India's energy dependence: quest for developing R&D

Catastrophic events and calamities become and remain the subject of attention worldwide only for a short period of time. In some sense, this is to be expected in an age when news and pictures travel rapidly round the globe only to be replaced by new sensations, and when the news media concerns itself almost entirely with what sells as news. But enlightened societies have to develop and nurture institutions that are capable of looking beyond the immediate, and engage themselves in assessing the long-term implications of events and disasters of the type we have seen since 11 September. For a country like India, dependence on imports of oil is a subject of serious concern. The World Energy Outlook, published by the International Energy Agency (to the preparation of which TERI contributed as well), projects thatIndia?s dependence on oil imports would grow to 91.6% by the year 2020. The general magnitude of these figures, of course, is at variance with those in the Hydrocarbon Vision 2025 prepared by the Government of India. But recent events and an assessment of geopolitical developments that may occur in the next two decades in the Middle East and the South Asian region would require a detailed and rigorous analysis of India?s energy future, which cannot be divorced from these factors. One source of energy that has considerable potential for India, particularly with the country?s long coastline and proximity to a vast seabed, is the existence of gas hydrates. Yet, there is a complete absence of research on the subject in India. However, countries such as the Australia, Canada, Japan, and US have major R&D activities on the extraction of gas from hydrates, their utilization and even their production synthetically so that entire transportation and utilization systems can be simulated and established well before gas can be tapped and brought onshore from hydrates under the sea. India could be left far behind in this technology when it becomes relevant and necessary. When shall we wake up to develop a strategy for R&D in the energy sector that anticipates the threats and challenges ahead, and uses the opportunities lying at our doorstep?