With a view to creating awareness and disseminating information about the usefulness of solar energy in the housing, institutional, commercial and industrial sectors, thus reducing energy dependence and cutting green house gas emissions, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in association with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, organised a one-day seminar here today. Welcoming the participants, Dalip Sharma, Regional Director, PHD Chamber, said India was the world’s fifth largest energy consumer, accounting for 4 per cent of the global energy consumption. In India, energy cost had risen by more than three fold in the last decade and therefore solar energy development could prove to be an effective tool to the industry. A shift towards renewable energy was necessary to meet the rapidly increasing energy needs, he added. In his keynote address, Dr SS Chandel, HOD-CEEE, National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, said the available renewable energy was very large and could meet the energy requirements of the world but only a small portion was recoverable as yet. He said India had launched a National Solar Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change to produce 20,000 MW of solar power by 2020. Speaking on the occasion, BM Sood, Director, HIMURJA, said promoting renewable energy had assumed great importance in view of the high growth rate of energy consumption, the high share of coal in domestic energy demand, heavy dependence on imports for meeting the demand for petroleum fuels and volatility in the world oil market. Anand Narvane, scientific officer, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, urged the industry to install solar panels. The seminar laid stress on promoting renewable energy, basically solar energy technologies, in the industrial and commercial sectors.