Chapter 5
Fourth Industrial Revolution and India
Abstract The world has now moved into the fourth phase of industrial revolution—
the digital revolution where either knowledge workers, or robots, or a combination
of both will produce most goods and services by focusing on creativity. The revolution offers a great opportunity to all countries to usher into a more sustainable
energy management system that is environment-friendly such as solar and wind. It
will be counterproductive for India to remain thirsty for oil and coal irrespective of
the perceived devastations both environment and economic. With the demand for
electricity alone expected to cross 950 gigawatts by 2030, India will have to commit
huge upfront investment in energy sector and human skills to remain competitive
economy.
Keywords Fourth industrial revolution · Carbon emission · Lithium cell · Global
warming · Carbon intensity · Fuel cell · Fusion energy · Fuel wood · Biomass
fuel · Fuel value · LED
5.1 The Fourth Industrial Revolution
The term ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ was coined by Dr. Klaus Schwab, founder,
and Executive Chairman of World Economic Forum. In his article titled ‘The fourth
industrial revolution—what it means and how to respond’ published in Foreign
Affairs,
1 December 12, 2015, he mentioned that:
We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we
live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation
will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before … There are three reasons why
today’s transformations represent not merely a prolongation of the third industrial revolution
but rather the arrival of a fourth and distinct one: velocity, scope, and systems impact. The
speed of current breakthroughs has no historical precedent. When compared with previous
1 Source https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2015-12-12/fourth-industrial-revolution and
Schwab, Klaus Martin. ‘The fours industrial revolution [E-source].’ KlausMartin Schwab
Available at: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/anthologies/2016-01-01/fourth-industrial-revolution.
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
A. Srivastav, Energy Dynamics and Climate Mitigation,
Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8940-9_5
147
Fourth Industrial Revolution and India
Abstract The world has now moved into the fourth phase of industrial revolution—
the digital revolution where either knowledge workers, or robots, or a combination
of both will produce most goods and services by focusing on creativity. The revolution offers a great opportunity to all countries to usher into a more sustainable
energy management system that is environment-friendly such as solar and wind. It
will be counterproductive for India to remain thirsty for oil and coal irrespective of
the perceived devastations both environment and economic. With the demand for
electricity alone expected to cross 950 gigawatts by 2030, India will have to commit
huge upfront investment in energy sector and human skills to remain competitive
economy.
Keywords Fourth industrial revolution · Carbon emission · Lithium cell · Global
warming · Carbon intensity · Fuel cell · Fusion energy · Fuel wood · Biomass
fuel · Fuel value · LED
5.1 The Fourth Industrial Revolution
The term ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ was coined by Dr. Klaus Schwab, founder,
and Executive Chairman of World Economic Forum. In his article titled ‘The fourth
industrial revolution—what it means and how to respond’ published in Foreign
Affairs,
1 December 12, 2015, he mentioned that:
We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we
live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation
will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before … There are three reasons why
today’s transformations represent not merely a prolongation of the third industrial revolution
but rather the arrival of a fourth and distinct one: velocity, scope, and systems impact. The
speed of current breakthroughs has no historical precedent. When compared with previous
1 Source https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2015-12-12/fourth-industrial-revolution and
Schwab, Klaus Martin. ‘The fours industrial revolution [E-source].’ KlausMartin Schwab
Available at: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/anthologies/2016-01-01/fourth-industrial-revolution.
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
A. Srivastav, Energy Dynamics and Climate Mitigation,
Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8940-9_5
147