India is home to the world’s second largest population and uses more and more power as it grows in size and wealth. It’s also the third largest national contributor to greenhouse gasses, after China and the U.S. This tells us that whatever is happening in India matters on a global scale.
That’s why it’s great news that, for the first time, India is investing more in solar energy than coal. India had committed to transitioning to renewables year ago, and now it seems it’s finally honoring that commitment. To be clear, coal is still king in India, proving 74 percent of the country’s energy use last year. But it doesn’t look poised to stay that way as India’s aggressive investments in renewables have it well positioned to meet and possibly exceed its Paris climate agreement commitments to bring 175 gigawatts of renewable energy online by 2022.
