Energy Policy and Energy Standards in India

India has become one of the world’s major energy consumers and greenhouse gas emitters, as a result of rapid growth but increasingly also due to consumer behaviour. For more than a decade, however, the Indian government has been focusing on improving energy efficiency and strongly promoting renewable energy as a result of the country’s increasing dependence on fossil fuel imports and its growing expertise in the use of renewable energy sources. This has not been without significant success, as evidenced by the declining energy intensity of production and consumption. Standards and codes for housing, appliances, cars and industrial energy use, but especially the massive promotion of wind and even more so solar energy, have been instrumental in the policy shift. However, these successes must be put into perspective by the growth-driven increase in energy demand and emissions.