The study stated that 4.1 per cent of the total uncultivable and waste land area in India is enough to meet the projected annual demand of 3,400 terawatt-hour (TWh) by 2070, by solar energy alone (one terawatt-hour per year equals 114 megawatts), a strong argument in favour of those who are alarmed by the government's increasing interest in controversial nuclear power plants.
Published in the journal, Current Science, and researched by Hiremath Mitavachan and Jayaraman Srinivasan of IISc's Divecha Centre for Climate Change, the report is based on estimates of present-day solar photovoltaic (PV) technology and has not taken into consideration the energy capacity of solar power sources that do not require ground area (such as roof-top installation and solar cells).
The study further indicates that solar power not only uses less land as compared to hydro-electric power projects but is comparable with the land use patterns of coal and nuclear power plants when one takes into account the long term land impacts (such as buffer zone, mining area, waste disposal area etc.) of the same.
This is not the first report of its nature, and only reinforces the findings of an Australian study conducted earlier that concluded, "There is more than enough suitable land in India, with high direct beam solar, to meet the entire nation's electricity needs in principle."
Source: Sanctuary Asia
