity was to be
installed by 2022, which includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind,
10 GW from biomass, and the remaining 5 GW from small hydropower.
• The official data shows only 57.71 GW of solar power and 40.71 GW of
wind energy have been installed till June 2022.
• More than 200 GW of wind power can be installed in the country with
commercially attractive tariffs.
• The cumulative installed capacity of wind power is only 40.71 GW as of
May 31, 2022, less than one-fifth of the commercially exploitable
potential.
• 175GW of renewable energy capacity was to be installed by 2022.
o 100 GW from solar
o 60 GW from wind
o 10 GW from biomass
o 5 GW from small hydropower
• Total installed capacity by June 2022: 114.07 GW
o 57.71 GW from solar
o 40.71 GW from wind
o 60.66 GW is under various stages of implementation
• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is working towards achieving
500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030.
• 23.14 GW capacity is under various stages of bidding.

Over 80% of India’s energy needs are met by three fuels: coal, oil and solid
biomass.

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Key Concepts
Notes
Monazite
Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD), a constituent unit of Department of
Atomic Energy (DAE), has surveyed and identified resources of the mineral
monazite in beach and inland sand areas of the country.

Monazite: an ore mineral of thorium rare earth elements and phosphate.

• Monazite is a rare phosphate mineral with a chemical composition of
(Ce,La,Nd,Th)(PO4,SiO4).
• It usually occurs in small isolated grains, as an accessory mineral in
igneous and metamorphic rocks such as granite, pegmatite, schist, and
gneiss.
• These grains are resistant to weathering and become concentrated in
soils and sediments downslope from the host rock.
• When in high enough concentrations, they are mined for their rare
earth and thorium content.

S.No. State Monazite resources (in million tonnes)

1 ODISHA 2.41
ANDHRA PRADESH
2 3.72
(Highest)
3 TAMIL NADU 2.46
4 KERALA 1.90
5 MAHARASHTRA (Least) 0.002
6 GUJARAT 0.003
7 WEST BENGAL 1.22
8 BIHAR 0.22
TOTAL 11.93

Methanol
• It is the simplest form of alcohol — a single carbon solution, since it has
no carbon-carbon bond they do not emit particulate matter making the
fuel clean.
• It can be easily produced from renewable sources like agricultural
waste, forest residue & naptha and biomass waste can be converted
through gasification
• With small, relatively inexpensive, modifications to the engine, petrol
and diesel cars can be made methanol compatible.
• If the percentage of methanol is under 15 per cent, even existing
engines can run the fuel.

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• It is only M-85 (which is 85% methanol and 15 % gasoline) that needs Notes
engine modification
• Methanol production can be an effective waste management method
and effectively use the 1 million tonnes of biomass India produces every
month to generate fuel.
• Methanol produced here can be exported to neighbouring countries
like Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan which have comparable economies
and with similar energy circumstances.
• China is the largest producer of methanol and has seen a rapid
expansion in consumption and production in the last decade.
• Today, the largest usage for methanol in China is direct fuel burning.
• Chinese have started putting 15% methanol in gasoline.
• They are also running cars trucks and buses on 100% methanol
• Israel recently started using methanol as a fuel.
• It has been popular in Brazil for many years

E20 fuel
• The government proposed the adoption of E20 fuel — a blend of 20%
of ethanol and gasoline — as an automobile fuel in order to reduce
vehicular emissions as well as the country’s oil import bill.
• Aiming to achieve 20% ethanol-blending by 2025.
• E20 will help in reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons,
etc. It will also help reduce the oil import bill, thereby saving foreign
exchange and boosting energy security.
• Ethanol is a common by-product that comes from agricultural feedstock
like corn, hemp, potato, etc.
• It can be used as a bio-fuel in Flexi-fuel vehicles.
• Ethanol is greener than gasoline because the corn and crop plantations
absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow.
• While the fuel still releases CO2 when you burn it, the net increase is
comparatively lower.
• However, ethanol is less efficient as a fuel. It has a lower energy content
than energy-rich gasoline and diesel.
• The rule delivers less power when burned, which in return results in
more fuel consumption and lower mileage.
• Additionally, blends over E15 (15% ethanol) is highly corrosive for older
vehicles as the alcohol can break down old rubber seals and can damage
engines.
• The current permissible level of blending is 10% of ethanol though India
reached only 5.6% of blending in 2019.

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• India currently uses about 8.5% Ethanol blend with petrol. The aim is to Notes
have fuels with a 10% Ethanol blend by 2022.

Challenges
• The energy density of the Ethanol-blended fuel is lower than its pure
gasoline counterpart. This means that the output and fuel economy can
have a slightly negative impact. Therefore, some calibration
techniques have to implemented to reduce this effect.
• Ethanol is highly water absorbent which can lead to corrosion inside
some components of the engine. When used in higher concentrations
(E20 or higher), there might be some modifications required to the
engine and components.

Cold Fusion
• Cold fusion is a hypothesized type of nuclear reaction that would occur
at, or near, room temperature. This is compared with the "hot" fusion
which takes place naturally within stars, under immense pressure and
at temperatures of millions of degrees, and distinguished from muon-
catalyzed fusion. There is currently no accepted theoretical model that
would allow cold fusion to occur.

Gondwana Coal
• Gondwana coal has overwhelmingly higher share (99%) in India’s coal
resources and the entire coal mined in the peninsular plateau part
belongs to this category. This coal was formed in carboniferous period
between 600 to 300 million years ago. The coal obtained from the
Gondwana formations is mainly bituminous and needs to be converted
into Coke before it can be used in the iron and steel industry.

Tertiary Coal
• Tertiary coal fields share only 1% of coal production of India. Such fields
occur in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland and also
in small quantities in Jammu & Kashmir. Tertiary coal is the lignite coal.
Lignite also occurs in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry,
Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir. The coal is of inferior quality with
around 30 to 50% carbon.

Coal Gasification
• It is the process of producing syngas, a mixture consisting primarily of
carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), natural

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gas (CH4) , and water vapour (H2O)–from coal and water, air and/or Notes
oxygen.
• India’s first Coal-gasification fertilizer plant is proposed to come up in
Talcher, Odisha.
• The plant will be built at an estimated investment of Rs. 13,000 crore
and is targeted to be commissioned by 2022. On completion, this plant
will have capacity of producing 1.27 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum
(MMTPA) of Neem coated prilled urea using coal and pet coke as
feedstock. Neem coated urea reduces leaching of nitrogen into soil and
checks diversion of urea from agriculture uses.

Shale Gas
• Shale gas refers to natural gas that is trapped within shale formations.
Shales are fine-grained sedimentary rocks that can be rich sources of
petroleum and natural gas.
• Over the past decade, the combination of horizontal drilling and
hydraulic fracturing has allowed access to large volumes of shale gas
that were previously uneconomical to produce.

Hydraulic Fracturing
• Hydraulic fracturing (commonly called "fracking" or "hydrofracking") is
a technique in which water, chemicals, and sand are pumped into the
well to unlock the hydrocarbons trapped in shale formations by opening
cracks (fractures) in the rock and allowing natural gas to flow from the
shale into the well. When used in conjunction with horizontal drilling,
hydraulic fracturing enables gas producers to extract shale gas at
reasonable cost. Without these techniques, natural gas does not flow
to the well rapidly, and commercial quantities cannot be produced from
shale.

