Page - 49 - in Clean Water Using Solar and Wind - Outside the Power Grid

Water supply 49 capacity is used for agricultural water pumping (CEA, 2016). India has around 26 million agriculture pumps, including at least 12 million grid- based electric pumps and ten million diesel-operated irrigation pump sets (IRENA, 2015b). Farmers pay only an estimated 13% of the true cost of electricity (Casey, 2013). The national burden of electric power subsidies is becoming too heavy. The subsidies encourage inefficient water use and contribute to depletion of groundwater. As water levels drop, more power is needed to pump the water, thus increasing the energy requirement of water extraction. India has announced plans to replace many of its 26 million groundwater pumps for irrigation with solar pumps (Tweed, 2014). This will lead to large savings on installed electric power capacity and diesel and will hugely reduce CO2 emissions. However, it is recognised that solar-based pumping poses a new risk for water resources: since the operational cost of solar PV pumps is negligible and the availability of energy is predictable, it could result in overdrawing of water. To combat that unintended consequence, the farmers who accept subsidies to purchase solar water pumps must switch to drip irrigation. In sub-Saharan Africa around 40% of the population, more than 300 million people, have no access to an improved source of drinking water from the region (UN Water, 2014). An analysis of data from 35 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (representing 84% of the region’s population) shows significant differences between the poorest and richest fifths of the population in both rural and urban areas. More than 90% of the richest fifth in urban areas use improved water sources and over 60% have piped water on the premises. In rural areas, piped-in water is non-existent in the poorest 40% of households, and less than half of the population use any form of improved water source. In the Sahel region solar-powered pumping stations have been in operation for almost two decades, providing better access to both electricity and water for two million people (IRENA, 2012). The region receives limited annual rainfall and the water table is at most 100 m When “fuel” is free it is tempting to overuse water for irrigation. Therefore, Indian farmers who accept subsidies to purchase solar water pumps must switch to drip irrigation. Downloaded from https://iwaponline.com/ebooks/book-pdf/520710/wio9781780409443.pdf by IWA Publishing user