WISE
recently held the tenth national-level training programme on 'Renewable
Energy for Media Persons' in Ahmedabad. The programme held at
the Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA) on
23-24 February 2007, was attended by nearly 25 journalists from
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
The
Chief Guest at the inaugural session was G Subbarao, Chairman,
Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission. Mr Subbarao provided
background information regarding the renewable energy sector in
Gujarat and said that besides wind energy which is welldeveloped
in the state, there is tremendous potential to develop other forms
of renewable energy like bagasse-based co-generation, small hydel
power, tidal power, etc. Speaking about the country as a whole,
Mr Subbarao said that a mission-oriented approach is needed in
order to step up the power generation from renewables. Besides,
proper co-ordination between policy and regulatory issues is essential.
The valedictory session was chaired by Karthikeya Sarabhai, Director,
Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad. Mr Sarabhai said
that in this age of consumerism, there is an urgent need to follow
the sustainable development pathway. Pointing out that energy
issues need to be tackled seriously, Mr Sarabhai said that renewables
should be encouraged to tide over the energy crisis and to curb
emissions. Mr. Harish Mehta, Director, Finance, Suzlon Group of
Companies, was the Guest of Honour at the valedictory function.
Other
notable speakers at the training programme included S G Patil,
Deputy Director, Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA) Ahmedabad;
Mehul Desai, Tata BP Solar, Ahmedabad; Deepak Gadhia, Managing
Director, Gadhia Solar Systems, Valsad; A S Mehta, Deputy Director,
Central Salt and Marine Chemical Research Institute, Bhavnagar,
etc. The training programme also included a field visit to the
Energy Park in the Science City in Ahmedabad.
The
Ahmedabad media training programme was the last in the series
of ten programmes held all over the country. The training programmes
which were held in the cities of Pune, Bangalore, Jaipur, Kolkata,
Chennai, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Chandigarh, and Thiruvananthapuram
were the first-of-its-kind in the country and brought together
over 300 journalists as participants. The feedback received from
them was extremely positive and today, all these journalists are
part of WISE in their capacity as members of the WISE Alumni.
The series which was conceptualised by G M Pillai, Director General,
WISE, was supported by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE), Govt. of India. The programmes were successful in achieving
the objective of exposing the media to the right kind of information
on renewable energy technologies, policy related issues, etc.
The series drew eminent speakers from different parts of the country
who discussed issues such as the importance of renewable energy,
relevance of solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy, biofuels,
prospects of hydrogen energy, power sector reforms, etc. Besides
enhancement of knowledge, the training programmes also endeavoured
to clear doubts, misconceptions and criticisms surrounding the
renewable energy sector.