Shale Gas vs. Conventional Gas

• Conventional gas reservoirs are created when natural gas migrates
toward the Earth's surface from an organic-rich source formation into
highly permeable reservoir rock, where it is trapped by an overlying
layer of impermeable rock. In contrast, shale gas resources form within
the organic-rich shale source rock. The low permeability of the shale
greatly inhibits the gas from migrating to more permeable reservoir
rocks. Without horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, shale gas
production would not be economically feasible because the natural gas
would not flow from the formation at high enough rates to justify the
cost of drilling.

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Hydrogen Bomb Notes

A hydrogen bomb is a type of nuclear bomb, just like an atomic bomb, where
the explosive energy comes from as nuclear reaction. The difference comes
from how that energy is created. An atomic bomb uses fission, that is, the
breaking of an atom's nucleus into smaller particles. This results in the release
of neutrons and lots of energy that become an atomic explosion. In
comparison, a hydrogen bomb is about fusion — fusing atomic nuclei together
to combine into bigger ones.
• 1 Kilotonne or metric kiloton is equal to 1000 metric tons.
• A metric ton is exactly 1000 kilograms
• A kilotonne therefore equals to 1000000 kilograms.
• 1 kt = 10,00,000 kg.

Hydrogen Fuel Cells

• A fuel cell combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat,
and water. Fuel cells are often compared to batteries. Both convert the
energy produced by a chemical reaction into usable electric power.
However, the fuel cell will produce electricity as long as fuel (hydrogen)
is supplied, never losing its charge.
• Hydrogen is high in energy, yet an engine that burns pure hydrogen
produces almost no pollution. NASA has used liquid hydrogen since the
1970s to propel the space shuttle and other rockets into orbit.
Hydrogen fuel cells power the shuttle's electrical systems, producing a
clean by-product - pure water, which the crew drinks.
• Fuel cells are a promising technology for use as a source of heat and
electricity for buildings, and as an electrical power source for electric
motors propelling vehicles. Fuel cells operate best on pure hydrogen.
But fuels like natural gas, methanol, or even gasoline can be reformed
to produce the hydrogen required for fuel cells.
• India's first indigenously developed Hydrogen fuel cell bus developed
by KPIT-CSIR in Pune.
• Hydrogen Fuel Cells
o They do not run out of charge and don’t need to be recharged
with electricity.
o They continue to produce electricity as long as there is a supply
of hydrogen.
o Just like conventional cells, a fuel cell consists of an anode
(negative electrode) and cathode (positive electrode)
sandwiched around an electrolyte.
o The primary advantage of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles
(FCEV) is that they produce no tailpipe emissions. They only emit

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water vapour and warm air. Another advantage is that they are Notes
more efficient than internal combustion engine vehicles.
o Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles have another advantage
when it comes to refuelling time, which makes them more
practical than battery-powered electric vehicles for public
transportation purposes. Even with the fastest charging
technologies, it could take hours to charge a battery-powered
electric bus.
o Meanwhile, hydrogen can be refilled in a fuel cell vehicle in a
matter of minutes, nearly as fast as an internal combustion
engine can be refilled with fossil fuels.

Are hydrogen fuel cell vehicles environmentally friendly?

• Hydrogen fuel cells are an environmentally friendly technology that
converts hydrogen into electricity through an electrochemical process
that emits only water and heat as byproducts.
• While hydrogen is abundant in the universe, it must be separated from
other compounds to be used as fuel. This process can be energy
intensive.
• The amount of emissions associated with producing hydrogen fuels
depends on the source of hydrogen and production method. Currently,
the majority of hydrogen that is made for use as a fuel comes from
natural gas, but hydrogen fuel also can be made from water, oil, coal,
and plant material.

Global Energy Transition Index

By WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

• 87th out of 115 countries in the Energy Transition Index (ETI).
• Sweden topped the list.
• Report said, India is amongst the countries with high pollution levels
and has a relatively high CO2 intensity in its energy system.
• Fostering Effective Energy Transition report is part of the World
Economic Forum’s System Initiative on Shaping the Future of Energy.
The report summarizes insights from the “Energy Transition Index”,
which builds upon the previous series of “Global Energy Architecture
Performance Index” by adding a forward-looking element of country
readiness for energy transition.

World Economic Forum (WEF) has released a report named Fostering Effective
Energy Transition 2022, which calls for urgent action by both private and public

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sectors to ensure a resilient energy transition to address the challenges to Notes

environmental sustainability, energy security and energy justice and
affordability.

Energy Trilemma Index

The World Energy Council’s Energy Trilemma Index ranks countries’ energy
performance on three dimensions, Energy Security, Energy Equity, and
Environmental Sustainability, based on global and national data.
• The results show impacts of decisions and changes, suggesting where
policy coherence and integrated policy innovation can help develop
well calibrated energy systems in the context of the Grand Energy
Transition.
• The Index, at its 11th edition, is the result of a collaboration between
Marsh McLennan, Oliver Wyman, and the World Energy Council.

International Energy Security Risk Index

• The International Energy Security Risk Index, a first-of-its-kind energy
risk indicator, uses quantifiable data, historical trend information, and
government projections to identify the policies and other factors that
contribute positively or negatively to international energy security.
• It is published by Global Energy Institute, every two years.

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Biofuels Notes

Biodiesel

• It is an alternative fuel, similar to conventional or ‘fossil’ diesel.

• It can be produced from vegetable oils, animal fats, tallow and waste
cooking oil.
• A significant advantage of Biodiesel is its carbon-neutrality, i.e. the
oilseed absorbs the same amount of CO2 as is released when the fuel is
combusted in a vehicle.
• Also, Biodiesel is rapidly biodegradable and completely non-toxic.
• Biodiesel has promising lubricating properties and cetane ratings
compared to low sulfur diesel fuels.

Biofuel

• It is fuel that is produced through contemporary processes from

biomass, rather than by the very slow geological processes involved in
the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil.
• First-generation biofuels are fuels made from food crops grown on
arable land. The crop’s sugar, starch, or oil content is converted into
biodiesel or ethanol, using transesterification, or yeast fermentation.
• Second-generation biofuels are fuels made from lignocellulosic or
woody biomass, or agricultural residues/waste. The feedstock used to
make the fuels either grow on arable land but are byproducts of the
main crop, or they are grown on marginal land. Second-generation
feedstocks include straw, bagasse, perennial grasses, jatropha, waste
vegetable oil, municipal solid waste and so forth.
• Third-generation biofuels – Algae can be produced in ponds or tanks
on land, and out at sea. Algal fuels have high yields, can be grown with
minimal impact on fresh water resources, can be produced using saline
water and wastewater, have a high ignition point, and are
biodegradable and relatively harmless to the environment if spilled.
• Fourth-generation biofuels – This class of biofuels includes electrofuels
and solar fuels. Electrofuels are made by storing electrical energy in the
chemical bonds of liquids and gases. The primary targets are butanol,
biodiesel, and hydrogen, but include other alcohols and carbon-
containing gases such as methane and butane.

