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| WISE Press helps in conceptualising and generating essays on various unexplored subjects pertaining to sustainable energy and development, besides developing timely and up-to-date comprehensive reports on current and existing issues. |
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Book publication is an important outreach effort of WISE. Although a lot of work is being carried out in the field of sustainable energy and development (particularly renewable energy), we are faced with a knowledge-deficit crisis, emanating from the lack of accurate technical information and non-availability of analytical research studies on the subject. WISE Press plays a key role in filling that void.
The first book released from WISE in January 2005 was titled Electricity Reforms and Green Power Development:
Regulatory and Tariff Issues. The book focuses on the need for an appropriate tariff regime and policy framework for encouraging renewable energy development in India. The book also elaborates on the technological and regulatory issues in India and abroad, with a focus on the structural reforms under way in the electricity sector. It is a must-read for policy-makers, stakeholders from the energy sector, academicians, researchers, consultants and all those interested in renewable energy development in India and elsewhere. The authors of the book are
Pramod Deo, Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) and Shrikant Modak, Deputy Editor, Business India.
The second book to be published by WISE Press was
The New Energy Economy. Released in March 2005, the book is a trendsetter and a pointer to the future of the energy sector in the next few decades. Scientific estimates predict that by 2050, about 40% to 50% of grid power used by humans would come from renewable sources. The book surveys this epochal transformation globally, with a special focus on India. The authors who have contributed essays are well known experts in their own fields, drawn from senior-most levels of the academia, industry, non-governmental organizations and the government. G. M. Pillai, Director General, WISE, is the editor of ‘The New Energy Economy’.
There is much more to publishing than production – the books must reach not only those who want them, but also those who need them and those who can act on them. Books from WISE Press seek to go beyond information; they aspire to be an agent of change and will promote sustainable energy through increased understanding and practical know-how.
The proposed book on biodiesel, for example, will be an accessible introduction to the topic, not only for growers, policy-makers, and researchers, but also for those who want to take up biodiesel on commercial lines, be they growers or entrepreneurs.
Likewise, the forthcoming volume on wind energy will be a comprehensive – and comprehensible – handbook for investors, policy-makers, administrators (of nodal agencies, electricity boards, and private power companies), and postgraduate students, on all aspects of using wind energy to generate electricity. The book will not only explain technicalities but also empower readers to make informed decisions (both financial and technical) related to wind energy.
The third of the proposed books analyses different policy options being pursued by the central and state governments to promote renewable sources of energy, assesses the impact of these policies on India's energy sector as a whole, and presents innovative strategies to bring renewable energy in India in the mainstream of power generation.
Leading experts with first-hand and continuing involvement with the respective topics have been chosen to assemble the contents by inviting the most appropriate contributors for each chapter.
Concurrent with these activities, the more mundane publishing operations are also in progress so as to set WISE Press on a sound footing: building mailing lists, empanelling reviewers and review media, choosing printers, establishing a distinct identity for WISE Press books by means of appropriate page layout and design, seeking sponsorship for publications, and so on. The publisher's prefix has already been obtained for WISE Press so that all future books carry the ISBN (International Standard Book Number).
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