CAREER GUIDE

CAREERS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT
[CAREERS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT]

CAREERS IN Renewable energy AND energy management

Dr Usha Bajpai

It is well known that energy sector has its own impact on the progress and development of any nation. The availability of various energy resources and in-house capability to use it in the appropriate manner for productive development of a nation is the key factor in the economic growth of the country.



The energy crisis all over the world in the seventies warned the mankind and forced to think about the appropriate utilization of the energy resources on the earth for the sustainable development. The energy crisis had led to many innovations as well as research and development programmes in all sectors related to the energy. With global climate change issues occupying a prominent position in science and technology, industry and international relations, the role of renewable energy, energy conservation and energy management has come into a sharp focus in recent years.

In India, the sudden increase in the price of oil, uncertainties associated with its supply and the adverse impact on the balance-of- payments position led to the establishment of the Commission for Additional Sources of Energy in the Department of Science and Technology in March 1981. The Commission was charged with the responsibility of formulating policies and their implementation, programmes for development of new and renewable energy apart from coordinating and intensifying R and D in the sector. In 1982, a new department, i.e., Department of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (DNES), that incorporated CASE, was created in the then Ministry of Energy. In 1992, DNES became the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources. In October 2006, the Ministry was re-christened as the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (www.mnre.gov.in).

The Ministry of Power, Government of India set up the Bureau of Energy Efficiency on 1st March 2002 under the provisions of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 (www.bee-india.nic.in). The mission of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency is to assist in developing policies and strategies with a thrust on self-regulation and market principles, within the overall framework of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 with the primary objective of reducing energy intensity of the Indian economy. This can be achieved with active participation of all stakeholders, resulting in accelerated and sustained adoption of energy efficiency in all sectors. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency co-ordinates with designated consumers, designated agencies and other organizations and recognize, identify and utilize the existing resources and infrastructure, in performing the functions assigned to it under the Energy Conservation Act.

The Energy Conservation Act provides for regulatory and promotional functions. The Bureau is involved in several regulatory and promotional avenues in energy efficiency and conservation. The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), 2007 was launched by the Government of India for new, commercial buildings having a connected load of more than 500 kW with the objective of bringing down the energy consumption of commercial buildings through efficient design.



With a view to build adequate technical capacity and develop economically viable renewable energy and energy efficient systems and compliance of laudable objectives of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, adequate scientific and technical manpower of all levels is a pre-requisite. Energy conservation and renewable energy utilization hold tremendous potential of employment generation and social entrepreneurship for human resources trained in almost all streams of engineering, technology, sciences and humanities. In fact, several self-employment opportunities in renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors for modestly-trained and self-trained human resources exist in all geographic locations of the country.



The organized training programmes in renewable energy and energy management sectors in Industrial Training Institutes and Polytechnics in India are to be initiated to develop the skills required in renewable energy and energy management fields. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is taking steps in this direction.



The post-graduate level of training offered by various universities and organizations are detailed below:



1. M Sc (Renewable Energy), Department of Physics, University of Lucknow, Lucknow (www.lkouniv.ac.in).





2. M Sc (Physics, Energy Studies), Department of Pure and Applied Physics, University of Kota, Kota (www.uok.ac.in).



3. M Tech (Energy Studies), School of Energy Studies, Department of Physics, University of Pune, Pune (www.unipune.ernet.in).



4. Interdisciplinary M Tech (Energy Studies) and Interdisciplinary M Tech (Energy & Environment Management) School of Energy Studies, IIT, Delhi (www.iitd.ac.in).



5. M Tech (Energy Management) and M Phil (Energy and Environment), School of Energy and Environmental Studies, Devi Ahilya University, Indore (www.seec.dauniv.ac.in).