National Policy on Biofuels 2018

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• The Policy categorises biofuels as “Basic Biofuels” viz. First Generation Notes
(1G) bioethanol & biodiesel and “Advanced Biofuels” – Second
Generation (2G) ethanol, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to drop-in fuels,
Third Generation (3G) biofuels, bio-CNG etc. to enable extension of
appropriate financial and fiscal incentives under each category.
• The Policy expands the scope of raw material for ethanol production by
allowing use of Sugarcane Juice, Sugar containing materials like Sugar
Beet, Sweet Sorghum, Starch containing materials like Corn, Cassava,
Damaged food grains like wheat, broken rice, Rotten Potatoes, unfit for
human consumption for ethanol production.
• Farmers are at a risk of not getting appropriate price for their produce
during the surplus production phase. Taking this into account, the Policy
allows use of surplus food grains for production of ethanol for blending
with petrol with the approval of National Biofuel Coordination
Committee.
• With a thrust on Advanced Biofuels, the Policy indicates a viability gap
funding scheme for 2G ethanol Bio refineries of Rs.5000 crore in 6 years
in addition to additional tax incentives, higher purchase price as
compared to 1G biofuels.
• The Policy encourages setting up of supply chain mechanisms for
biodiesel production from non-edible oilseeds, Used Cooking Oil, short
gestation crops.
• Roles and responsibilities of all the concerned Ministries/Departments
with respect to biofuels has been captured in the Policy document to
synergise efforts.

Amendments to the National Policy on Biofuels, 2018

• Instead of 2030, the Government plans to move ahead with its ethanol
blending target of 20% of petrol containing ethanol by 2025-26.
• Government will allow more feedstocks for the production of biofuels.
• Addition of new members to the National Biofuel Coordination
Committee (NBCC): NBCC was constituted under the Chairmanship of
Minister, Petroleum & Natural Gas (P&NG) to provide overall
coordination, effective end-to-end implementation and monitoring of
biofuel programme. NBCC has members from 14 other ministries.
• Biofuels will be exported if required.

As per the policy, fuels used for transportation or stationary applications that
qualify as biofuels have been categorised as follows:

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• Bioethanol: Fuels produced from materials that have sugar such as Notes
sugar cane, sugar beet, sweet sorghum, etc.; materials that have starch
such as corn, cassava, rotten potatoes, algae, etc.; cellulosic materials
such as bagasse, waste wood, agricultural/forestry residues, etc. or
other renewable industrial waste fall in this category.
• Biodiesel: This category includes methyl or ethyl ester of fatty acids
derived from non-edible vegetable oil, acid oil, used cooking oil, animal
fat and bio-oil.
• Advanced biofuels: Second-generation (2G) ethanol, drop-in fuels,
algae-based 3G biofuels, bio-CNG, bio-methanol, dimethyl ether (DME)
derived from bio-methanol, bio-hydrogen, drop-in fuels produced from
municipal solid waste (MSW), etc. have been included in this category.
• Drop-in fuels: These are fuels derived from biomass, agri-residues,
MSW, plastic wastes, industrial wastes, etc. produced as per Indian
standards that can be used in existing engines without having to modify
their fuel distribution system.
• Bio-CNG: These fuels are purified form of biogas produced from
agricultural residues, animal dung, food waste, MSW and sewage water
but their composition and energy potential is comparable to fossil-
based natural gas.

Space-based Solar Power (SBSP)

Space-based solar power (SBSP) is the concept of collecting solar power in
outer space and distributing it to Earth. Potential advantages of collecting solar
energy in space include a higher collection rate and a longer collection period
due to the lack of a diffusing atmosphere, and the possibility of placing a solar
collector in an orbiting location where there is no night. A considerable fraction
of incoming solar energy (55–60%) is lost on its way through the Earth's
atmosphere by the effects of reflection and absorption.

Space-based solar power systems convert sunlight to microwaves outside the

atmosphere, avoiding these losses and the downtime due to the Earth's
rotation, but at great cost due to the expense of launching material into orbit.
SBSP is considered a form of sustainable or green energy, renewable energy,
and is occasionally considered among climate engineering proposals. It is
attractive to those seeking large-scale solutions to anthropogenic climate
change or fossil fuel depletion (such as peak oil).

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Solid State Battery Notes

• A solid-state battery is a battery technology that uses solid electrodes

and a solid electrolyte, instead of the liquid or polymer gel electrolytes
found in lithium-ion or lithium polymer batteries.
• Such batteries can provide potential solutions for many problems of
liquid Li-ion battery, such as flammability, limited voltage, unstable
solid-electrolyte interphase formation, poor cycling performance and
strength.

Advantages

• Higher cell energy density (by eliminating the carbon anode)

• Lower charge time (by eliminating the need to have lithium diffuse into
the carbon particles in conventional lithium-ion cells)
• Ability to undertake more charging cycles and thereby a longer life, and
improved safety
• Lower cost could be a game-changer, given that at 30 per cent of the
total cost, battery expenses are a key driver of the vehicle costs.

Li-ion Batteries

• Lithium-ion batteries use aqueous electrolyte solutions, where ions

transfer to and fro between the anode (negative electrode generally
made of graphite) and cathode (positive electrode made of lithium),
triggering the recharge and discharge of electrons.
• Despite improvements in technology over the last decade, issues such
as long charging times and weak energy density persist.
• While lithium-ion batteries are seen as sufficiently efficient for phones
and laptops, they still lack the range that would make EVs a viable
alternative to internal combustion engines.
• The energy density of lithium-ion cells used in today’s mobile phones
and electric vehicles is nearly four times higher than that of older-
generation nickel-cadmium batteries.

Lithium

• In theory, it is sufficiently available in the Earth’s crust, subsurface

brines and even seawater.

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• The salt flats of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile hold 54 per cent of the Notes
world’s lithium resources.
• The dominant position of the Latin American trio makes them known as
the lithium triangle.
• But when it comes to production, Australia takes the top spot (by
contributing 49 per cent of the global trade flow), followed by Chile (22
per cent) and China (17 per cent).
• With mega battery factories, China dominates 73 per cent of the battery
supply chain. In fact, in 2020 China led the world’s battery cell
production with a 63.2 per cent share, while the US was in second place
with 14.2 per cent.
• Batteries for EVs come in different combinations, which include lithium-
nickel-manganese-cobalt-oxide, lithium-manganese-oxide and lithium-
nickel-cobalt-aluminium-oxide.
• While cobalt and lithium are currently dominantly used for energy
storage, batteries can use a wide variety of minerals for cathode that
include aluminium, lead and manganese.

Clean Energy Transitions Programme (CETP)

• Launched in 2017, the International Energy Agency (IEA) Clean Energy

Transitions Programme (CETP) is an ambitious effort to accelerate
global clean energy transitions.
• The programme provides independent, cutting-edge support to
governments whose energy policies will significantly influence the
prospects for – and the speed of – the global transition towards more
sustainable energy production and use.
• Priority countries include Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and
South Africa, as well as other IEA Association countries and key regions
such as Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa.

