Adoption of hybrid energy sources key to meet 2050 carbon emission goals: GE South Asia CTO – EQ Mag Pro

“As we progress to meet our 2050 goal of carbon neutrality and zero carbon emission, we have to think of hybrid energy sources,” Alok Nanda, CEO, GE India Technology Centre & CTO, GE South Asia said in a virtual address at the 17th Edition of India Innovation Summit.

Adoption of hybrid energy sources worldwide can help meet the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, an industry executive said on Friday.

Hybrid energy systems are defined as the integration of several types of energy generation equipment such as electrical energy generators, electrical energy storage systems, and renewable energy sources.

“As we progress to meet our 2050 goal of carbon neutrality and zero carbon emission, we have to think of hybrid energy sources,” Alok Nanda, CEO, GE India Technology Centre & CTO, GE South Asia said in a virtual address at the 17th Edition of India Innovation Summit.

Nanda said climate change is a real concern, and energy transitions being made today must be done keeping needs of future generations in mind.

He said one of the primary reasons for the climate change is that 41 per cent of the co2 (carbon) emission is generated by the power sector, while 26 per cent by the industry, 25 pc by transport, and 9 per cent by buildings.

“If you come to transport, we have talked about e-cars a lot but if those e-cars batteries are charged by electricity generated by a technology that produces a lot of carbon then… we actually would be polluting our environment (indirectly). We need a holistic approach,” Nanda said.

Explaining further, he said if all coal plants are replaced by equivalent capacity of renewable energy, it will lead to a carbon reduction by 25-40 per cent. If the coal plants in the world are replaced by equivalent capacity of gas turbines or gas plants, the co2 emission would be reduced by 50-60 per cent.

“We will have to work towards hybrids. hybrids are inevitable and as we progress towards it we can make real change while achieving energy trilemma by making electricity affordable, reliable and sustainable while meeting energy security needs and then we add carbon capture and hydrogen to this mix and take this (carbon reduction) to 100 pc which is the need,” he said.

Source : PTI