Horizon energy technologies, technology partnerships, and national energy policy
The Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted by various nations and the subsequent Paris Agreement on climate change announced in December 2015 has decisively put the nations on a path to stringent mitigation of greenhouse gases. The energy sector, biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has to transform signifi cantly to achieve the global climate goals. India is increasingly gaining prominence in global discussions as the fastest growing consumer of energy and resultant emissions. The impending transformation towards a global low-carbon economy presents many opportunities for India, specifically for innovative energy technologies. Within India however, the focus of energy policy has always been energy access, energy security, and energy affordability. To ensure that ‘horizon energy technologies and technology partnerships’ are viewed in a strategic way and are pursued within the ambit of India’s new national energy policy that is being currently drafted by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and NITI Aayog jointly organised a high level expert stakeholder discussion. The discussion highlighted the need to strategically view future technologies and address the key policy changes required to accelerate technology transfer and to foster technology partnerships.