International Energy Agency (IEA)

• It is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation

established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil
crisis.
• The IEA was initially dedicated to responding to physical disruptions in
the supply of oil, as well as serving as an information source on statistics
about the international oil market and other energy sectors.

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• The IEA acts as a policy adviser to its member states, but also works with Notes
non-member countries, especially China, India, and Russia.
• The IEA has a broad role in promoting alternate energy sources
(including renewable energy), rational energy policies, and
multinational energy technology co-operation.
• IEA member countries are required to maintain total oil stock levels
equivalent to at least 90 days of the previous year’s net imports.
• Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Singapore and Thailand are the
associate members of IEA.

India H2 Alliance (IH2A)

• Led by domestic energy giant Reliance Industries, many global energy

and industrial players came together to form a new energy transition
coalition, called the India H2 Alliance (IH2A), to help commercialise
hydrogen technologies in their bid to build net-zero carbon energy
pathways in the country.
• The alliance will work together to build the hydrogen economy and
supply-chain here and also help develop blue and green hydrogen
production and storage apart from building hydrogen-use industrial
clusters and transport use-cases with hydrogen-powered fuel cells.
• The alliance will focus on industrial clusters, specifically steel, refineries,
fertilisers, cement, ports and logistics as well as heavy-duty transport
use-cases and help establish standards for storing and transporting
hydrogen in pressurized and liquefied form.
• The alliance is an industry coalition of global and domestic companies
committed to the creation of a hydrogen value-chain and economy.

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Energy Transition and Its Effects Notes

The Global Transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources
could trigger financial challenges for India and major developing
countries because of their high dependence on revenues from fossil fuel,
according to a study by the International Institute of Sustainable Development
(IISD)

• Though India is a net importer of petroleum products, it earns

substantial revenues — via cesses and taxes — from the consumption
of petrol, diesel and oil.
• The study finds that by 2050, overall fossil fuel revenues in Brazil,
Russia, Indonesia, India and China could be as much as $570
billion lower than a business-as-usual scenario where governments fail
to phase down fossil fuels enough to avoid the worst climate impacts.
• The widest gaps are expected to occur in India ($178 billion), China
($140 billion), and Russia ($134 billion).
• Public revenues from fossil fuel production and consumption currently
account for 34% of general government revenue in Russia, 18% in India,
and 16% in Indonesia.
• This includes only direct, first-order, government financial revenues —
fossil fuel dependence would be much larger if private incomes and
flow-on effects in these economies were added.
• Fossil fuel revenue streams, were unreliable and
erratic and undermined by the negative economic impacts of fossil
fuel use such as health costs due to air pollution and damage from
climate change.

Emerging economies have an enormous opportunity to build more resilient and

economically sustainable energy systems as they decarbonise — but they must
plan ahead to avoid shortfalls in public revenues that could reverse progress
on poverty eradication and economic development

International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD)

• The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is

an independent think tank working to fulfil a bold commitment: to
create a world where people and the planet thrive.

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NUCLEAR ENERGY Notes

Few organizations that you must be aware about are:

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
• It is an Office of the United Nations Secretariat established in January
1998 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs.
• Its goal is to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
• Strengthening of the disarmament regimes in respect to
other weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological weapons.
• It also promotes disarmament efforts in the area of conventional
weapons, especially landmines and small arms, which are often the
weapons of choice in contemporary conflicts.

United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)

• Established in 1980 by UN General Assembly
• It is a voluntarily funded autonomous institute within the United
Nations.
• Based in Geneva
• The Mission of the Institute is to assist the international community in
finding and implementing solutions to disarmament and security
challenges

Resolution 1540 (2004)

• In resolution 1540 (2004), the Security Council decided that all States
shall refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors that
attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer
or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of
delivery, in particular for terrorist purposes.

Geneva Protocol
• Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating,
Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare
• The 1925 Geneva Protocol prohibits the use of chemical and biological
weapons in war. The Protocol was drawn up and signed at a conference
which was held in Geneva under the auspices of the League of Nations
from 4 May to 17 June 1925, and it entered into force on 8 February
1928.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

• International Treaty for Nuclear Disarmament
• Entered into force in 1970

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• Objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons Notes

technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear
energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and
general and complete disarmament.
• The treaty defines nuclear-weapon states as those that have built and
tested a nuclear explosive device before 1 January 1967; these are
the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China.
• India is not a member.

Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (NWFZ)

• It is recognized by United Nations General Assembly.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

• It is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful
use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose,
including nuclear weapons.
• It was set up as the world's "Atoms for Peace" organization in 1957
within the United Nations family.
• Headquartered at the Vienna International Centre in Vienna, Austria.
• As an independent international organization related to the United
Nations (UN) system, the IAEA's relationship with the UN is regulated
by a special agreement.

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• In terms of its Statute, the IAEA reports annually to the UN General Notes
Assembly and, when appropriate, to the UN Security Council.

Nuclear Power in India

• India's nuclear power plants, mostly set up during the sanction years,
provide only 3% of the energy mix. After the historic Indo-US nuclear
deal 2008, the first two plants at Kundankulam - established with
Russian assistance.

Nuclear fuel of the future: Thorium

According to the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research
(AMD), a constituent Unit of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), India has
11.93 million tonnes of Monazite (ore) which contains about 1.07 million
tonnes of thorium.
The country's thorium reserves make up 25 per cent of the global reserves. It
can easily be used as a fuel to cut down on the import of Uranium from
different countries.
• Through U-233 that could be produced from it releases 8 times the
amount of energy per unit mass compared to natural U.
• In waste generation also, it has a relative advantage over Uranium.
Thorium di-oxide is much more stable the Uranium di oxide
• Higher thermal conductivity so in case of explosion heat energy will
quickly flow out and prevent meltdown.
• Melting point is 500 degrees higher so in case of accident heat energy
will flow out quickly and prevent meltdown.

Thorium Cycle- Working

Thorium-232 is a fertile material. The thorium cycle can be understood in
following figure:

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Notes

Reasons it has not been developed

• First, one needs to produce U-233 from Th, and for this, reactors based
on the naturally available nuclear fuel material, Uranium-235, are
required.
• Recovery of U-233 by large-scale reprocessing of irradiated thorium
poses certain practical hurdles.
• Thorium cannot be weaponized and world powers built nuclear energy
plants after they built the weapon.

Spent Fuel Reprocessing Process

• The nuclear fuel mix has high amount of fissile material. Once it is used,
the amount of non-fissile material and by-products would increase and
that material cannot be used again as fuel in its present form. This is
called spent fuel.
• It may or may not be re-usable. If spent fuel is not reprocessed, the fuel
cycle is referred to as an open fuel cycle (or a once-through fuel cycle);
if the spent fuel is reprocessed, it is referred to as a closed fuel cycle.
• India's nuclear programme is oriented towards maximising the energy
potential of available uranium resources and the utilisation of the large
thorium reserve.
• Available global uranium resources cannot sustain the projected
expansion of nuclear power without adopting the closed fuel cycle
approach.

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India’s Three Stage Nuclear Programme Notes

This programme was formulated in 1950s by Dr. Homi Bhabha to secure the
country’s long term energy independence, via use of uranium and thorium
reserves found in the monazite sands of coastal regions of South India. The
ultimate focus is on Thorium Fuel Cycle. The three stages are as follows:
• Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR)
• Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR)
• Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR)

Why PHWR was selected as stage one?

• The first stage involved using natural uranium to fuel PHWR to produce
electricity and producing Plutonium-239 as a by-product.
• Kindly note here that the PHWRs were chosen for the first stage
because in 1960s, India had the efficient reactor design in terms of
uranium utilisation.
• It was calculated that rather than going for creation of Uranium
Enrichment Facilities, it would be wiser to create heavy water
production.
• Moreover, using Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors rather than Light
Water Reactors was also a correct and wise decision. While Pressurized
Heavy Water Reactors used unenriched uranium, Light Water Reactors
required enriched uranium. Further, India could domestically produce
the components of PWHR, as opposed to LWRs.
• Furthermore, the by-product plutonium-293 would be used in the
second stage.

Logic behind stage-2

• The second stage involves using plutonium-239 to produce mixed-oxide
fuel, which would be used in Fast Breeder Reactors. Plutonium 293
undergoes fission to produce energy, and metal oxide is reacted with
enriched uranium reacts with mixed-oxide fuel to produce more
plutonium-239.
• Furthermore, once a sufficient amount of plutonium-239 is built up,
thorium will be used in the reactor, to produce Uranium-233. This
uranium is crucial for the third stage.

AHWR as third stage:

The main purpose of stage-3 is to achieve a sustainable nuclear fuel cycle. The
advance nuclear system would be used a combination of Uranium-233 and

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Thorium. Thus, India's vast thorium would be exploited, using a thermal Notes
breeder reactor.
• Thorium use was reserved for the last stage because despite having
significant availability, use of Thorium in production of energy has been
full of certain challenges. It cannot be used directly.
• Since it is a fertile material, it can be only used with added fissile
material that can be enriched Uranium, Plutonium or Uranium-233
(obtained after irradiation of Thorium).
• Thorium absorbs the neutrons, which can more efficiently produce
more Plutonium in Fast Breeder Reactor for a faster growth.
• Therefore, using Thorium in the first, or an early part of second stage of
nuclear power programme will adversely affect the rate of growth of
nuclear power generation capacity in the initial periods.
• Due to these reasons, large scale deployment of Thorium was
postponed till the later part of the second stage. Thorium is to be
introduced only at an optimal point during operation of Fast Breeder
Reactors in the second stage.
• Thorium, for power generation is to be used mainly in the third stage.

First Stage: Following Reactors

• Boiling Water Reactor
• Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor
• Pressurized Water Reactor

BWR:
• In 1962, India signed an agreement with USA and got two BWR.
• First installed reactor at Tarapore.
• Light water as moderator and coolant
• Enriched uranium as Fuel

What is Uranium Enrichment: UE is an artificial process in which the

percentage of U-235 is enhanced and for this purpose, centrifuges are used.
Natural Uranium consists 99.3 % of U-238 which is not fissile material i.e not
suitable as fuel and 0.7 % of U-235, which is very fissile and used as fuel.
So, it is required to convert it in maximum percentage for use.
On the basis of enrichment, uranium is of two types: Low Enriched Uranium
and High Enriched Uranium

LEU: Enrichment is up to 5 % and it is used in nuclear reactor: Under Indo-US

nuclear deal, India will get HEU: Weapon grade up to 90%

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PHWR: Notes
• Also known as CANDU- Canadian Deuterium Uranium
• Heavy water as moderator and coolant
• Natural uranium as fuel
• Majority of India’s working reactor are this

PWR:
• Light Water Reactor
• Light water as the moderator and coolant
• Enriched uranium as fuel
• USP is safety mechanisms incorporated in them
• Belong to Generation III +

India is having PWR from Russia and France

VVER: Voda Voda Energy Reactor from Russia

Second stage: Only one type of reactor

Fast Breeder Reactor:
• First at Kalpakkam in TN
• Uses Pu-239 as fuel and u-238 is converted into Pu-239
• Also known as Fast Neutron Reactor
• No moderator
• Coolant is liquid Na

Third Stage:
AHWR: Advanced Heavy Water Reactor: BARC is developing
• Fuel is U-233 but it will use Thorium to make U-233, so very important
• Light water as coolant
• Heavy water as moderator

Nuclear Diplomacy and India

Controversies and Relations
In 1962, India signed an agreement with USA. Under the deal, General Electric,
agreed to supply two boiling water reactors under the condition of grant of
exemption on the liability of operator. India happily granted as it was craving
for nuclear reactor.

In 1965, same deal with Canada’s AECL to get PHWR. India was happily using
these reactors when a watershed moment in Indian history occurred and that
was

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Nuclear Test, 1974 of India: Smiling Buddha Notes

Three tests were conducted and all were fission device. The outcome of this
nuclear test was formation of Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG), and America and
Canada cancelled their deal with India. In this backdrop, USSR came as saviour
and provided heavy water reactor to India.

In 1988, Inter-Governmental Agreement was signed between India and USSR,

whereby USSR agreed to provide two VVER. The same exemption clause was
put by them and India again very happily.

In 1992, NSG adopted the “Full Scope Safeguard” mechanism and it wanted
Russia to bring the agreement with India under this. But Russia refused to do it
as it was retrospective in nature.

In 1988, a Supplementary Agreement was signed between India and Russia

for Kudankulam reactors that furthered the exemptions to Russia.
When India conducted Nuclear Test of 1998, Operation Shakti, new sanctions
were imposed on it and Western nations started warning India. Then the full
agreement between Russia and India was placed for conduction of nuclear
reactors.

Nuclear Test 1998: Operation Shakti

This test differs from test of 1974. How?

Five tests: Four like previous test but one was thermonuclear device
123 Agreement: (Why it is called 123?)

In 2005, India and USA signed the historic deal (123 agreement) and the same
year, Russia agreed to provide six VVER each of 1000 MW capacity at
Kudankulam. Like previous agreements, this time also, exemption was granted.
The same time India engaged with IAEA for entering into Safeguard
Mechanism, under which India’s civil nuclear program would be placed under
IAEA watch.

Hyde Act: This legally enabled the resumption of civil nuclear energy
cooperation of NSG members with India.

Before US firm could step to India for business, India enact Civil Nuclear
Liability Act, 2010. There is one section called 17(b) which says: (Also called
Right to Recourse)

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If there is any patent or latent defect in the equipment, then operator can sue Notes
the supplier to the extent of 1500 crores.
Now the bone of contention lies in section 17(b): The uniqueness of this section
is that for the first time in national or international law, supplier’s liability has
been demarcated.

Stand of USA:
According to USA, the provision in this section is against its domestic and
international conventions. These provisions are: Price-Anderson Act, 1957,
Paris Convention-OECD, 1960 and Vienna Convention IAEA, 1963.

All the above three contains a common provision which prescribes: Liability of
Operator as Absolute or Liability is exclusively channelized to the operator.
These provisions are in direct conflict with Indian law and USA argues that with
these conditions its firm will not come for business and it will harm the Indian
nuclear commerce.

Russian Stand:
• You cannot apply a law with retrospective effect.
• In the agreements of 1988 and 2005, specific exemptions were given
• The compensation to be paid by supplier is not structured
• If these reactors (Kundakulam 3,4,5,6) are brought under the liability
law then, Russian would go for cost-restructuring.

Physics of Nuclear Fusion and Fission

The nuclear reactors use the heat produced during a nuclear reaction. The
nuclear reaction can be either Nuclear Fission or Nuclear Fusion; but so far,
nuclear fusion reactors are only under experimental stages. Nuclear fusion
reactors may be of high advantage over the current nuclear fission reactors.

Nuclear Fission: Nuclear fission is chemically, a reaction in which a nucleus is

divided into two atoms and produces energy, and physically a radioactive
decay.

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Notes

Nuclear Fusion:

Why no commercially viable fusion reactor?

In nuclear fission, we break the heavy nuclei into smaller nuclei and get energy
as side-product; in Nuclear Fusion, we combine light nuclei such as Hydrogen
to heavier nuclei such as Helium and get energy as side-product. The cited
advantages of nuclear fusion include:
• Availability of abundant Hydrogen (which is used as fusion fuel), that
can be extracted from water.
• Possibility of generation of low nuclear waste: Fusion reactors, unlike
fission reactors, produce no high activity/long-lived radioactive waste.
The "burnt" fuel in a fusion reactor is helium, an inert gas. Activation
produced in the material surfaces by the fast neutrons will produce
waste that is classified as very low, low, or medium activity waste. All
waste materials will be treated, packaged, and stored on site. Because
the half-life of most radioisotopes contained in this waste is lower than

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ten years, within 100 years the radioactivity of the materials will have Notes
diminished in such a significant way that the materials can be recycled
for use in other fusion plants, for example. This timetable of 100 years
could possibly be reduced for future devices through the continued
development of 'low activation' materials, which is an important part
of fusion research and development today.
• The activation or contamination of in-vessel components, the vacuum
vessel, the fuel circuit, the cooling system, the maintenance
equipment, or buildings will produce an estimated 30,000 tons of
decommissioning waste that will be removed from the ITER facility and
processed.
• Possibility of low nuclear radiation leaks

Despite of these advantages, researchers are yet to create commercially

viable nuclear fusion reactions. What are the reasons?
The reasons are as follows:
• Unlike fission, Nuclear Fusion needs energy to overcome the barrier of
electrostatic forces before fusion can occur. The two naked nuclei repel
one another because of the repulsive electrostatic force between their
positively charged protons.
• Bringing them close enough is a challenge. Thereafter, if the two nuclei
can be brought close enough together; the attractive nuclear force,
which is stronger at close distances is what will be helpful for fusion of
the nuclei.
• Therefore, the prerequisite for fusion is that the nuclei must have
enough kinetic energy that they can approach each other despite the
electrostatic repulsion.
• This kinetic energy has to be provided for consumption in the fusion
reactor to produce subsequent nuclear fusion energy. For this, Fusion
needs high temperature and high pressure.
• The high temperature gives the hydrogen atoms enough energy to
overcome the electrostatic repulsion. Fusion requires temperatures
about 100 million Kelvin (around six times hotter than the sun's core).
At these temperatures, hydrogen is plasma, not a gas.
• The high pressure is needed to squeeze the hydrogen atoms together.
They must be within 1x10-15 meters of each other to fuse.
• Thus, in current methods, the consumption of energy is high but
production is subsequently low. The current methods cannot produce
as much useful energy as the nuclear fusion would consume, i.e. the

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break-even point. Sustaining reactions that produce enough energy to Notes

make them a commercially viable power source is even further away.

ITER: International Thermonuclear Energy Reactor

• ITER is a large-scale scientific experiment intended to prove the
viability of fusion as an energy source. ITER is currently under
construction in the south of France. In an unprecedented international
effort, seven partners—China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea,
Russia and the United States—have pooled their financial and scientific
resources to build the biggest fusion reactor in history.
• ITER will not produce electricity, but it will resolve critical scientific and
technical issues in order to take fusion to the point where industrial
applications can be designed. By producing 500 MW of power from an
input of 50 MW—a "gain factor" of 10—ITER will open the way to the
next step: a demonstration fusion power plant.
• ITER is one of the most complex scientific and engineering projects in
the world today. The complexity of the ITER design has already pushed
a whole range of leading-edge technologies to new levels of
performance. However, further science and technology are needed to
bridge the gap to commercialization of fusion energy.

Fusion verses Fission

Fusion and fission are totally different scientific and technological concepts,
although both involve nuclear reactions. The fuel assemblies in the core of a
fission reactor contain several tons of radioactive fuel which generates energy
by the splitting ("fissioning") of atomic nuclei in a chain reaction. Fusion is not
a chain reaction. The entire system contains a few kilograms of the radioactive
fuel component (tritium) with only a few grams reacting at any given time in
the reaction chamber.

Three very unique safety features make fusion technology an attractive

option to pursue for future large-scale electricity production
• First, fusion presents no risk of nuclear proliferation. Unlike the fissile
materials such as uranium and plutonium used in fission reactors,
tritium is neither a fissile nor a fissionable material. There are no
enriched materials in a fusion reactor like ITER that could be exploited
to make nuclear weapons.
• Second, nuclear fusion reactors would produce no high activity/long-
life nuclear waste. The "burnt" fuel is helium, a non-radioactive gas.
Radioactive substances in the system are the fuel (tritium) and
materials activated while the machine is running. The goal of the on-

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going R&D program is for fusion reactor material to be recyclable in less Notes
than 100 years.
• Third, fusion reactions are intrinsically safe. A "runaway" reaction and
the resulting uncontrolled production of energy is impossible with
fusion. Fusion reactions cannot be maintained spontaneously: any
disturbance or failure stops the reaction. This is why it is said that fusion
has inherent safety aspects. Moreover, the loss of the cooling function
due to an earthquake or flood would not affect the confinement barrier
at all. Even in the case of the total failure of the water-cooling system,
ITER's confinement barriers will remain intact. The temperatures of the
vacuum vessel that provides the confinement barrier would under no
circumstances reach the melting temperatures of the materials.
• Nuclear risks associated with fusion relate to the use of tritium, which
is a radioactive form (isotope) of hydrogen. However, the amount used
is limited to a few grams of tritium for the reaction and a few kilograms
on site. During operation, the radiological impact of the use of tritium
on the most exposed population is much smaller than that due to
natural background radiation. For ITER, no accident scenario has been
identified that would imply the need to take countermeasures to
protect the surrounding population.

Additional Protocol
• ‘Additional Protocol’ is additional set of measures that IAEA possess to
ensure the greater safety and transparency in usages of nuclear energy
worldwide.
• It enables the authority to conduct surprise check, investigating
suspected activities and scrutiny nuclear exports. However, the
additional protocol is volunteer in nature and the authority will have
jurisdiction only on those establishments that a country has nominated
or submitted voluntarily to the agency.
• It is more of a treaty that one country has to ratify for greater co-
ordination with IAEA.

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)

• The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was established in 1948 under
the Atomic Energy Act as a policy body. Then in 1954 the Department
of Atomic Energy (DAE) was set up to encompass research, technology
development and commercial reactor operation.
• The current Atomic Energy Act, 1962 permits only government-owned
enterprises to be involved in nuclear power.

