Prioritizing Clean Energy and Climate Cooperation with India Act of 2020
A BILL
To establish the United States-India Clean Energy and Power Transmission Partnership to facilitate renewable energy cooperation with India, to enhance cooperation with India on climate resilience and adaptation, and for other purposes.
2. Findings
Congress makes the following findings:
India is the second most populous country in the world with a population of approximately 1,334,000,000 people and the fifth largest economy in the world with a nominal gross domestic product of $2,940,000,000,000.
India is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with hundreds of millions of people susceptible to events exacerbated by climate change, such as the spread of infectious diseases, sea level rise and extreme flooding, droughts, storms, and landslides triggered by extreme weather.
India releases approximately 2,500,000,000 tons (carbon dioxide equivalent) in greenhouse gases annually, making it the third largest greenhouse gas emitter after China and the United States. India ranks seventh in the world in cumulative historical emissions and is the twelfth largest greenhouse gas emitter per capita.
India has one of the largest energy markets in the world, and energy capacity in India has increased by 17.5 percent in 5 years to 365 gigawatts of installed electricity capacity.
Per capita energy consumption in India is relatively low among emerging economic powers.
Reliable access to power is crucial for the storage of vaccines and antiretroviral and other lifesaving medical drugs, as well as for the operation of modern lifesaving medical equipment.
Access to power can also provide improved information and communication technologies that can greatly improve health and education outcomes, as well as economic and commercial opportunities.
In 2000, only 43 percent of the population of India had access to power. That percentage has more than doubled in the last 20 years, with approximately 700,000,000 people in India gaining access to electricity between 2000 and 2018.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has prioritized improving citizen access to electricity and electrifying every household in India.
The Power for All initiative of the Government of India aims to provide electricity to all households in India 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Providing around-the-clock electricity will require India to double its electricity output by 2030 at an estimated cost of $250,000,000,000, which will create more than $30,000,000,000 in investment opportunities.
As of August 2020, coal makes up the largest domestic source of energy supply and electricity generation for India. Renewable energy comprises approximately 35 percent of energy generation in India.
India imports 80 percent of its oil needs, and that amount is projected to increase in the coming decades due to aging oil fields and a lack of new oil discoveries in India. India is increasing its oil refining capacity to maintain supply to meet the rising demand for energy.
India is projected to surpass the People’s Republic of China in oil consumption by 2030.
On September 22, 2020, the People’s Republic of China announced a pledge to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2060 in its updated Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement, done at Paris December 12, 2015, but given the need to accelerate the reduction of global emissions along a 2050 timeline, that pledge is proportionally insufficient to avoid an increase of 2 degrees Celsius in the global average temperature.
India, in contrast, is demonstrating that energy security is a priority through concrete steps including creating a unified national power system and incorporating varied forms of renewable energy to diversify its power sources.
India’s unconditional emissions target, as outlined in the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution of India to the Paris Agreement, aims to reduce carbon emissions in India by 33 percent to 35 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
In its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, India set a goal of generating 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022, which India aimed to achieve by generating 100 gigawatts of solar energy, 60 gigawatts of wind energy, and 15 gigawatts of energy from other sources such as biomass and small hydro.
India has pledged to increase the share of its installed electricity capacity that comes from non-fossil fuel sources to 40 percent by 2030.
India is among the top 5 clean energy producers globally. Installed electricity capacity from renewables in India grew by 144 percent from 2014 to 2020, and between 2014 and 2019 there was approximately $42,000,000,000 in investment in the renewable energy sector in India.
Numerous global funds, private equity firms, and multilateral finance institutions are continuing to invest billions of dollars in the growing renewable energy sector in India.
India plays a critical leadership role in Mission Innovation, a global initiative in which the United States participates that has the goal of accelerating the pace of clean energy innovation to achieve performance breakthroughs and cost reductions that will enable the provision of affordable and reliable clean energy solutions.
India leads the International Solar Alliance, an 86-country initiative to mobilize $1,000,000,000,000 in solar energy investment by 2030, to which the United States does not belong.
Increased ownership of appliances and cooling needs could lead to a doubling or even tripling of energy use in India by 2040. One billion air conditioning units are expected to be in use in India by 2050.
Under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, done at Montreal September 16, 1987, India has agreed to freeze its manufacturing and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons in 2028.
In 2009, the United States and India established a formal energy cooperation dialogue, the United States-India Energy Dialogue, which included the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy initiative focusing on research into, deployment of, and access to clean energy.
The Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Research element of the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy initiative, commonly referred to as “PACE–R”, consists of research consortia under the Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center launched in 2010 by the Department of Energy and the Government of India with support from the private sector. PACE–R has focused on solar power, advanced biofuels, energy efficiency, and smart grids and energy storage.
The Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Deployment element of the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy initiative, commonly referred to as “PACE–D”, funds programs to improve energy efficiency, grid connectivity, clean energy finance, and more.
The Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Access element of the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy initiative, commonly referred to as “PEACE”, has focused on finance and technology innovation, skills development, and ecosystem strengthening for clean energy.
In 2018, the United States Government established the Asia Enhancing Development and Growth through Energy initiative, commonly referred to as “Asia EDGE”, to support sustainable and secure energy markets throughout the Indo-Pacific. Asia EDGE integrates elements of the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy initiative along with new programs such as the South Asia Group for Energy.
In 2018, the Governments of India and the United States established the U.S.-India Strategic Energy Partnership, which includes pillars of cooperation on renewable energy and sustainable growth.
3. Definitions
In this Act:
Administrator— The term Administrator means the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.
Appropriate congressional committees— The term appropriate congressional committees means—
the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate; and
the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.
Clean energy technologies— The term clean energy technologies means any process or product, or system of processes or products, that—
is applied at any stage of the energy cycle, including production, transmission, and consumption; and
generates, contributes to the generation of, or transmits energy that—
produces zero greenhouse emissions; or
significantly mitigates or captures greenhouse gas emissions from existing power production.
Climate security— The term climate security means accounting for and guarding against the challenges and harms that are scientifically attributable to the effects of climate change on—
United States national security and subnational, national, and regional political stability; and
overseas security and conflict situations that are potentially exacerbated by dynamic environmental factors and events, including—
the intensification and frequency of droughts, floods, wildfires, tropical storms, and other extreme weather events;
changes in historical severe weather, drought, and wildfire patterns;
the expansion of geographical ranges of droughts, floods, and wildfires into regions that had not regularly experienced such phenomena;
global sea level rise patterns and the expansion of geographical ranges affected by drought; and
changes in marine environments that affect critical geostrategic waterways, such as the Arctic Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, the South Pacific Ocean, the Barents Sea, and the Beaufort Sea.
Secretary— Except as otherwise specifically provided, the term Secretary means the Secretary of State.