Awareness Level of Renewable Energy Concepts in India

Business Research Methods (TERM-III)

Group 8, Section F Aarti Jha (11HR-001) Dishank Jain (11FN-036) Geoff Mathew (11DM-038) Prachi Agarwal (11FN-075) Vaqar Merchant (11IT-032) Vidhan Biyani (11DM-175)

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Suzlon Group is the leading wind turbine manufacturer with presence in 32 countries. It is India's No. 1 wind energy company and has been so, for 13 years. The basic premise of Suzlon Group is sustainable development which helps mitigate the negative impact of global warming and climate change. ABOUT P.A.L.S The Pure Air Lovers Society (P.A.L.S) is a group of environmentally conscious people who love pure air and want to live in a cleaner and healthier tomorrow. They work against the threat of air pollution to bring about a clean air revolution in India. About 8 months back, Suzlon launched a cause-based advertising campaign to create this self-sustaining community, called PALS, of people who are willing to take steps in their lives and make decisions that will reduce pollution and make a positive contribution towards mitigating the issue.

BUSINESS PROBLEM Suzlon has been synonymous with wind energy in India. But the companys corporate philosophy goes way beyond just making wind turbines. Keeping Suzlons philosophy of pursuing sustainable development for the planet in the social, economic and ecological sphere, they realized that there was a need to widen Suzlons appeal from just their business stakeholders to the general masses, to take their philosophy forward. The problem they faced was to understand peoples awareness level about the renewable energy concept in India before they could venture in with the PALS campaign.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The objective was to study the level of awareness about green energy amongst todays youth, thus helping Suzlon creating a greener future.

RESEARCH & QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN The research design adopted to achieve the objectives is descriptive design, through which the level of awareness can be judged on various parameters. The questionnaire prepared for conducting the same has been basically designed to understand the level of awareness among youth about renewable energy concepts in India. The same has been included in the report at the end under Appendix section.

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RESEARCH FINDINGS A total of 147 people had responded to the survey, majority (92%) of who were between 21 and 30 years of age. Only 12 respondents were not belonging to this age group. There was fair representation from both the genders, with 66% being males and remaining being females. As far as the educational background is concerned, approximately 46% of the respondents were engineers (BE/B.Tech) and about 41% of them were studying now. Following table shows the background in detail:

A staggering 78% of the respondents were aware about the renewable energy sources in India. A majority of the respondents (44.2%) believed hydro energy to be the largest source of renewable energy in India, followed by solar energy (28.6%), wind energy (16.3%), nuclear energy (10.2%), and rest comprised of bio-fuels, etc. Again, 27.9% of the respondents believe that solar energy is the best source of renewable energy, followed by wind energy (22.4%), nuclear energy (19%) and hydro energy (15.6%). While 98% of the people are aware of wind as a renewable energy source, only 47.6% know about Suzlons efforts in creating a pollution free future but around 59% knew about P.A.L.S, an initiative from Suzlon group itself. But one striking to note is that still 21% of the respondents with age less than 25 years are unaware about the renewable energy sources in India. Here is a snapshot of the demographic link with their awareness levels:

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Almost a quarter of the students who participated in the survey were unaware about the renewable energy concepts. A sector-wise break-up of the awareness level can be seen below:

Moreover, as far as their readiness to pay a premium over their current electricity bills are concerned, a good 75.5% of the respondents were ready to do that. But similar number (75%) of them did not want to pay more than 10% on their current bills. Awareness regarding recycling waste is still at a nascent stage. Less than one-third of the population has taken initiatives to recycle their old mobile phones etc. However, this concept is gaining popularity. Questions on both, awareness of energy saving techniques, and energy consumption habits were included in the survey to find whether people are not aware of the imminent threat to nature, or the awareness is not translating into actions. So, three parameters on which we checked the respondents usage namely, switching off of lights and fans, recycling of batteries, etc when not in use and use of CFL Bulbs/ LED Torches instead of regular ones. It was observed that 96% of the respondents were sincere enough to switch off lights and fans when not in use. But as many as 65.3% people did not recycle things when unusable. While 56% of the people considered switching off of lights and fans as the most effective method that impacts the savings in energy, only 28% believed in each of the other two methods as effective ones.

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RECOMMENDATIONS: There are certain steps that Suzlon Group should take up based on the findings of this research. First of all, they need to increase awareness level of citizens in India about renewable energy sources, its uses and importance. India being a nation where the average age is 25 years, and with the fact that approximately 20% of them do not know enough about the renewable energy concepts is indeed alarming. They need to especially focus on the youth below the age of 25 years. This way they can also ensure that the coming generation will also be benefitted. Considering a low level of understanding that students in India have about this, Suzlon should engage students in various schools and colleges. They can organize seminars, lectures, events, activities, etc related to the concepts of renewable energy. They should also focus on how to sensitize the youth on various other sources of energy like nuclear, bio-fuels, etc. Company should focus on sensitizing people about recycling batteries, PCs, mobile phones, etc. This practice has been started to be preached by various companies like Nokia, etc but it hasnt captured much of the attention of the masses. So, an effort to revitalize the practice through sheer promotions can be done.

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APPENDIX Questionnaire This is a survey to measure your awareness about the renewable energy concept in association with the Suzlon Group a leading wind power company wants todays youth to shape our tomorrow. * Required 1. Please Enter your Full Name * 2. Please Enter your Age * 3. Location - City * 4. Gender *- Male/ Female 5. Education Background * a) BE/B Tech b) Arts c) Commerce d) Law e) Science f) Other: 6. Occupation * 7. Sector a) b) c) d) e) f)

IT/ITES/Telecom Banking Manufacturing/FMCG FMCG Student Other:

8. Please state your level of awareness of Renewable Energy Sources * a) b) c) d) Unaware Somewhat Aware Moderately Aware Excellent Awareness

9. According to you which is the largest source of renewable energy in India * a) Solar Energy b) Wind Energy
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c) d) e) f) g)

Hydro Power Bio fuels - Bio Diesel etc Geo Thermal Energy Nuclear Energy Tidal Energy

10. Which according to you is the best way to produce Renewable Energy * a) b) c) d) e) f) g) Solar Energy Wind Energy Hydro Power Bio fuels - Bio Diesel etc Geo Thermal Energy Nuclear Energy Tidal Energy

11. Are you aware of Wind as a source of renewable energy? * a) Yes b) No c) Somewhat

12. Are you aware of the Suzlon Group and its activities? * a) Yes b) No c) Somewhat

13. In this era of global warming, would you pay a premium above your current electricity bill to meet your energy needs from renewable sources of energy? * a) Yes b) No c) Maybe

14. If yes, then please indicate how much more in % of your current bill? * a) b) c) d) < 5% 5- 10% 10 -15% 15 % and above

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15. Have you heard about PALS - Pure Air Lovers Society, a Suzlon Group initiative to promote renewable energy? * a) Yes b) No

16. Do you Switch off the lights, fans, AC etc when not in use? * a) Yes b) No

17. Do you Recycle things as much as possible such as Batteries / Mobile Phones, etc? * a) Yes b) No

18. Do you use CFL bulbs / LED torches rather than regular conventional bulbs? * a) Yes b) No

19. Please rank (from 1 to 3; Rank 1 should be given to one with the highest impact and so on) the below actions/behaviors according to the impact that they can make in saving energy. * a) Switch off fans and bulbs when not in use b) Recycle Waste and Consumer Products c) Use CFL lamps instead of Conventional Bulbs

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