UPSC Prelims 2016 GS Paper I · Q36 of 100 Environment & Ecology easy

'Net metering' is sometimes seen in the news in the context of promoting the

  1. (a) production and use of solar energy by the households/consumers ✓ UPSC's answer
  2. (b) use of piped natural gas in the kitchens of households
  3. (c) installation of CNG kits in motor-cars
  4. (d) installation of water meters in urban households

Why the answer is (a)

• Net metering lets a consumer with a rooftop solar system feed surplus electricity into the grid; the meter runs backwards and the consumer is billed only for net consumption — option (a).

• It is the main incentive for rooftop solar under the National Solar Mission and State regulations.

• It has nothing to do with piped gas (b), CNG kits (c) or water meters (d).

• Hence option (a).

Why the other options are wrong

(b) use of piped natural gas in the kitchens of households
Net metering is not about piped gas.
(c) installation of CNG kits in motor-cars
Net metering is not about CNG.
(d) installation of water meters in urban households
Net metering is about electricity, not water.

Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2016, held on 7 August 2016. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

Reading the answer is not the same as getting it right under a clock. Practise this question with UPSC's negative marking, and anything you miss goes into an error notebook until you get it right twice.

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