ER.MOHAMMAD ASHRAF FAZILI
Easy change in the universe from the whisper of a breeze to the exploring of a supernova involves the expenditure or transfer of energy —the Big Bang—&15 billion years later, this energy keeps the universe in action. Much of the technology is concerned with changing energy from one form to another, which principle is known as ‘Conservation of Energy.’ Since 18th century there have been two major historical transitions in the way we use energy from human &animal muscles and wind and water energy. The first was the steam engine for which the principal fuel was Coal. The 2nci involved a major diversification of energy use &energy sources. The transition was based on two major components one was development of electricity the other was the Internal Combustion Engine Petroleum and its products gradually took over the position of being the dominant global Energy source by the end of 20th century.
The world’s most developed economies are voraciousconsumers of energy. Every year USA consumes in all its farms equivalent to around 8 tons of oil per head of population, its poor neighbor Mexico consumes only 1.5 TOE per head. Most of the energy is created by burning non-renewable resources such as oil and coal. How long these will last depend on the speed of industrialization in currently underdeveloped countries and on global efforts to consume energy by using it more efficiently.
India ranks 6th in the world in terms of energy demand accounting to 3.5% of world’s commercial energy demand in 2001; which is expected to grow to 5.2% with a GDP growth of 8% for the 10 th 5 year plan. In terms of commercial consumption of India the figure is only 0.35 TOE as compared to 8.80 TOE for the USA..
India is fortunate to be endowed with exhaustible (particularlycoal) &renewable energy resources. Despite resource potential & and growth of energy efforts leading to relianceon increasing imports. The demand of natural gas also outpaces supp efforts are on to import natural gas (LNG) & piped gas. So is the case of Power Sectorfacing shortages.
Almost 80% the energy consumed globally is provided by burning the fossilfuel—Coal, oil (Petroleum) & natural gas.Resources are finite & steadily beingused up. Alternately renewable resources such as solar andwater Power willeventually have to replace fossil fuels as theworld’smajor energy resource.
Theworls’s energy production in 1998 was oil-35.7%, Coal 23.3%, Gas20.3%, wood 11.2%, Nuclear 6.7%, Hydro 2.3%, geothermal, solar and wind power 0.4%.
By the end of 21st century according to UN projections the no of people onthe Earth is likely to have approximately doubled. How can a world of 10 to 12 billion people be provided with adequate supplies of energy, clearly, safely and sustainably.
The paper has tried to present the answer along Indian road & map with energy efficiency.conservation & saving potential during the 10thfive year plan.
NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY IN INDIA
The provision of energy has been considered a priority area since Five yearplans started in 1950, but Government investment has been restricted largely to augmenting the supply of commercial energy through centralized facilities. However recently the tremendous potential of new and renewable sources of energy has been recognized and significant progress has been made in the development and utilization of the appropriate technologies, some of which are now serving millions of families, especially in the rural area, where most people live. It is now established fact that rural and agricultural energy needs can be met most suitably by renewable source of energy. Moreover these sources can supply many development objectives (including education and health) quickly, they can also help preserve the environment and improve the welfare of women and children. For these reasons, development in India are of widespread interest to other developing countries. Commercial energy (Coal, oil, gas, hydro and nuclear power) accounts for about 60% of the total primary energy supply in India, with the balance coming from non-commercial energy such as firewood and agricultural or other wastes. The growth of commercial supply has been 5.3% per annum compared to 1.7% – 2.5% for non-commercial energy. The percentage contribution of the various energy sources to sectoral consumption of about 2 decades back have been as under:-
Even in the domestic sector there has been a great disparity between the rural and urban areas in the source of energy consumed. The share of non-commercial fuels is 80% in rural areas and only 51% in urban areas. Further the figures make it clear that the rural sector cooking is the main object of energy consumption, both for the households of the landless poor and for cultivator families. The other major energy needs in the rural and agricultural sectors are transport, lighting, water pumping, and electricity for radio, T. V, communication and medical facilities and power for rural and agricultural industries.
The need for Renewable resources of Energy:-
Many developing countries like India are faced with a dual crisis-arising out of scarce oil resources, on the one hand, and caused by firewood scarcity and deforestation on the other. Their rising energy requirements and expectations in the quest for higher economic development have come at a time when conventional energy systems are proving more and more difficult to supply:furthermore, the adverse environmental consequences of fossil fuels and of excessive tree cutting are increasingly realized. There is, therefore, a great need for a transition from present energy systems, heavily dependent on hydro¬carbons, to a non-depletable, more’ sustainable mix of energy sources that relies increasingly on new and renewable sources of energy that provide clean energy and help to preserve the environment and the ecology. The issues of global warming, ozone layer depletion, global climate change and deforestation make this an object of both international and national concern.
According to National Commission on Agriculture, the population of India was estimated to increase from 650 million in 1980 to 935 million in 2000, a 44% increase. The estimated total food grain requirement was about 225 million tones an increase of 59%. Since the per capital availability of usable land was likely to decrease from 0.29 ha in 1971 to 0.17 ha in 2000, the only alternative was to increase productively per unit of land.
India has a total forest area of about 75 million ha. which forms only 22.80% of the total geographical area of the country. Much of this is also now denuded and the real forest cover is as low as 11% according to some estimates. The estimated total requirement of fuel wood is 133 million tones per annum, whereas estimated annual availability is only 39 million tones. As a consequence, agricultural residues and animal dung which otherwise would have been used for replenishment of soil fertility are burnt for fuel needs, while soil erosion, floods, siltation and desertification follow the depletion of the forests, further devastating the fertility of the soil. The large-scale development of other non-conventional, renewable sources of energy to meet the cooking energy requirements of rural communities is therefore, vital.
Er. Ashraf Fazili is a former Chief Engineer