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• The DAE includes NPCIL, Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL, mining Notes
and processing), Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and
Research (AMD, exploration), Electronics Corporation of India Ltd
(reactor control and instrumentation) and BHAVINI* (for setting up fast
reactors).
• The DAE also controls the Heavy Water Board for production of heavy
water and the Nuclear Fuel Complex for fuel and important
manufacture.
• Bhartiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd, The Atomic Energy Regulatory
Board (AERB) was formed in 1983 and comes under the AEC but is
independent of DAE.
• It is responsible for the regulation and licensing of all nuclear facilities
and their safety and carries authority conferred by the Atomic Energy
Act for radiation safety and by the Factories Act for industrial safety in
nuclear plants.
• However, it is not an independent statutory authority, and its 1995
report on a safety assessment of DAE's plants and facilities was
reportedly shelved by the AEC.
• In April 2011 the government announced that it would legislate to set
up a new independent and autonomous Nuclear Regulatory Authority
of India that will subsume the AERB, and that previous safety
assessments of Indian plants would be made public.
Department of Atomic Energy
• The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) came into being on August 3,
1954 under the direct charge of the Prime Minister through a
Presidential Order. According to the Resolution constituting the AEC,
the Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Atomic
Energy is ex-officio Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.
• DAE has been engaged in the development of nuclear power
technology, applications of radiation technologies in the fields of
agriculture, medicine, industry and basic research.
• Headquarter is in Mumbai.

Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)

• The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was constituted on November 15,
1983, by the President of India by exercising the powers conferred by
the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 to carry out certain regulatory and safety
functions under the Act. It is a statutory body.
• The regulatory authority of AERB is derived from the rules and
notifications promulgated under the Atomic Energy Act and the
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

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Important Terminologies Notes

Nuclear fission: Splitting of atoms to produce energy in the form of heat.

Uranium a naturally occurring radioactive metal - only element in which fission
(splitting off nucleus) can take place easily, setting off a chain reaction or a self-
sustained splitting of atoms. The atoms of Uranium are the largest and the
heaviest known on earth so its nucleus is unstable. Besides uranium, plutonium
can undergo fission.

Fertile material – composed of atoms which do not undergo induced fission

themselves but fissile material can be generated from them by irradiation in a
nuclear reactor. E.g., U- 238 gives plutonium 239, TH- 232 gives U-233, and U-
234 gives U-235.

Criticality – When the chain reaction takes place for the first time in a nuclear
electricity reactor, it means the reactor has reached its first criticality.

Moderator – used to slowdown neutrons surrounding the fuel core of the

reactor e.g Light water, heavy water (D2O)

Pressurized Heavy Water reactor (PWHR) –fuel used is natural uranium. Heavy
water is both coolant and reactor and is kept under high pressure. Natural
Uranium has 2 kinds of isotopes - 99.3 % U-238 and 0.7 % U-235. Former is not
fissile.

Light Water Reactors (LWRs) – The light water reactors are of two type viz.
Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) and Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR). At
present, the PWR are most popular kind of nuclear reactors. Key difference
between a BWR and PWR is that:

Light Water Reactors

(LWRs)

Boiling water Reactors Pressurised Heavy

(BWR) Water Reactors (PHWR)

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• In a BWR, the reactor core heats water which turns to steam and then Notes
drives a steam turbine. The reactors at Fukushima Daiichi were among
the first reactors of such kind.
• In a PWR, the reactor core heats water, which does not boil (because it
is pressurised and increased pressure increases the boiling point). Thus,
no steam is produced in PWR because of high pressure. This water can
reach higher temperatures and this hot water then exchanges heat with
a secondary low pressure water system, which turns to steam and
drives the turbine. Light water is used eg. Kundankulam.

Enriched Uranium – when non fissile material is removed from natural

uranium. It is achieved by a series of chemical and physical processes in
centrifuges. In India it is done at Rare Materials plant, Mysore.

How Uranium gets enriched?

(Science behind Uranium Enrichment process)
• Natural uranium contains 99.284% of isotope U-238 and only 0.731% of
U-235. Thus, natural uranium is undesirable for energy generation.
• It is get enriched through Uranium enrichment process. This process
works on the principle of Centrifugal process.
• The basic fact is used through Centrifuge is that the U-235 is slightly
lesser in weight than the U-238. Thus, the difference in weight is used
in centrifuge to enrich uranium.
• When we move very fast the container containing Uranium in circular
path, since the U-238 molecules are heavier than the U-235, they tend
to move towards the walls of the container.
• We repeat the process many more times, in this way we get the
enriched Uranium.

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Do You Know Notes

United Nations General Assembly declared 29 August the International Day

against Nuclear Tests.

Partial Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (PTBT) signed in 1963 banned nuclear testing
in outer space, the atmosphere and under water, but not underground.

Cobalt-60, is a synthetic radioactive isotope of cobalt with a half-life of 5.2714

years. It is produced artificially in nuclear reactors. Deliberate industrial
production depends on neutron activation of bulk samples of the monoisotopic
and mononuclidic cobalt isotope 59.
Cobalt therapy or cobalt-60 therapy is the medical use of gamma rays from the
radioisotope cobalt-60 to treat conditions such as cancer.

Nuclear transmutation is the conversion of one chemical element or an isotope

into another. This can occur naturally through radioactive decay or it can be
done through nuclear reactions.

During a nuclear reaction, some mass gets converted into energy.

The energy generated can be calculated with the help of Einstein’s famous
equation
E = MC2 , where
E = Energy generated
M = Mass converted
C = Speed of light

Nuclear power in India delivers a total capacity of 6.7GW, contributing to just

under 2% of the country’s electricity supply.

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is located in the Tamil Nadu. It is the

highest-capacity nuclear plant in India, with a total of 2,000MW currently
installed with a further 2,000MW under construction.
• Kudankulam is the only nuclear plant in India that uses pressurised
water reactors (PWR) rather than boiling water reactors (BHWR) or
pressurised heavy-water reactors (PHWR). The PWRs are based on
Russian technology and were supplied by Atomstroyexport.

Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project is a proposed 9900 MW power project of

Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) at Madban village of Ratnagiri

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district in Maharashtra. If built, it would be the largest nuclear power Notes

generating station in the world by net electrical power rating.

French state-controlled nuclear engineering firm Areva S.A. and Indian state-
owned nuclear operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India signed the
agreement, valued about $9.3 billion.

It is proposed to construct 6 European Pressurized Reactors designed and

developed by Areva of France, each of 1650 MW, thus totaling 9900 MW.
These are the third-generation pressurised water reactors (PWR).

Proposed Power Plants

• Jaitapur- Maharashtra
• Gorakhpur- Haryana
• Bhimpur- Madhya Pradesh
• Mahi Banswara- Rajasthan
• Kaiga-Karnataka
• Chutka- Madhya Pradesh

Points that can be used in Answer

• Subsidies and taxes distort the energy market and promote the use of
inefficient over efficient fuels,
• Subsidies make Indian exports and domestic production uncompetitive
as energy taxes are not under GST.
• High Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses
• Distribution companies (discoms) use load shedding to minimize losses.
• Regulatory Issues: Regulatory Commissions are unable to fully regulate
discoms and fix rational tariffs. They (Regulatory Bodies) should
become truly independent.
• State power utilities are not able to invest in system improvements due
to their poor financial health.
• No competitive coal market along with Land problems
• Limited technical capabilities, high initial capital expenditure, limited
market and policy issues have adversely affected efforts to achieve
energy efficiency
• The non-availability of sufficient credit facilities and difficulties in
obtaining required finances for energy saving projects are strong
deterrents to investments in energy efficiency in India.

