Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation

Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (Shakti) works to build a secure and sustainable energy future for India by aiding in the design and implementation of policies that support renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable urban transport. Under this grant, Shakti supports India’s ambition to achieve its government-set target of 100 percent electric vehicles (as share of sale) within the next two decades by helping to build an enabling policy and regulatory environment that can accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. Rapid deployment of electric vehicles over the next two decades will reduce the carbon intensity of the transportation sector, which contributes ten percent of India’s greenhouse gas emissions, up to 30 percent by 2050. Shakti is supporting the creation of policies and mechanisms to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and build out adequate charging infrastructure, is demonstrating early successes through pilot projects in cities, and is educating stakeholders about the benefits of electric vehicles.

Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation supports renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable urban transport policy design and implementation in India. India’s anticipated economic growth, coupled with its recent commitments to reduce overall energy intensity as part of the Paris Accord, will encourage investments and innovation across India’s economy, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, which consume nearly half of all energy used by industry and produce a significant amount of the country’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions. In cooperation with government agencies, industry partners, and energy service companies, Shakti helps align regulatory policy, market trends, and investment requirements pertinent to small and medium-sized businesses seeking to decrease their energy usage. The grant supports policy research, program design and testing, and establishes a new online resource for small and medium-sized enterprises and the public agencies that regulate them.

Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation supports renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable urban transport policy design and implementation in India. Under the Paris Accord nations commit to track and share progress in meeting their country-specific greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. To comply, many nations, including India, will have to invest in their capacity to measure better and report on how their various actions to address climate change are progressing. In India, this entails efforts to improve data collection of greenhouse gas emissions, especially at the state level, and to educate the public and private sectors about their respective roles in helping India to meet the emission intensity reduction targets agreed to in Paris. This award supports Shakti to convene public, private, and civil society institutions to address data gaps, reporting requirements, and protocols to assess emission intensity reduction projects and policies.

Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation supports renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable urban transport policy design and implementation in India. Air pollution is a growing public health threat; over half a million Indians die prematurely every year due to air pollution-related diseases. Given India’s pace of urbanization and development, air pollution in cities may significantly worsen. Recent innovations make available low-cost, reliable air quality monitors that transmit data in real-time over mobile networks. Dependable and timely data on air quality provides policy makers and the public with essential information to design and test approaches to improve living conditions and lessen air pollution in metropolitan areas. This award supports making real-time data about air quality accessible for expert analysis and public dissemination.