Mission Innovation is a global initiative of 24 countries and the European Union to accelerate global clean energy innovation dramatically. It seeks to accelerate public and private clean energy innovation to address climate change, make clean energy affordable to consumers, and create green jobs and commercial opportunities. It believes that the power of innovation – driven by sustained public investment coupled with business leadership – can make clean energy widely affordable and bring fledgling ideas into the mainstream.
India is committed to this ideal and vision and is part of the initiative. Union Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan, reiterated India’s pledge to pursue a sustainable future through research-led innovations at a Mission Innovation event. Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “As we move on to Mission Innovation 2.0, I would like to reiterate on behalf of my government that India remains committed to providing resources for strengthening the Mission and all its platforms to bring a transformational change in the energy domain.”
Work done under Innovation Challenges (ICs) have mobilised in a relatively short period, relying on members’ leadership and voluntary efforts to advance IC objectives. These resources have dramatically accelerated the availability of the advanced technologies that will define a future global energy mix that is clean, affordable and reliable.
India believes in the importance of collaborative scientific efforts to realise the vision of affordable and reliable clean energy system. While the country has a strong record of preserving climate and achieving growth inspired by need, the minister reiterated India’s pledge to pursue a sustainable future through research-led innovations. The Government of India has already created a strong start-up innovation eco-system in the country through the Clean Energy International Incubator.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that history would remember 2020 as the year of remarkable scientific efforts and innovation. As the pandemic threw challenges across various fields like logistics, trade, medicine and numerous others, it has been the unique out-of-box solutions provided by innovators all across the world which have helped save millions of lives and livelihoods. This, he opined, highlighted the necessity, as well as the capability, of innovative thinking to transform the world. Indeed, this was one of the silver linings that emerged from this pandemic.
Renewables are no longer fringe-sources but have become a mainstay of the energy mix. They are now critical both from an environmental and energy security point of view. India has increased solar installed capacity by 13 times and expanded its non-fossil fuel-based power generation to 134 Gigawatts, about 35% of its total power generation. It has an ambitious target: 450 Gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030.
During the first phase of Mission Innovation, much has been achieved by strengthening relationships using several innovation-driven business-models, collaborative research development and demonstration, capacity building and substantial investments.
To support the start-up innovation ecosystem, the Clean Energy International Incubation Centre established by the Department of Biotechnology, India under a Public-Private Partnership model has played a crucial role. The Clean Energy Challenge has resulted in 25 winning solutions covering a wide range of clean energy technologies.
India and Sweden have collaboratively developed an Avoided Emission Framework for a sustainable future. Under this partnership, eight companies have been selected to demonstrate an initial 100 million tons of potential CO2 emission reduction by 2030.
To build on the success achieved thus far, India is committed to continuing with existing innovation challenges and developing a global network of incubators to support the start-up ecosystem through the Collaborate & Accelerate Module of the Innovation Platform.
