Making it new

Farooq Abdullah has made it to the Union cabinet,but on what terms,asks Kashmir. Dubbing new and renewable energy an insignificant “gobar gas” ministry,they speculate that this has to do with the National Conference’s lukewarm chemistry with the Congress or with Abdullah’s own political reputation.

That’s some serious “misunderestimation” of Abdullah’s new responsibility. Even Barack Obama considers clean energy his second largest priority. India is both the cynosure of global attention in terms of responsible energy consumption,and home to several indigenous,unconventional solutions. Indeed,with our technology advantage,India could be a hub for low-cost renewable energy innovation. We know that it is urgent to switch to cleaner energy,but on the other hand,these are several times as expensive as conventional power. Wind-farms require large amounts of land; solar-cell manufacturing is chemically intensive; nuclear energy comes with safety and security concerns. All these alternatives being currently bandied about come with certain costs. But India has often tended to go for easy fixes like an ethanol crusade. A rigorous audit of each of these options,working out the best energy mix,and investing in next-generation green alternatives is a critical job.

Disruptive technologies will doubtless emerge,but Abdullah’s role is vital if they are to reach into the real economy. Changing regulation so that people and companies have an interest in clean energy is the great task of governance. It’s all very well to talk up R&D in new energy technologies,but without a parallel development of,say,smart grids or the introduction of hybrid or flexi-fuel vehicles,these innovations will not impact our collective behaviour. After all,a ministry is what you make of it,and renewable energy can be viewed in S,M,L and XL ways. As Thomas Friedman put it,green could also imply “geostrategic,geoeconomic,capitalistic and patriotic” — that is,a lead in clean innovation would win India global respect and security. It is the great global industry of the future,and the country to dominate this field will call the shots in coming decades. Abdullah could either coast on this soft bigotry of low expectations for his job,or he could seize his chance to outline a grand,forward-looking agenda.