The challenges faced by most of the emerging economies today are similar. Their domestic sources are often inadequate to meet their growing demand for energy. And developing domestic sources involves huge capital investment. Like other emerging economies, India needs adequate supplies of energy at affordable prices to meet the demand of its rapidly growing economy. Hydrocarbons will continue to be our major source of energy for quite sometime in the future. Most of our requirement of hydrocarbons is met through imports. In India, the demand over the next 10 years will increase by over 40 percent whereas the increase in the supply from the maturing oil-fields is expected to be around 12 per cent. The Indian Government is therefore encouraging national oil companies to pursue equity oil and gas opportunities overseas.India currently has 400 million people who lack access to electricity (PDF).
India provides an example of a more general situation: Efforts to address carbon dioxide emissions must do so in the context of (a) continued economic growth, which will be accompanied by (b) rapidly increasing demands for energy, and (c) a world in which energy access is highly inequitable, with commitments to expanding access part of national and international policies.
Any successful carbon policies will be consistent with (a), (b) and (c) and indeed, will reinforce them.
1 comments:
"Any successful carbon policies will be consistent with (a), (b) and (c) and indeed, will reinforce them. "
Agreed . . . and all successful energy policies will continue to use carbon for a long time yet. Inexpensive, versatile and available and despite the cries of Falling Skies and Crisis! Crisis! from affluent environmentalists seeking to impose their dogmatic beliefs on everyone else, second and third world economies rightly reject the AGW alarmist howls and will use ever larger quantities of coal, oil and natural gas.
Meanwhile, for those who continue to believe the alarmist howls of outrage over burning oil and continue to reject the only logical energy alternative - Nuclear, the balance of the argument continues to slip out of their favor as the reality that the planet's climate refuses to behave as their Climate models predict, refuses to submit to positive climate feedbacks and just does what it has always done - change all on its own.
Post a Comment