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India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at the World Leaders’ Summit “Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment” session at the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, Scotland on November 2, 2021.
Jeff J Mitchell | AFP | Getty Images

India’s road to net zero carbon emissions will be long and challenging — while it’s not impossible, it will need a lot of strategic planning in the decades ahead, economists told CNBC.

The world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases surprised the world on Monday by setting a target for net zero carbon emissions — after years of rejecting calls for it.

Speaking at the COP26 summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India would aim for net zero carbon emissions by 2070. While it’s the first time India has made such a pledge, the timeline is still two decades beyond the 2050 target set by the climate summit’s organizers.

Net zero emissions refer to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions removed from the atmosphere, through natural means or by using the still nascent carbon capture technology.

“I was surprised because there has been quite a heated debate on net-zero in India,” Ulka Kelkar, director of the climate program at World Resources Institute, India, told CNBC.

Can India achieve its 2070 target?

India is still largely dependent on fossil fuels like oil and coal and its economic priorities are mostly focused on domestic issues. The country’s energy demand is expected to rise sharply over the next decade as the economy continues on its growth trajectory.

Kelkar said she believes India’s 2070 target is “very much achievable” when taken together with the other targets for 2030 that Modi announced.

They include the following:

  • India will expand its renewable energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030;
  • Around 50% of its energy needs would come from renewable sources;
  • It will reduce total projected carbon emissions by a billion tonnes between now and 2030;
  • India will reduce carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45%.

The pledges “will provide policy certainty to industry to invest in decarbonization technologies, and will also inspire India’s states and cities to set their own net-zero pathways to development,” Kelkar said on email.

It does need a lot of strategical planning and planning is the word. It is not going to happen just because the announcement is made.
Vaibhav Chaturvedi
Council on Energy, Environment and Water

By 2070, India will also be a comparatively richer country with a much higher per capita income that will create the fiscal space needed for the transition, said Vaibhav Chaturvedi, an economist with climate think-tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water.

“We think 2070 is doable. Having said that, it is not going to be a cakewalk,” he told CNBC on Tuesday.

“It does need a lot of strategical planning and planning is the word. It is not going to happen just because the announcement is made,” Chaturvedi said. “A lot of sectoral actions, policy planning and intervention has to be there.”

A flock of sheep graze next to photovoltaic cell solar panels in the Pavagada Solar Park on October 11, 2021 in village in Karnataka, India.
Abhishek Chinnappa | Getty Images

“We haven’t figured it out yet, but that is fine for now. The announcement has just happened … we will probably figure it out in the next year,” he added.

Chaturvedi explained that India has to navigate potential challenges — such as ensuring that coal workers are not left behind, energy prices do not rise in the near term and getting the state governments on board. Power distribution reforms are also “absolutely necessary” to pave the way for the transition to happen.

What happens next?

India will likely target the power sector first, according to Chaturvedi. The country has already made headway in its push for renewable energy through solar and wind.

“The second sector is hydrogen — that is also a big one. The biggest players in India have already entered the market,” he added.

Hydrogen is a “versatile energy carrier” which can help meet different energy challenges, according to the International Energy Agency. It has a wide range of applications that can help reduce carbon emissions in many sectors.

But most of the hydrogen production today still relies on fossil fuel as a power source, making it a pollution-heavy process.

Broadly, if the world wants to achieve its target of reducing global emissions to net zero by 2050, developed countries must lead the way by achieving net zero well before that date, according to Chandrashekhar Dasgupta, a former climate negotiator for India and an ex-ambassador to European Union and China.

“The major technological breakthroughs for decarbonization will mostly originate in these countries,” said Dasgupta, a distinguished fellow emeritus at The Energy Research Institute, in an email to CNBC before India’s surprise announcement.

Poorer countries will follow suit in the latter half of the century, he added.

“Affluent countries are able to bear the high initial R&D and other overhead costs. Costs will gradually come down with economies of scale and differential pricing, enabling poorer countries to follow,” he said.

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DHL picks Mercedes eSprinter as it expands its electric van fleet

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DHL picks Mercedes eSprinter as it expands its electric van fleet

DHL Express has more than 10,000 eSprinter vans in its global delivery fleet, but none of those have been deployed in North America – until now, that is! The company recently added 45 new Mercedes eSprinter panel vans, and they’ve got plans for plenty more!

