The Union Minister of Science & Technology recently addressed the Mission Innovation (MI) to initiate phase-2 of the mission, also known as Mission Innovation 2.0. Throughout the mission’s existence, India has played a significant leadership role in the MI Steering Committee and has been an active member of the Analysis and Joint Research and Business & Investor Engagement sub-groups.
About Mission Innovation
Mission Innovation was officially announced on 30th November 2015 alongside the Paris Climate Agreement as an effort to implement ambitious measures to counteract climate change. The global initiative, consisting of 24 countries and the European Union, was established to hasten clean energy innovation worldwide.
Each of the members agreed to strive to double their clean energy innovation investments over five years in specific priority areas based on their own national priorities, policies, processes, and laws. The primary objectives of the initiative include enhancing public sector investment, encouraging private sector participation, increasing international collaboration, and promoting awareness about the transformational potential of innovation.
Innovation Challenges
Integral to Mission Innovation are the Innovation Challenges (ICs) which target harnessing research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) in technology areas that can contribute to substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, enhance energy security, and create opportunities for clean economic growth.
There are eight innovation challenges: IC1 – Smart grids, IC2 – Off-grid access to electricity, IC3 – Carbon capture, IC4 – Sustainable biofuels, IC5 – Converting sunlight, IC6 – Clean energy materials, IC7 – Affordable cooling and heating of buildings, IC8 – Renewable and clean hydrogen.
Mission Innovation 2.0
To achieve the collective goal of accelerating innovation, all MI members have agreed to develop a second phase that includes building an enhanced Innovation Platform and creating new public-private innovation alliances. These alliances are designed to motivate goals that can lead to crucial turning points in the cost, scale, availability, and attractiveness of clean energy solutions.
India’s Initiatives in Line with the Mission
The Clean Energy International Incubation Centre, a Public Private Partnership model launched by the Department of Biotechnology, India, has played a crucial role in supporting the start-up innovation ecosystem.
India has also dramatically increased its solar installed capacity by 13 times, expanding non-fossil fuel-based power generation to 134 Gigawatts, which accounts for about 35% of total power generation. Ambitious biofuel projects are underway, including the Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP) aimed at blending ethanol with petrol.
Notably, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), the world’s largest clean cooking fuel program, was launched in 2016 and has achieved its target of providing deposit free LPG connections to BPL households. As of now, India has released around 150 million connections.
Additionally, India and Sweden have developed an Avoided Emission Framework for a sustainable future under their partnership. The partnership currently has eight companies demonstrating an initial 100 million tons of potential CO2 emission reduction by 2030.
