Energy 

Statement 1 is incorrect. Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of States (AREAS) is an initiative of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE).
Statement 2 is correct. Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the nodal agency at the central level for promotion of grid-connected and off-grid renewable energy in the country. Ministry’s programmes are implemented in close coordination with State Nodal Agencies (SNAs) for renewable energy (RE).
Over the period the SNAs have developed considerable knowledge and experience in planning and implementation of RE programmes. For SNAs to interact and learn from each other’s experiences and also share their best practices and knowledge regarding technologies and schemes/programmes, MNRE took an initiative in this regard in consultation with SNAs, and Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of States (AREAS) was formed and registered as a society in 2014.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister has recently approved ‘Natural Gas Marketing Reforms’.
— The policy aims to provide standard procedure for sale of natural gas in a transparent and competitive manner to discover market price by issuing guidelines for sale by contractor through e-bidding.
— The policy has also permitted Affiliate companies to participate in the bidding process in view of the open, transparent and electronic bidding. This will facilitate and promote more competition in marketing of gas. However, rebidding will have to be done in case only affiliates participate, and there are no other bidders.
— The policy will also grant marketing freedom to the Field Development Plans (FDPs) of those Blocks in which Production Sharing Contracts already provide pricing freedom.

Both statements are correct.
The PM KUSUM scheme aims to add solar and other renewable capacity of 25,750 MW by 2022.
The Scheme consists of three components:
Component A: 10,000 MW of Decentralized Ground Mounted Grid Connected Renewable Power Plants of individual plant size up to 2 MW.
-Renewable power plants of capacity 500 KW to 2 MW will be setup by individual farmers/ cooperatives/panchayats /farmer producer organisations (FPO) on their barren or cultivable lands. The power generated will be purchased by the DISCOMs at Feed in tariffs determined by respective SERC.
Component B: Installation of 17.50 lakh standalone Solar Powered Agriculture Pumps of individual pump.
-Individual farmers will be supported to install standalone solar Agriculture pumps of capacity up to 7.5 HP.
Component C: Solarisation of 10 Lakh Grid-connected Agriculture Pumps of individual pump capacity up to 7.5 HP.
-Individual farmers will be supported to solarise pumps of capacity up to 7.5 HP.
For both Component-B and Component-C, central financial assistance (CFA) of 30% of the benchmark cost or the tender cost, whichever is lower, will be provided. The State Government will give a subsidy of 30%; and the remaining 40% will be provided by the farmer.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Central Sector having an installed capacity of 94,027 MW accounts for about 25.2% of total installed capacity.

Statement 2 is correct. Coal based thermal power plants having 1,99,595 MW installed capacity account for 53.6% of total installed capacity.

According to the economic survey 2018-19, the overall production of raw coal
in India is increased from 2008 to 2018.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister has recently approved ‘Natural Gas Marketing Reforms’.
— The policy aims to provide standard procedure for sale of natural gas in a transparent and competitive manner to discover market price by issuing guidelines for sale by contractor through e-bidding.
— The policy has also permitted Affiliate companies to participate in the bidding process in view of the open, transparent and electronic bidding. This will facilitate and promote competition in marketing of gas. However, rebidding will have to be done in case only affiliates participate, and there are no other bidders.
— The policy will also grant marketing freedom to the Field Development Plans (FDPs) of those Blocks in which Production Sharing Contracts already provide pricing freedom.

Statement 1 is incorrect. It is a scheme of the Gujarat government.
Prime Minister inaugurated three projects, including Kisan Suryodaya Yojana for the
farmers in Gujarat recently.
Statement 2 is correct. Under the scheme, farmers will be able to avail power supply from
5am to 9pm for irrigation purposes. The state government has allocated a budget of Rs
3,500 crores for installing transmission infrastructure under this scheme by 2023.
Dahod, Patan, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Kheda, Tapi, Valsad, Anand and
Gir-Somnath districts have been covered under the scheme for 2020-21. The rest will be
included in a phased manner by 2022-23.