Improvements

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• Promote smart grid and smart meters: To manage the demand for Notes
power, it is necessary to introduce 100 per cent metering, net metering,
smart meters, and metering of electricity supplied to agriculture.
• All form of subsidies should be provided as functional subsidies to
end-consumers to empower them to choose the energy form most
suitable and economical to them
• Have the same GST rate for all forms of energy to enable a level playing
field.
• Renewable purchase obligations (RPO) should be strictly enforced and
inter-state sale of renewable energy should be facilitated
• The government should provide viability gap funding/financial
assistance for 2G ethanol project developers/technology partners.

Energy efficiency
• Promote the mandatory use of LED and the replacement of old
appliances in government buildings with five-star appliances.
• Focus the UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All) programme
on lower-income households and small commercial establishments.
• The number of appliances covered under the Standards and Labelling
(S&L) programme should be increased.
• Widen and deepen the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) programme;
make Energy Saving Certificate (ESCert) trading under the PAT scheme
effective by ensuring strict penalties against defaulters.

National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NBMMP)

• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
• Clean gaseous fuel for cooking and lighting
• In all the States and UTs of the country
• As per Census 2011, about 65.9 percent of households depend on solid
biomass, including firewood, crop residue and cow dung as primary fuel
for cooking in India.

India’s Renewable Energy Target- 175 GW by 2022

• 100 GW-Solar Energy
• 60 GW- Wind Energy
• 10 GW-Bio-Energy
• 5 GW- Small Hydro

India had set a target of 175 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022 and has
already installed 80 GW and is set to exceed the target, as per the Ministry of
New & Renewable Energy.

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India is among the countries with the largest production of energy from Notes
renewable sources. As of June 30, 2019, India has an installed renewable
energy capacity of 80.47 GW, of which solar and wind comprises 29.55 GW and
36.37 GW respectively. Biomass and small hydro power constitute 9.81GW and
4.6GW respectively.
The Government of India allows a 100% FDI under the automatic route for
projects of renewable power generation and distribution.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency-IREDA

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) is a Mini Ratna
(Category – I) Government of India Enterprise under the administrative control
of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). IREDA is a Public Limited
Government Company established as a Non-Banking Financial Institution in
1987 engaged in promoting, developing and extending financial assistance for
setting up projects relating to new and renewable sources of energy and energy
efficiency/conservation with the motto: “ENERGY FOR EVER”
• The European investment bank (EIB) has signed a EUR 150 million long-
term loan with the Indian renewable energy development agency
(IREDA) to finance clean energy projects in India.
• The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency has launched a new
Green Masala Bond on the London Stock Exchange’s new International
Securities Market to raise funds to finance renewable energy projects
across India.
• IREDA’s masala bond is the first green Climate Bonds Certified and
Investment Grade rated bond by a financial institution.

National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE)

• The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), Chennai was established
in Tamil Nadu in 1998 as an autonomous institution under the
administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
NIWE main activities include resource assessment and testing &
certification.

Biomass Power and Cogeneration Programme

• The current availability of biomass in India is estimated at about 500
million metric tonnes per year.
• Biomass materials used for power generation include bagasse, rice
husk, straw, cotton stalk, coconut shells, soya husk, de-oiled cakes,
coffee waste, jute wastes, and groundnut shells, saw dust etc.

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• The thermo chemical processes for conversion of biomass to useful Notes

products involve combustion, gasification or pyrolysis. The most
commonly used route is combustion.
• Sugar industry has been traditionally practicing cogeneration by using
bagasse as a fuel. With the advancement in the technology for
generation and utilization of steam at high temperature and pressure,
sugar industry can produce electricity and steam for their own
requirements.
• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) provides loan
for setting up biomass power and bagasse cogeneration projects.

Biomass Gasification
• It is thermo-chemical conversion of biomass into a combustible gas
mixture (producer gas) through a partial combustion route with air
supply restricted to less than that theoretically required for full
combustion.
• A gasifier system basically comprises of a reactor where the gas is
generated, and is followed by a cooling and cleaning train which cools
and cleans the gas.
• The clean combustible gas is available for power generation in diesel-
gen-set or 100% producer gas engines.
• Producer gas mainly consists of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2),
as well as substantial amounts of nitrogen (N2). It burns with a lower
heat than some other gases, but its great benefit is that it can be
manufactured simply and relatively cheaply.

Small Hydro Power Programme

• Government of India is responsible for large hydro projects; the
mandate for the subject small hydro power (up to 25 MW) is given to
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Small hydro power projects
are further classified as

Class Station Capacity in kW

Micro Hydro Up to 100

Mini Hydro 101 to 2000

Small Hydro 2001 to 25000

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KUSUM SCHEME Notes

• KUSUM- Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahaabhiyan
• The KUSUM scheme, with over Rs 50,000 crore government support to
promote the use of solar power among farmers.
• The government plans to incentivise farmers to run solar farm water
pumps and use barren land for generating power for extra income -- up
to Rs 60,000 per acre every year.

Do you know?
• Shakti- Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala (Coal)
Transparently in India
• The term ‘Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism’ is related to Solar
Energy.
• The total estimated coal resources in the country is 315.149 billion
tonnes as per “The inventory of Geological Resources of Indian Coal”
(as on 01.04.2017), prepared by the Geological Survey of India.
Jharkhand>Odisha>Chhattisgarh>West Bengal
• Coal based thermal power plants constitute 67 percent of India’s
power generation capacity, further more coal based electricity forms 80
percent of power on the electrical grid. Coal is expected to remain the
mainstay of India’s power generation for next two to three decades.
• Carbon Emissions from India rank third in the global list, accounting for
2.46 billion metric tonnes of carbon or 6.8% of the total global
emissions. India’s per capita carbon emissions are, however, still low at
1.84 tonnes compared to the United States’ 16.21 tonnes.
• The top four carbon emitters:
o China
o USA
o India
o Russia
o Japan
• India’s total coal reserve is estimated at a little more than 300 billion
tonnes.
• India to reduce the Emissions Intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 Per Cent
by 2030, from 2005 Level.
• Rank based on crude oil import- China>USA>India>Japan>South Korea
• Rank based largest oil production- USA>Saudi
Arabia>Russia>Canada>China
• USA is the largest producer of Natural Gas behind Russia-
USA>Russia>Iran>Qatar>Canada

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• Russia holds the largest Natural Gas Reserve in the World. Notes
Russia>Iran>Qatar>USA>Saudi Arabia.

Nuclear Plants
India has 22 operating reactors, with an installed capacity of 6780 MWe.
Among these eighteen reactors are Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs)
and four are Light Water Reactors (LWRs).

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Notes
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