Necessity is the mother of invention, and that holds true for a global economy that depends on a declining supply of fossil fuels. As a result, innovations in new alternative sources could emerge from fast-growing developing nations that lack fossil fuels and cannot afford the rising prices, suggests this YaleGlobal series. The second article of the series focuses on trends toward renewable energy sources in India, the world’s second most populated country and one slated by researchers to be hit harder than most countries by climate change. By designating a special cabinet post, creating five-year plans and supporting specific projects, the India government has made alternative-energy development a priority. The task is complicated by the rising concern over greenhouse-gas emissions from giants like India and China. To reconcile global ambitions with an obligation to protect the planet, argues Alexis Ringwald, a Fulbright scholar who researched clean energy and climate change in India, the nation’s leaders “must take critical steps today to avoid locking in to an obsolete high-emissions trajectory.” – YaleGlobal
New Energy Frontiers Expand Global Connections – Part II
Lacking fossil fuels, fast-growing India must innovate with alternative energy sources
Alexis Ringwald
YaleGlobal, 19 August 2008
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=11213