Cement Energy and Environment

that need to be taken into account. If we continue to use building materials in an inefficient way, we are going to run into constraints in the future. Another issue is energy security. If we continue to use energy in an indiscriminate way and keep multiplying our consumption, that will lead to questions of energy security, which we want to avoid. If we continue to increase our car fleet the way we are doing, then what are we going to do? Tomorrow if oil prices reach $250 a barrel , our economy could be crippled. We have to target these objectives which provide overlapping benefits. Again, every house in Delhi should have a solar water heater. If you look at the energy that is consumed by our geysers, it is substantial . Hopefully, we can use larger quantities of natural gas in the transition. But in the ultimate analysis, we will have to rely on renewable sources of energy. But I am afraid we are not doing enough in that direction. This will reduce our dependence on coal. We also need to lay down standards wherein a graduated set of requirements have to be met. These standards should be announced as part of policy. Like, we should now be telling the automobile industry that by 2015 you have got to mAP+ ~uro 6 standards , so that th€v start gearing up. When it com~:. s to automobile fuels we need to ICly down standards like in the nex. two years they have to reduce sulphur content by a fixe( amount. We generally treat these as single interventions. What we need is a road map. There should be a clear blueprint that the government provides to the private sector and its citizens and consumers. What we have today is certainly not optimal. Suddenly you find some coal mine has not been given permission. Two days later, it has been given permission. The whole thing is really ad hoc. We can learn from Europe that lays down standards applicable over a period of time . Even in the US, the Environment Protection Agency gives you a roadmap. California had laid down that by 2012, automobiles will have to conform to certain emission levels for greenhouse gases. That is the kind of policy that is essential. In its absence, people will see environmental protection as the enemy of development. If you announce that development can and should take place according to benchmarks, then people accept it as a part of reality. Industry has to be a part of it. The government should take steps to draw them in. But they must also realise the cost to society. After all, if you also mobilise civil society, then I think, citizens will take on this task in their own interest. There is also a reputational issue which industry must understand. You have had cases in other cou~tries where products of a certain company were boycotted simply because they were followi ng certain practices that the public did not favour. I think that is the kind of movement, which is needed here. Well , business as usual will not do. In the power sector, if we are to rely on third grade plants some of which are runni ng at 12- 13 per cent efficiency, it makes sense to upgrade those plants. If we were to bring about major efficiency gains in the energy cycle, we can take a holiday for two years in capacity addition. Look at transmission and distribution losses, look at the pathetic levels of efficiency in some power plants, look at the losses that we have in every building. If we were to improve efficiency then we would have breathing time during which we should be able to bring about a transition perhaps to greater use of natural gas. We need a vision to bring about a transition to cleaner energy sources, which would allow us to grow at 8 per cent and yet protect the environment. If we do not protect the environment, then the cost not only to us but future generations will be incalculable. We do not want to leave a bombed out site in terms of environmental conditions. What we need is vision. That is where you need articulation by civil society groups, by citizens at large. I believe we need a new direction of thinking in these areas and all of us need to get involved in this. Courtesy: Businessworld, August 22, 2011 , Pp74-75 14 ·"