India plans to install 450 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy (RE) generation capacity by 2030. However, RE is highly intermittent in nature and cannot be dispatched on the basis of real-time demand. Utility-scale energy storage technologies such as battery and pumped-hydro could be the answer to this problem. Pumped-hydro energy storage (PHES) is the oldest and most mature large-scale storage technology and accounts for 96% of global installed energy storage capacity.

The Green Grids Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG), announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the sidelines of COP26, aims to harness the solar potential and facilitate a faster transition to renewable energy. With the US being the latest country to join the India-led International Solar Alliance, One Sun, One World, One Grid may not be too distant a dream after all.

With the escalating integration of intermittent renewables to the grid along with the net-zero 2070 target, nuclear energy must play a complementary role. However, nuclear energy in India seems to be on the backburner, with the installed capacity at just 6.8 GW even though we are expected to reach 22 GW by 2030. From this perspective, let us take a fresh look at nuclear energy in the Indian context.

In line with strong emerging evidence on how air pollution affects human health, the World Health Organisation (WHO), in its latest guidelines, has recommended more stringent limits for all key air pollutants to protect populations worldwide. It also says that almost 80% of deaths related to PM₂.₅—the most hazardous pollutant for public health—could be prevented if the current air pollution levels were reduced to those proposed in the updated guidelines.

In food, there is hope. September’s United Nations Food Systems Summit, the first of its kind, brought many international players, including farmers and agricultural experts, together to re-emphasise the need to strengthen and improve food systems (Figure 1