Should Clean Energy Be Politics As Usual? Reflections on India's Energy Transition

Abstract

As planet Earth continues to warm up, there have been pressing calls for a decisive “energy transition.” An urgent demand, in other words, for a comprehensive shift from the current dependence on fossil-based or “dirty” energy such as oil, gas, and coal, to adopting low-carbon renewables — solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, and even nuclear. While most countries — through their pledges to the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in December 2015 - have outlined pathways for achieving clean energy targets, their political and social implications have yet to be adequately debated. Is the radical energy transition merely a technical challenge or is it about effecting profound political and social transformations?