Assessment of Energy–Population–Urbanization Nexus with Changing Energy Industry Scenario in India

Ram Avtar,Ashwani Kumar Aggarwal,Saurabh Tripathi

doi:10.3390/land8080124

Ram Avtar, Ashwani Kumar Aggarwal + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/land8080124

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Abstract

The demand for energy has been growing worldwide, especially in India partly due to the rapid population growth and urbanization of the country. To meet the ever-increasing energy requirement while maintaining an ecological balance is a challenging task. However, the energy industry-induced effect on population and urbanization has not been addressed before. Therefore, this study investigates the linkages between energy, population, and urbanization. The study also aims to find the quantifiable indicators for the population growth and rate of urbanization due to the expanding energy industry. The integrated framework uses a multi-temporal Landsat data to analyze the urbanization pattern, a census data for changes in population growth, night time light (NTL) data as an indicator for economic development and energy production and consumption data for energy index. Multi-attribute model is used to calculate a unified metric, termed as the energy–population–urbanization (EPU) nexus index. The proposed approach is demonstrated in the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Dadri power plant located in Uttar Pradesh, India. Landsat and NTL data clearly shows the urbanization pattern, economic development, and electrification in the study area. A comparative analysis based on various multi-attribute decision model assessment techniques suggests that the average value of EPU nexus index is 0.529, which significantly large compared to other studies and require special attention by policymakers because large EPU index indicates stronger correlation among energy, population, and urbanization. The authors believe that it would help the policymakers in planning and development of future energy projects, policies, and long-term strategies as India is expanding its energy industry.

Highlights

With the boom in the industrial revolution after World War II, people started migrating from small villages to the big cities for their better prospects
This paper explores how the focus and attention on energy industry can offer significant insights into the complex dynamic processes and the interactions among energy, population, and urbanization trends
The classes considered in the Land Use Land Cover (LULC) maps are urban area, vegetation, water and scrubland because these are related to the energy–population–urbanization nexus index

Summary

Introduction

With the boom in the industrial revolution after World War II, people started migrating from small villages to the big cities for their better prospects. This migration led to the development of societies and the expansion of infrastructure for transportation, communication, electricity, etc. This scenario is true in developing countries such as India. Energy has long been associated with the development of a nation when man started using fire for heating and cooking.

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