With the world moving towards sustainability, technocrats, policy makers and communities should partner to make sure people at grass-roots level are benefited by clean energy, according to experts.

Speaking at the first international conference on Sustainable Green Buildings and Communities at IIT-M Research Park, Ambuj Sharma, , Industries Commissioner and Director of Industries and Commerce, Tamil Nadu, said technocrats are finding greener solutions to energy problems every day.

These solutions should be translated into disciplined public policy and put into implementation at the grass root level. But there are challenges in a complex and diverse country like India, which has different levels of policy making. Another issue is that technologies are evolving so fast that there are many technologies available in the market.

“There is also a huge gap in understanding the need for clean energy projects as many think such technologies are unreliable and not cost-competitive,” Sharma said.

To address these issues, Sharma said: “There is a need for closer cooperation between technology creators, people and companies that adapt such technologies and policy makers.” With cost of technology going down, communities and policy makers should come forward with a mechanism that will compensate technology creators, who invest in creating such technologies and reach consumers, he said.

Krishna Shenai, Professor at NMAM Institute of Technology, said micro grids could be a solution for such problems. Micro grids integrate multiple energy distributors like solar and wind to power appliances like refrigerator, lights and fans at home or office. By creating a community of multiple micro grids, dependence on grid can be reduced. Though investment is high, Shenai said it will help electrify many villages in India, where there is no grid infrastructure.

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