According to International Energy Agency (IEA), the worldwide consumption of oil will rise by 1.6 per cent to 90.5 million a day in 2012, which means a substantial increase in the global carbon emission.
While energy security is the most important agenda for developing countries such as India and China, reduction of carbon emission has also been discussed with equal intensity in global platforms, especially as far as developed nations are concerned. It is a tightrope walk to maintain the balance between the rising carbon emission and the country's energy needs.
Under such circumstances, the quest to find cleaner fuel options needs to be given highest priority.
Out of all forms of hydrocarbons, natural gas is the least pollutant. Although it cannot replace other forms of hydrocarbon, it is being increasingly realised that natural gas can provide the much-needed impetus to the growth trajectory with lesser emission. It's a win-win situation, considering the pressure to maintain growth without compromising on the ecology.
Preferred choice
The demand for natural gas has increased sharply in the last two decades at the global level. In India too, the natural gas sector has gained importance, particularly over the last decade, and is being termed as the Fuel of the 21st Century. In developed countries such as the US, natural gas is the source of 22 per cent of energy, whereas in India the dependency on gas is only 11 per cent, which is well below the world average of around 18 per cent.
Natural gas is fast emerging as the preferred energy resource due to its cost-effectiveness, higher efficiency and lower emissions. As a fuel, it has found usage in sectors as diverse as power plants, tea plantations, glass industries, and units of cement and ceramics. As a feed stock, it is used in industries such as fertilisers, petrochemicals and LPG. Further, in the domestic sector, it is used for cooking, heating and transportation.
In India, organisations such as GAIL (India) Limited, Reliance and GSPC are working towards building up a natural gas based infrastructure. This, in turn, will help bring in an era of green industrialisation.
Green industrialisation
In Karnataka, GAIL is in the process of bringing the green fuel vide its Dabhol Bangalore pipeline and another from Kochi. Each of the given pipelines will be connected to the upcoming LNG terminals of Dabhol and Kochi respectively.
The pipelines will have an individual capacity of 16 MMSCMD each and are scheduled to be commissioned by 2012-13. Companies such as JSW Steel, Hindalco, Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts, Luxor Power, and Murudeshwar Ceremics are among those going the natural gas way. With the intensified competition for resources and the need to sustain the growth juggernaut, natural gas is positioned to play a significant role in redefining the energy dynamics in the state.
There is enormous scope for development in the State, with the new age fuel coming up round the corner. With the support of the Government and investors, natural gas has all the potential to create a clear and greener Karnataka. However, how soon and how effective that potential is translated into an action agenda will largely depend on the collective will of the State — the industry, the investors, the Government and, of course, the common people — who would, at the end of the day, be the true beneficiary of the green fuel.