6. M Tech (Energy Technology), Department of Energy, Tezpur University, Tezpur (www.tezu.ernet.in).



7. M Tech (Energy Science and Engineering), Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (www.iitb.ac.in).





8. M Tech (Energy & Environmental Engineering), VIT University,Vellore (www.vit.ac.in).



9. M Tech (Energy Engineering), National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (www.nitt.edu).



10. M Tech (Energy Management), Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Calicut (www.nitc.ac.in).



11. M Tech (Energy Technology and Environment Management), School of Energy and Environment Management, Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal

(www.rgtu.net).



12. M Tech (Energy Engineering), Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal (www.manit.ac.in).



13. M Tech (Renewable Energy Engineering and Management) and PG Diploma (Renewable Energy)*, TERI University, New Delhi (www.teriuniversity.ac.in).



14. M Tech (Energy Science and Technology) and Certificate (Energy Management and Audit)*,Jadavpur University, Jadavpur (www.jadavpur.edu).



15. M Tech (Energy Management) and PG Diploma (Renewable Energy), Allahabad Agricultural Institute (Deemed University), Allahabad (www.aaidu.org).



16. M Phil (Energy), Gandhigram Rural University, Gandhigram (www.ruraluniv.ac.in).



17. M Phil (Energy), Centre for Non-Conventional Energy Resources, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur (www.uniraj.ernet.in).



18. M E (Energy Engineering), Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore (www.kct.ac.in).



19. PG Diploma (Energy Management)*, Centre for Distance Education, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad (www.uohyd.ernet.in).



20. PG Diploma (Electrical Energy Management and Energy Audit) and Diploma (Energy Engineering)*, Annamalai University, Chennai (www.annamalaiuniversity.ac.in).



*Distance Learning Programmes.



Besides the above indicative list, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has set up four specialized centres on solar energy, wind energy, bio-energy and hydro-energy as follows :





· The Solar Energy Centre (SEC), established in 1982, is a dedicated unit of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India for development of solar energy technologies and to promote its applications through product development (www.mnre.gov.in/sec).

· A Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET), an autonomous organization under the administrative control of the Ministry, has been established in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and serves as the technical focal point for wind power development (www.cwet.tn.nic.in).

· The Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy (SSS-NIRE) is being established as an autonomous institution in district Kapurthala, Punjab. NIRE will serve as the technical focal point for development of bio-energy, including bio-fuels, and synthetic fuels.

· Alternate Hydro Energy Centre (AHEC) is established in the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee with initial sponsorship of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in the year 1982. The mandate of the center is to promote power generation through the development of small hydropower projects in hilly as well as plain areas and development of decentralized integrated energy systems in conjunction with other renewable energy sources e.g. biomass, solar, wind etc.(www.ahec.org.in).

Additionally, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has been established as a non-banking financial institution under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for providing term loans for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects (www.ireda.in).

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency, within the framework of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 conducts the Energy Managers and Energy Auditors examinations for public and private sector industries and organizations regularly.

In terms of the Energy Conservation Building Code, 2007, several rating systems like GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) developed by The Energy and Resources Institute (www.teriin.org) and LEED India NC developed by the Indian Green Building Council (www.greenbusinesscentre.org) are being advocated.

Some other organizations offer short-time courses of various levels. Some of these organizations are :

a) National Productivity Council, New Delhi (www.npcindia.org).

b) National Petroleum Research Association, New Delhi (www.pcra.org).

c) Renewable Energy Centre Mithradham, Chunangamveli, Aluva (www.mithradham.org).

d) State nodal agencies of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy like NEDA, MEDA, GEDA, etc.



With a strong industrial base and successful demonstration of technologies in solar thermal, solar photovoltaics, wind, biomass and biogas, small-hydro and various energy conservation techniques, there are numerous career opportunities in the area of renewable energy and energy conservation and management. Since the problems of environment, pollution and global warming are in forefront today, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects are gaining momentum all over the world with increased career opportunities in renewable energy and energy management.

The Author is Coordinator, M.SC Renewable Energy Programme, Department of Physics, University of Lucknow