‘Bengal can achieve 100% transition to renewables’
KOLKATA: Bengal can plan an achievable transition from nearly absolute dependence on coal-based power to 100% renewables ahead of India’s zero carbon power target of 2070. This has been indicated by an open-source model developed jointly by Jadavpur University’s Global Change Programme, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore and Environmental Defence Fund (EDF) of the US that have been collaborating on India’s Zero Carbon Energy Pathways (IDEEA) project since 2020.
At present, over 84% of Bengal’s power production is based on coal with hydro and solar making up the rest. The model looks into the spatial distribution of land by splitting it into a matrix of 250 sq metre each to then identify where to locate the renewable plants — solar and wind — to get the maximum potential and long-term reliability.
