•Germany has been helping states in India, like Delhi, to get CDM projects together. Are there meeting points in the energy scenarios between the two countries?

Like India, 50 per cent of German power needs are met by coal. Also, like India, we have a heavy dependence on energy imports. Compared to India for renewables like solar energy though, we are worse off — Germany only has 900 hours of sunlight a year. India and Germany both need to reduce energy imports. If we have energy efficiency, we will have energy security. We are interested in working with developing countries in the field of climate change, and so we are dealing with China, Brazil, India and African countries like Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt. India has a lot of potential in solar, biogas and wind energy. But compared to developed countries, Indian average energy productivity has to be improved.

•How can India improve energy productivity?

A lot of people mix energy with the power sector. But there’s more to energy than the power sector. For example, with regard to energy efficiency, if I am producing one tonne of steel or one square metre of glass, I can do it more efficiently by using less energy. In Germany, we are now using a technology called combined heat and power production. This means we produce heating while producing nuclear or fossil fuel power. Currently, 11-12 per cent of heat production in Germany is through combined heat and power production. For India, cooling can be provided during power production. If you produce power now, two-thirds of the energy is wasted, only one-third becomes power. Through combined production and energy efficiency technologies, that two-thirds input can be used for other purposes, like heating or cooling.