INDIA & ENERGY SECURITY

A nation can be prosperous & stable only when it is 'energy secured'. If we think about india in the current scenario, we should say that india is not energy secured. I have strong reasons to support what I feel

• India is at present meeting a major proportion of its crude oil needs through imports.
  
• Major proportion of our power needs are met through the thermal energy from coal.

The Oil Situation :

We have the oil reserves & definitely there isn’t a need to import as much as we are at present. The only problem is that we are not making sincere efforts to find the reserves and to make a produce from them.

Only 20 % of the country is surveyed in search for the crude oil/natural gas reserves. In that 20 %, the reserves found are not being exploited. It was in 1960’s when the presence of the reserves was indicated in Krishna – Godavari basin. But even by now (2008) production has not started. This is the situation in our country. “Policy makers who lack a proper commitment & vision”, this the biggest problem india has been facing. The trend has never changed and is becoming even worse with the progress of time. Lets put behind the politicians.

Ofcourse we cant completely rely on Oil, gas resources in our country even, as our needs have increased & will increase further drastically. We have to search for other alternative sources like biodiesel powered, electricity powered, water powered vehicles to reduce our dependence on imports from other countries.

The Electricity situation :

We all know about the nuclear deal. Our government is rushing for this deal to come into existance. I feel that there isn't a need for the rush to give our nation the 'nuclear energy'.

There are other sources such as :

• wind energy
• solar energy
• wave energy
  

The above three mentioned are renewable and have great potential. Their potential combined is greater than the potential needed to be met world wide.

It was in 1940s/1950s when nuclear energy was first used to produce electricity. At present only 6% of the worlds energy needs are being met by nuclear plants. The disadvantages associated with nuclear power are :

• The construction of nuclear reactors takes a long time (from now) within which a great leap can be achieved in the renewable energy technologies (solar,wind,wave energies).
  
• When accidents happen they will have a huge impact on the lives of the present & future generations as well.
  
• The waste coming out has to safely discarded. The waste continues to emit radiation for thousands of years. We should remember that we have no rights to poison our future generations.
• They are not economical as well. They require heavy subsidies from the government.

Nuclear energy contributes less than 3% to the total electricity generated in our country.

India at present is having the capacity of 140 giga watts. It has to increase to 1000 giga watts in order to meet the increasing needs of the nation. So we need to make a step in making developing & making use of sustainable energy forms. Only then can we become energy secured & develop into a prosperous nation.

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