[pib] India Energy Modelling Forum

Mains Paper 3: Economy | Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

Prelims level: Energy Modelling

Mains level: Move for energy modelling in India

India Energy Modelling Forum (IEMF)

The NITI Aayog and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) organized the first workshop on development of the India Energy Modelling Forum (IEMF).
The IEMF seeks to provide a platform for policy makers to study important energy and environmental issues and ensure induction of modelling and analysis in informed decision making process.
The Forum aims to improve cooperation and coordination between modeling teams, the Government of India, knowledge partners and think-tanks, build capacity of Indian institutions, and identify issues for joint modeling activities and future areas of research.

What is Energy Modelling?

Energy modeling or energy system modeling is the process of building computer models of energy systems in order to analyze them.
Such models often employ scenario analysis to investigate different assumptions about the technical and economic conditions at play.
Outputs may include the system feasibility, greenhouse gas emissions, cumulative financial costs, natural resource use, and energy efficiency of the system under investigation.
Governments maintain national energy models for energy policy development.

Outcomes of the forum

Discussions on energy modelling in India and the world explored how energy modelling can play an important role in decision-making.
The panelists laid focus on bridging the rural-urban divide and factoring in energy pressures from the informal economy within models.
Deliberations included a spotlight on how the impact of the evolving character of India’s cities, industries and especially the transport sector should be included in the any India-centric models.
The shift towards electric mobility, an increasing emphasis on mainstreaming of renewable energy options and overarching environmental concerns were also stated as key factors for determining India’s energy future.