On the occasion of World Environment Day, the Gujarat government led by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel stated that carbon emissions generated by thermal power had been steadily declining in the state for the past five years. The state government’s promotion of renewable energy is the cause for this achievement. Gujarat currently ranks second in the country in terms of renewable energy installed capacity.
According to Gujarat Government they were able to reduce carbon emissions mainly because of two reasons:
Increase in installation capacity of renewable energy: The growing installed capacity of renewable energy in Gujarat has directly impacted the environment and carbon emission in the state has seen reduction by a whooping 115% more as compared to 2017.
Renewable energy is replacing conventional mode of producing electricity. The share of renewable energy (along with hydro energy) was 29% with 8,065 MW installed capacity of power generation in Gujarat in the year 2017-18. Now, in the year 2022, the share of renewable energy has increased to 42% with the contribution of 17,367 MW to the installed capacity of electricity generation.
The state government said in a press release that by 2030, the Energy Department wants to reduce carbon emissions generated by energy generation by 139 million tonnes. The state government intends to achieve this by increasing renewable energy installation capacity to 68,000 MW by 2030.
