Dr Jitendra Singh Calls for Promoting StarUps in ‘Carbon Neutral’ Building Construction

Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (I/C) Science and Technology; Minister of State (I/C) Earth Sciences; and Minister of State (I/C) Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy, and Space, today called for promoting StarUps in "carbon neutral" building construction and linking them with industry to help India achieve 500GW non-fossil energy capacity by 2030, as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the COP26 meeting.

Dr. Jitendra Singh urged real estate developers, builders, industry, and academia to find innovative, affordable solutions that adapt to India's climatic zones and unique needs, address extreme weather events, and reduce risk to lives and property in his Special Address as Chief Guest at the Solar Decathlon India Awards Ceremony, an Indo-US joint initiative for clean energy. The Minister stated once more that Prime Minister Modi has extended full-fledged support to StartUps and even called upon them to tackle challenges facing the country including the climate challenge.

Recognizing that net-zero carbon emission start-ups are rapidly emerging in the Indian landscape, Dr. Jitendra Singh promised all financial support from DST while also urging businesses to embrace such ventures with open arms. He stated that, in addition to clean and green buildings, clean transportation, solar water pumps and solar-powered refrigeration, clean grid power, and electric vehicles are important areas for India's cleantech ecosystem.

Recognizing the challenge of developing net-zero energy and net-zero-water solutions, Dr. Jitendra Singh congratulated the Solar Decathlon India participants and winners on taking on real, live building projects and developing innovative solutions. According to him, Solar Decathlon India (SDI) is assisting in the development of the next generation of architects, engineers, and entrepreneurs who can deliver net-zero-energy buildings.

According to Dr. Jitendra Singh, India has laid out an ambitious plan to address climate change, one of the most serious challenges confronting the global community. He stated that at the recent COP26 meeting in Glasgow, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi presented India's five-point climate action agenda, the Panchamrit plan.

They include 500GW by 2030, 50% of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030, a reduction of total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from now to 2030, a reduction of the economy's carbon intensity by 45 percent by 2030, over 2005 levels, and achieving net zero emissions by 2070.

Solar Decathlon India is a US-India collaboration under an MOU between the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) and the US Department of Energy, and is run by the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE) and the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, according to Dr. Jitendra Singh (IIHS). The Department of Science and Technology is supporting Solar Decathlon India (DST).

Dr. Jitendra Singh, speaking on the topic of Climate Change and Net-Zero: Challenges for the Building Sector, stated that the construction and operation of buildings account for 38% of total energy-related CO2 emissions that cause global warming. According to him, India is experiencing a building boom, with nearly 70% of the floor area that India will have in 2050 being built in the next 28 years. The Minister added that this presents a huge opportunity to make 70 percent of our buildings net-zero by leveraging new technologies and encouraging the use of local, sustainable building materials.

Dr. S. Chandrasekhar, Secretary of Science and Technology, stated that Dr. Jitendra Singh gave DST full authority over carbon capture and utilization. He described DST's role as an energy efficiency leader, including support for research and development in thermal comfort, low energy cooling, daylighting, passive design, building automation, and intelligent decision support systems.

"With over 5,00,000 students graduating annually from building sector courses, and over 40 billion square metres of buildings to be built between now and 2050, India has a unique opportunity to aggressively decarbonize this new construction and build a large stock of net-zero buildings," said Prasad Vaidya, Director, Solar Decathlon India. “Solar Decathlon India is the meeting point for the real estate industry to investigate climate change solutions with students and faculty, and apply the most feasible technology and design innovations on their projects.”

"Achieving India's ambitious climate and clean energy goals will require the development of a globally-trained workforce that leverages technology and cutting-edge R&D to develop innovative, impactful solutions," said Dr. Nandini Kannan, Executive Director of the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum.