On Monday, The G20’s ETWG (Energy Transition Working Group) struggled with the need for renewable energy appliances for a smooth transition as the group member nations considered just transitioned and the difficulty of wishing away coal. Alok Kumar, secretary for the Power Ministry, reportedly stated that discussions on the second day of the Energy Transition Working Group conference focused on the cost and availability of fossil fuels and renewable energy appliances. As a global community, the G20 need a huge expansion of the manufacturing of renewable energy appliances, they require to augment the manufacturing by ten to fifteen times. That will also require prudent management and supply of essential minerals, he added.
The G20 nations decided to promote domestic manufacturing of appliances and import minerals from various sources
R.K. Singh, Union Minister had previously expressed his concern about “one country” holding a monopoly over essential minerals such as lithium, which is required for energy storage systems. According to the Power ministry secretary Alok Kumar, the G20 nations decided to promote domestic manufacturing of appliances and import minerals from various sources. He further added that countries broadly supported the international solar alliance’s vision of “one sun, one globe, one grid” since they saw an interconnected grid as a major way to eliminate the need for expensive storage technology and lower prices.
G20 countries broadly supported the international solar alliance’s vision of “one sun, one globe, one grid”
He also added some of the nations that have made suggestions which will be included in the draft of the deliverables. The deliverables will be finalised in the next 2 meetings to be held in April and May this year. The draft will be given to the finance group, which will review the financing of the projects /schemes. In the case of India, the ministry has predicted that in order to reach 500GW capacity by 2030, the solar energy sector will need to invest Rs 2.4 lakh crore.
About G20
G20 or Group of Twenty was established in 1999. This year India holds the presidency of G20 from 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. It aims to maintain policy coordination among its members in order to ensure global economic stability, and sustainable growth, promote financial regulations that lower risks and prevents upcoming financial crises and create a new global financial architecture. One Earth, One Family, One Future is the theme of India’s G20 Presidency and this year India will host over 200 meetings in over fifty cities.
