India will create a comprehensive national energy database to fill the data gap related to energy consumption across biofuels, EV charging, off-grid power and industries, according to the report of the expert committee of the statistics ministry. With this, energy data will be made of international standard.
India is set to create a more comprehensive national energy statistics database by addressing major data gaps in areas such as biofuels, electric vehicles (EVs), captive and off-grid power and industry-wise energy use. This information has come out from the ‘Report of the Expert Committee on Energy Statistics’ released by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI).
The report notes that the existing energy statistics framework has several shortcomings, which limit a full assessment of India’s energy landscape. It identified “non-tracing of end-use consumption of imported coal, break-up of industry-wise consumption of electricity, demand-side statistics of energy in India, generation/consumption of electricity through off-grid (e.g. rooftop solar systems, street lighting systems etc.) modes, use of electricity in charging of electric vehicles (EVs), a systematic sub-national level energy statistics etc.” as major shortcomings, which led to the formation of the Expert Committee. Gone.
Systematic data on biofuels
To address these shortcomings, the Committee has recommended introducing new methodologies and harmonizing energy data collected across ministries so that India’s energy statistics become more comprehensive and internationally comparable. On biofuels, the report recommended that “the entire data on biofuels should be systematically captured using the proposed methodology” and that while preparing the National Energy Profile, “MoSPI should include biofuels in India’s energy balance/energy account tables.”
New system for electric vehicles also
The Committee also highlighted the need to systematically capture the power demand for electric vehicles. “In line with the international commitments made by the Government of India, it is essential to systematically estimate and disseminate electricity consumption by EVs in India, towards a vision like EV30@30,” it said. It also said that the proposed methodology should be further improved “for more accurate and structured data and effective policy interventions”.
Off-grid electricity consumption will be estimated
The report also recommended developing a framework to estimate off-grid electricity consumption. It said the methodology developed by Prayas and TERI “can be used by line energy ministries as a first step for better refinement and optimization.”
Need for demand-side energy database
To improve understanding of energy demand, the committee said India also needs a structured demand-side energy database. It noted that “an energy database consisting of both demand-side and supply-side data is important to better understand the flows of different types of energy and to generate future trends on energy production and consumption.”
The report observed that “currently, no dedicated survey or mechanism exists to track specific demand for various energy resources such as electricity, LPG, coal, etc. at the household or individual consumer level.” The committee recommended that the framework developed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE) “can be developed and elaborated for its effective implementation.”
Emphasis on data quality and policy making
It also proposed a “single integrated energy statistics database” jointly consolidated by MoSPI and BEE to improve data quality and aid policy-making. The report also proposed improvements in sector-wise tracking of coal and power consumption, including better estimation of imported coal use, industry-wise power consumption and captive power generation, and recommended common methods and reporting standards across power ministries to strengthen India’s National Energy Statistics System. (ANI)
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