The Road to India’s Renewable Energy Transition Must Pass through Crowded Lands

Joseph M. Kiesecker (), Shivaprakash K. Nagaraju, James R. Oakleaf, Anthony Ortiz, Juan Lavista Ferres, Caleb Robinson, Srinivas Krishnaswamy, Raman Mehta, Rahul Dodhia, Jeffrey S. Evans, Michael Heiner, Pratiti Priyadarshini, Pooja Chandran and Kei Sochi
Additional contact information
Joseph M. Kiesecker: The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Global Protect Oceans, Lands and Waters, P.O. Box 1088, Fort Collins, CO 80524, USA
Shivaprakash K. Nagaraju: The Nature Conservancy (TNC), New Delhi 110024, Delhi, India
James R. Oakleaf: The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Global Protect Oceans, Lands and Waters, P.O. Box 1088, Fort Collins, CO 80524, USA
Anthony Ortiz: Microsoft AI for Good Research Lab, Redmond, WA 98052, USA
Juan Lavista Ferres: Microsoft AI for Good Research Lab, Redmond, WA 98052, USA
Caleb Robinson: Microsoft AI for Good Research Lab, Redmond, WA 98052, USA
Srinivas Krishnaswamy: The Vasudha Foundation, New Delhi 110014, Delhi, India
Raman Mehta: The Vasudha Foundation, New Delhi 110014, Delhi, India
Rahul Dodhia: Microsoft AI for Good Research Lab, Redmond, WA 98052, USA
Jeffrey S. Evans: The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Global Protect Oceans, Lands and Waters, P.O. Box 1088, Fort Collins, CO 80524, USA
Michael Heiner: The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Global Protect Oceans, Lands and Waters, P.O. Box 1088, Fort Collins, CO 80524, USA
Pratiti Priyadarshini: Foundation for Ecological Security, Anand 388110, Gujarat, India
Pooja Chandran: Foundation for Ecological Security, Anand 388110, Gujarat, India
Kei Sochi: The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Global Protect Oceans, Lands and Waters, P.O. Box 1088, Fort Collins, CO 80524, USA

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: The significance of renewable energy in achieving necessary reductions in emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is widely acknowledged. However, there is growing concern over the allocation of land for constructing the required new infrastructure. Nowhere is this conflict more apparent than in India, where renewable energy targets are ambitious and land use conflicts are already significant. India intends to increase renewable energy to 500 GW by 2030. This would require an additional 42 GW of renewable energy to be installed every year. Although renewable energy can provide the solution to both India’s growing need for cheap energy and climate change mitigation, the sustainable future of renewable energy deployment is far from simple due to its associated land use impacts and socio-ecological risk. While others have highlighted challenges to India’s renewable energy targets, here we focus on the land use change issues that will need to be addressed for India to meet its targets. We introduce a series of recommendations and highlight how these could contribute to mainstreaming land values and facilitate the implementation of India’s 2030 renewable energy targets. These recommendations include suggested planning approaches that would guide the development of standard siting guidelines, identification of preferential “go-to” areas for renewable energy, and the development of tools that allow access to data and information to site renewable right. Policy recommendations highlight utilizing converted lands and existing built infrastructure for renewable energy development, and adapting existing policies so they address land use impacts.

Keywords: climate mitigation; renewable energy; energy transition; energy impacts; energy policy; energy sprawl; India; land use change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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