NITI Aayog, Ministry of Power, Rockefeller Foundation, and Smart Power
India launched the ‘Electricity Access in India and Benchmarking Distribution
Utilities’ report recently.
Based on a primary survey conducted across 10 states––representing about 65% of the total
rural population of India and with a sample size of more than 25,000, including
households, commercial enterprises and institutions––the report assesses 25 distribution
utilities.
Key findings of the report:
— As much as 92% of customers reported the overall availability of electricity infrastructure
within 50 metres of their premises; however, not all have connections, the primary reason
being the distance of households from the nearest pole.
— Overall, 87% of the surveyed customers have access to grid-based electricity. The
remaining 13% either use non-grid sources or don’t use any electricity at all.
— The hours of supply have improved significantly across the customer categories to nearly
17 hours per day.
— Nearly 85% of customers reported to have a metered electricity connection.
— Access to electricity is observed in 83% of household customers.
— A satisfaction index was created to assess the overall satisfaction level of customers with
utility services. The study suggested that a total of 66% of those surveyed were satisfied––
74% of customers in urban areas and 60% in rural areas.

Both statements are incorrect.
The 2020 edition of the India Energy Forum by CERAWeek is its fourth edition. The event
is hosted by IHS Markit. The theme of this edition is “India’s Energy Future in a world of
Change”.
It is not an intergovernmental summit, rather the event will convene an international group
of speakers and a community of over a a thousand delegates from India and over 30
countries, including from regional energy companies, energy-related industries, institutions
and governments.

Statement 1 is correct. CNG is compressed natural gas. Natural Gas is
mainly composed of methane, it emits less air pollutants — carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter — than petrol or diesel.
H-CNG is a blend of hydrogen and CNG, the ideal hydrogen concentration being 18%.
Tests by the Automotive Research Association of India and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd
(IOCL) have found that compared to conventional CNG, use of H-CNG can reduce emission
of carbon monoxide up to 70%, besides enabling up to 5% savings in fuel.
Statement 2 is correct. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has recently
allowed use of H-CNG (18% mix of hydrogen) in CNG engines. A notification for
amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989, for inclusion of H-CNG as an
automotive fuel has been published by the Ministry.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has also developed specifications (IS 17314:2019) of
Hydrogen enriched Compressed Natural Gas (H-CNG) for automotive purposes, as a fuel.
Certain CNG-engine were tested to understand the emission reduction using H-CNG as
compared to ‘neat’ CNG.

Both statements are correct.

Coal is a complex and highly variable substance that can be converted into a variety of

products. The gasification of coal is one method that can produce power, liquid fuels,

chemicals, and hydrogen.

Coal gasification is the process of producing synthesis gas (syngas)—a mixture

consisting primarily of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, natural gas, and water

vapour—from coal and water, air and/or oxygen.

After the impurities are removed from the synthesis gas, the carbon monoxide in the gas

mixture is reacted with steam through the water-gas shift reaction to produce additional

hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Hydrogen is removed by a separation system, and the highly

concentrated carbon dioxide stream can subsequently be captured and stored.

The gasification has inherent advantages over combustion for emissions control.

Emission control is simpler in gasification than in combustion because the produced

syngas in gasification is at higher temperature and pressure than the exhaust gases

produced in combustion. These higher temperatures and pressures allow for easier

removal of sulfur and nitrous oxides (SOx, and NOx), and volatile trace contaminants

such as mercury, arsenic, selenium, cadmium, etc.

Statement 1 is correct. The Indian Energy Exchange recently launched the

GTAM on its power trading platform after receiving approval from the Central Electricity

Regulatory Commission (CERC).

The market will offer trade in four types of green term-ahead contracts -Green Intra-day

contracts, Day-ahead Contingency contracts, Daily Contracts and Weekly contracts. There

will be separate contracts for Solar and Non-Solar energy to facilitate Solar and Non-Solar

Renewable Purchase Obligations fulfillment.

Statement 2 is correct. The introduction of GTAM platform would lessen the burden on

RE-rich States and incentivize them to develop RE capacity beyond their own renewable

purchase obligations. This would promote RE merchant capacity addition and help in

achieving RE capacity addition targets of the country.

The GTAM platform will lead to increase in number of participants in renewable energy

sector. It will benefit buyers of RE through competitive prices and transparent and flexible

procurement. It will also benefit RE sellers by providing access to pan- India market.

Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – “Saubhagya” was launched

with an aim to achieve universal household electrification.

Statement 1 is correct. Under Saubhagya free electricity connections to all households

(both APL and poor families) in rural areas and poor families in urban areas will be

provided. Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) has been designated as nodal agency for

the Saubhagya scheme.

Statement 2 is correct. Schemes targets for providing Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) based

standalone system for un-electrified households located in remote and inaccessible villages

/ habitations, where grid extension is not feasible or cost effective.

Statement 3 is correct. The prospective beneficiary households for free electricity

connections under the scheme would be identified using SECC 2011 data. However, unelectrified

households not covered under SECC data would also be provided electricity

connections under the scheme on payment of Rs. 500 which shall be recovered by

DISCOMs in 10 instalments through electricity bill.

Natural uranium deposits exist all over the world, but uranium in this form is not suitable for nuclear weapons, and cannot be used in most nuclear reactors for either electricity or plutonium production.

Natural uranium is composed of various isotopes, or different types of uranium. It contains approximately 99.3% of the isotope uranium-238, and has only very small concentrations, about 0.7%, of the fissile isotope uranium-235. An isotope is considered fissile if it can be split by a slow-moving neutron.

Uranium-235 is the most significant fissile isotope of uranium for reactor fuel and nuclear weapons. To be useful for either of these purposes, the concentration of uranium-235 must be increased by separating it from uranium-238 through a process known as enrichment.

Statement 1 is incorrect. National Hydrology Project (World Bank supported initiative of Ministry of Jal Shakti) is a Central Sector Scheme, with 100% grant to the States. Its Budget Outlay is about Rs3,680 Crore, with World Bank Assistance to the tune of 50% of the project cost.

Project Timeline: 8 years from 2016-17 to 2023-24.

Statement 2 is correct. Project Objective is to improve the extent, quality, and accessibility of water resources information, decision support system for floods and basin level resource assessment/planning and to strengthen the capacity of targeted water resources professionals and management institutions in India.

The Project, in its mid-term, has made significant progress in the fields of Water resource monitoring system, water resource information system (WRIS), water resource operation and planning systems and institutional capacity enhancement. Under the NHP, a nationwide repository of water resources data – NWIC has been established. NHP is focusing on establishment of real time data acquisition system (RTDAS) on pan India basis.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is seeking comments from the public for adoption of E20 fuel, i.e, blend of 20% of ethanol with gasoline, as an automotive fuel and for the adoption of mass emission standards for this fuel.

The notification facilitates the development of E20 compliant vehicles. It will also help in reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, etc. It will help reduce the oil import bill, thereby saving foreign exchange and boosting energy security.

The compatibility of the vehicle to the percentage of ethanol in the blend of ethanol and gasoline shall be defined by the vehicle manufacturer and the same shall be displayed on the vehicle by putting a clearly visible sticker.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and British multinational oil and gas major BP Plc have announced their first gas finding in what is Asia’s deepest offshore field.

The combine has struck gas at the ultra-deep-water gas field called R Cluster of the Krishna Godavari (KG) D6 basin. Other than this, the combine is also developing two more deep-water gas fields in KG D6 block, called the Satellites Cluster and MJ.

The field (R cluster) is located about 60 kilometers from the existing KG D6 Control & Riser Platform (CRP) off the Kakinada coast and comprises a subsea production system tied back to CRP via a subsea pipeline.

Natural gas as its name indicates is a Gaseous fuel, consisting of 87-92% of Methane with a small percentage of other higher hydrocarbons.

PNG, CNG & LNG are different forms of Natural gas under varied temperature & pressure.

Piped Natural Gas (PNG) is generally under atmospheric temperatures but the pressure can up to as high as 90 Kg/cm2 in transmission lines and limited to less than 24 Kg/cm2 in City Gas grids due to risk involved in movement of high-pressure gas inside crowded cities/towns.

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) means natural gas used as fuel for vehicles, typically compressed to the pressure ranging from 200 to 250 kg/cm2 in the gaseous state.

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is liquid form of Natural gas, generally intended for transportation of large volumes through ships, where cross country pipelines are not feasible. There will be high degree of economy in transportation logistics due to large scale of operations involved.