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President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Friday called for a policy towards "energy independence" rather than just energy security for India, stressing on increased output in bio-fuel, solar, wind and thorium reprocessing in order to reduce carbon emission. Chalking the path toward energy independence at the 94th Indian Science Congress in the temple town of Chidambaram, Kalam said solar energy output needed to be increased from 5 percent to 25 percent by 2030. "Laboratory research in high-efficiency CND photovoltaic cells" must increase 50 fold in the next three years so that affordable cells can be manufactured commercially in five years, he said. Crude import by India is poised to reach 300 million tones, and increased research is required in bio-fuels and the ethanol industry so that "up to 40 percent ethanol can be blended with diesel and petrol", the president said. India needs 60 million tonnes of ethanol and another 60 million tonnes of bio-fuel in the near future. He said agriculture scientists needed to research on drought-resistant jatropha plants, a rich source of bio-fuel, and how to bring jatropha cultivation on greater amount of wasteland. More research was necessary for India to be able to quickly and efficiently convert non-fissile thorium reserves into fissile material for more nuclear energy, Kalam said. The president urged researchers to focus on making available commercially low cost hydrogen as vehicle fuel. "The technology for hydrogen vehicles and electrical vehicles needs to be further advanced" in India, he said. India has the potential to generate 45,000 MW of wind energy, Kalam pointed out, adding that a great deal of research was necessary to bring down the cost of wind energy generation. Small farmers must be empowered to use wind mills to generate their required power while offshore wind mills must be set up. Calling for convergence of technologies to evolve "intelligent bio-science", Kalam said that ICT, nano-technology and biotechnology should allow for "material convergence" and a common platform with sister countries to develop "knowledge products". "With Russia, we have done this successfully, despite differences in culture and language", he said, referring to the development of the BrahMos missile, an Indo-Russian venture.
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