While Mercedes offers its eSprinters with a promised 206 mile estimated range, DHL says it’s consistently seen them exceed 240 miles in stop-and-go delivery duty, making them the longest-range battery electric vehicles in DHL’s US fleet.

This extended capacity makes them ideally suited for urban logistics while expanding their potential use in longer delivery routes. The eSprinter vans also offer the same massive cargo capacity as their diesel-powered brothers, making them efficient last-mile delivery solutions that don’t compromise on payload or operational reliability.

And, of course, the eSprinter will do all of that without the noise, vibration, and harmful carbon emissions of diesel.

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“Electrifying our fleet is one of the most visible and impactful ways we are moving toward a more sustainable future,” explains Greg Hewitt, CEO of DHL Express, US. “The Mercedes-Benz eSprinter brings an extended range and proven cargo capabilities that allow us to serve our customers with zero emissions, while also advancing our global goal of more sustainable logistics. These vehicles not only strengthen our operations in major US cities but also set the stage for future electric fleet growth across the Americas.”

The 45 eSprinters will see deployment in Chicago, Indiana, and Pittsburg, and will act as a first step DHL’s global Sustainability Roadmap, which will see the company electrify 66% of its last-mile US delivery fleet (and some of its long-haul fleet operations) by 2030.

Electrek’s Take


DHL reaches 50 electric truck milestone with Orange EV, plans to double down
Orange EV; via DHL.

In addition to these 45 vans, DHL is electrifying its European and Asian delivery fleets, ramping up its sustainable aviation fuel use, and even exploring electric semis, eVTOL and hybrid aircraft deliveries, and more.

In short, they’re doing the right thing – or seem to be, anyway. Whether or not that commitment to decarbonization will win them more American customers remains to be seen.

SOURCE | IMAGES: DHL, via PR Newswire.


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Enphase debuts a new US off-grid solar and battery system

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Enphase debuts a new US off-grid solar and battery system

Enphase Energy just launched a new off-grid system that lets homeowners power their homes without a utility connection – even for extended periods. The California-based Enphase says the off-grid setup delivers a seamless way to live independently from the grid while still using solar, batteries, and a standby AC generator.

A full off-grid setup

The new system combines Enphase’s IQ Battery 5P with embedded grid-forming microinverters, IQ8 Series Microinverters with Sunlight JumpStart, and a third-party standby AC generator. The components work together to supply power to a home and automatically manage energy sources to maximize efficiency and reliability.

If the batteries are drained and the generator runs out of fuel, the Sunlight JumpStart feature can automatically recharge the batteries the next morning once the sun comes up.

The IQ Battery 5P delivers 3.84 kVA of power per 5 kWh of capacity, and systems can be scaled up to 40 kWh and 15.4 kVA. That’s enough power to start big household appliances like HVAC systems or water pumps. The IQ System Controller 3G provides the backbone, managing solar, batteries, and generator inputs to deliver up to 46 kVA of off-grid power.

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Smarter control and connectivity

Each system connects to the cloud through Enphase’s IQ Combiner 5C HDK, which bundles solar interconnection, communications, and metering into one box. For homes without reliable broadband, the built-in 4G LTE Cat 4 modem keeps the system online for monitoring, firmware updates, and remote support.

Homeowners can manage everything from the Enphase App – from solar generation and battery status to generator integration and load control.

Why it matters

As grid outages become more common and homeowners look for ways to gain energy independence, off-grid systems like this are becoming more appealing.

“With the launch of our off-grid solution, we are giving homeowners a reliable path to complete energy independence,” said Nitish Mathur, Enphase’s SVP of customer experience. Enphase says over 100 homes are already operating entirely off-grid using its technology. The company plans to expand availability beyond the US in 2026.

Read more: Battery boom: 5.6 GW of US energy storage added in Q2


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Global offshore wind surges ahead as Trump sinks US progress

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Global offshore wind surges ahead as Trump sinks US progress

Global offshore wind targets are still strong enough to triple global capacity by 2030, despite the US’s offshore wind stagnation under Trump. A new analysis from energy think tank Ember and the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) shows that the rest of the world is charging forward, underscoring confidence in offshore wind as a cornerstone of future clean energy systems.

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