Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Threat to energy security

Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Threat to energy security

Bharat JhunjhunwalaUpdated: Saturday, March 12, 2022, 08:49 AM IST
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The price of crudeoilisexpected to shoot up from US Dollars 80 per barrel to USD 150 in the next few months if the war in Ukraine continues. Correspondingly, the price of petrol in India will increase from about Rs. 90 per litre presently to about Rs. 130 per litre. We will have to pay higher amounts for the purchase of crude oil. Remember we are dependent on imports of coal, oil as well as uranium for meeting our energy needs at present. Our entire economy will be disrupted if we cannot obtain supplies of crude oil due to global insecurities. One way forward is to develop our domestic sources of energy so that we can remainenergy-secureduringgeopolitical disturbances.

The government has already taken commendable steps to increase the production of solar power. However, various assessments indicate the share of solar power in our energy basket in 2050 will only be about 14 percent even withthis rapid increase in the production of solar power. Hence, while solar power is necessary, it cannot rid us of our dependence on imports. The second domestic source is that of hydropower. The difficulty is that the environmental impacts lead to a lower standard of living for our people. For example, large hydropower reservoirs are hotbeds for the breeding of mosquitoes. Studies indicate that the incidence of malaria near these reservoirs is much higher than away from them. The aesthetic beauty of theriver is destroyed and water quality deteriorates. These impacts lead to lower standing of living for the people of the country. Thus, the improvement in the standardof living by the provision of hydroelectricity is partly, if not substantially, cancelled by these environmental impacts. Further, many of our rivers are already damned bumper-to-bumper and there are limits to how much hydropower can be generated. Hence, while hydropower may help alleviate energy security, in the same breath, it will lead to a lower standard of life for our people, and this is not a solution.

The third alternative is to increase the production of ethanol from sugarcane. Here, the problem is that of food security. We will have to divert larger areas of agricultural land for the production of ethanol. That will lead to lower production of food grains and make us dependent upon imports. We will thus be caught between the devil of food security and the deep blue sea of energy security. The fourth alternative is to develop nuclear power. Nuclear power is produced from uranium. However, we have very limited deposits of uranium within the country. The alternative is to convert thorium into uranium and then use itfor the generation of nuclear power. We have adequate sources of thorium. However, we have not been successful in creating the technology for converting thoriumtouranium.Itisnotable that China is far ahead of us onthis technology and is soon going to test the first thorium-based experimental nuclear reactor. Given our laggard progress in this matter, it is not likely that we will be able to develop this domestic source of energy in the next two decades. As a result,there isnopossibility of increasing domestic energy production to secure our energy security.

The only way out, then, is to reduce our energy consumption so that we have to import fewer quantities of coal, oil, anduraniumand we canensure the energy security of the country. A report in the journal Nature says that the upper 10 percent population of the world consumes 50 percent of the global energy. For example, they use drying machines to dry washclothes—aworkthat couldeasily be done through the sun's natural heat without any energy expenditure. Thus, the total consumption of energy will reduce substantially if we can reduce energy consumption by the upper sections of society. Another article inthe same journal says that one major source of energy consumption by the upper classes is in the use of personal means of transport such as cars. Therefore, we can increase the price of electricity and fuel oil so steeply that the upper sections are encouraged to reduce their energy consumption in drying machines and cars. Let us say if we impose an “energy security tax” of Rs. 100per litre on oil. This will lead to an increase in the price of petrol to Rs. 200 per litre.

The upper sections will have to pay higher and also be encouraged to use less personal cars. The higher taxes collected from the oil can be used to develop a robust public transport systemof buses and metros. My personal experience is thatitis more convenientto travel by public transport because the time can be utilised to read newspapers or do other work. Driving the car involves an expenditure of much metal as well as physical energy. The impact onthe poor of such a price increase will be reduced since they will be compensated by the improved provision of public transport even though they will face some increase in cost due to the increase in the price of all commodities because of the increase in thepriceof petrol. On the whole, they may not be much affected. Similarly, we must impose an “energy security tax” of, say Rs. 20 per unit of electricity consumption above 300 units per person. The price of electricity for upper classes will then increase to say Rs. 25 perunit which will encourage them to reduce electricity consumption and will help us establish our energy security.

The second step we should take is to change the focusof economic growth from “Make in India” to “Served from India”. The electricity consumption in manufacturing is about 10 times the consumptioninthe services sector such as software, movies, translations, and the like. By shifting the thrust of our economic growthto the services sector, we can produce higher GDP with less energy consumption. It is time that we take the steps to reduce energy consumption so that we are prepared for any eventuality when global instability arises due to conflicts such as that suffered in Ukraine.

The writer is a Professor of Economics at IIM Bengaluru

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