MNS:- The Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri S Jaipal Reddy has emphasised the need for proactive actions on three fronts with an objective to ensure energy security in the country. He said “ all these three priorities viz: developing our domestic reserves , assessing global energy sources and ensuring energy efficiency will be focus areas in developing countries over coming decades .” Shri Reddy , said this while chairing the Theme Session-1 on “Securing Growth- Energy & Prosperity” after the inaugural session of the 10th International Oil & Gas Conference & Exhibition – “Petrotech-2012 here today .
Listing out specific concerns regarding energy security for India, Shri Reddy said “For India, energy security is a truly central issue. India is likely to emerge as one of the top 3rd or 4th importers in the world, of all energy forms – oil, coal, gas and uranium.” Given the high correlation between economic growth and energy consumption, For emerging economies like India and China, where economic growth and increasing population are driving strong demand for energy, this theme is highly relevant. Securing energy for these countries is a prerequisite for ensuring long term growth, Shri Reddy added.
Mr. Kiratu Murungi, Hon’ble Minister of Energy, Kenya, Mr. Kakageldy Abdullaev, Hon’ble Minister of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources, Turkmenistan also addressed the Theme Session-1.
Following is the full text of the speech of Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri S Jaipal Reddy .
“Mr. Kiratu Murungi, Hon’ble Minister of Energy, Kenya, Mr. Kakageldy Abdullaev, Hon’ble Minister of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources, Turkmenistan ,Distinguished delegates and invitees, Members of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen,
A very good morning to all of you! It is indeed a privilege for me to be here today at the theme session for Petrotech 2012.
The theme for today’s session is Securing Growth – Energy & Prosperity. Given the high correlation between economic growth and energy consumption, the theme is an important one in today’s world. For emerging economies like India and China, where economic growth and increasing population are driving strong demand for energy, this theme is highly relevant. Securing energy for these countries is a prerequisite for ensuring long term growth.
Energy security is a greater challenge today than ever before, for several reasons:
¦ First, the demand for energy resources has been increasing, and in expected to continue to increase for the foreseeable future. Global demand for energy grew at 1.3% per annum during 1980-2000. This growth rate increased to 1.6% per annum during 2000-2010. Going forward, an energy demand growth rate of over 1.5% per annum is expected to sustain in the near future.
¦ Second, approximately 90% of incremental growth is likely to come from emerging economies. India and China alone will contribute to around 40% of the global growth in energy demand during 2010 to 2050. Therefore, we in emerging economies have the greatest concern for securing our energy supplies
¦ Third, volatility of energy prices has been increasing, which adds to the challenge of financing and planning the massive energy investments required to provide energy.
¦ Finally, the nature of energy demand in the next few decades will also be changing. Let us talk about the energy scenario for India as an example. India’s increasing population and growth in GDP imply a growth in energy demand of close to 3% per annum till the year 2050. This growth will be across all the fuel types, with natural gas and power likely to grow the fastest. But the energy mix will change dramatically. As India urbanizes, increased electrification will imply demand shift from traditional fuels to more energy efficient electricity in residential and commercial sectors. This can increase the power demand in the country by 5 times in the next forty years. While recent energy demand growth has come from the services sector, going forward our industrial sector is expected to grow strongly and could contribute nearly 40% of incremental energy demand. Similarly, the transport sector will continue to increase its energy demand. By 2050, there can be a potential 10 times increase in fleet size of the light vehicles in the country. What is more, India could well have the largest population of gas driven vehicles in the world. All these shifts will necessitate change the very nature of our energy supply and consumption infrastructure.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/need-proactive-action-on-three-fronts-for-ensuring-energy-security-s-jaipal-reddy/
