CHENNAI: Energy experts on Thursday advocated urgent efforts to improve energy efficiency in the transport sector in a scenario where fuel economy was no longer just a “desired goal but an essential end objective.”

Coming together for an international seminar on “Fuel Efficiency Standards and Labelling of Transport Vehicles in India,” under the auspices of the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), the various stakeholders concurred that energy efficiency was the critical “fifth fuel resource” that was both “zero-emission” and virtually “zero-cost”.

The benefits of designing vehicles that “sip and not guzzle” fuel went beyond a lighter oil import bill to have a salutary impact on the global environment, they said.

In his keynote address, Kirit S. Parikh, Member (Energy), Planning Commission, underscored the need to set standards and norms against the backdrop of the demonstrable positive outcomes of such measures in several countries, notably the US.

Calling for concerted efforts to design more fuel-efficient cars, Mr. Parikh suggested a set of Government incentives to offset the automobile industry’s worries over the cost factor.

He noted that energy efficiency was of critical importance to India, which consumed around 500 million tonnes of oil and was tipped to guzzle around 2,000 million tonnes by 2031. Almost 70 per cent of the oil was import-based, gas supplies were limited and coal reserves were depleting fast. Importantly, reduction in energy consumption also translated into environmental benefits on a local, national and global scale, he said.

Mr. Parikh advocated reforms in the system of Government purchase of vehicles to factor in lifetime cost instead of current cost.

Inaugurating the two-day seminar, M. S. Srinivasan, secretary, Ministry of Oil, Petroleum and Natural Gas, said the primacy of crude was likely to go unchallenged for the next few decades irrespective of the evolution of the next generation of fuels.

He urged the automobile industry to focus its engine technology research on combustion dynamics to increase the quotient of usable energy from the currently low levels.

Devendra Singh, joint secretary, Ministry of Petroleum, called for a critical look at the demand side management of energy efficiency against Eleventh Plan targets of generating 80,000 MW phasedly.

High potential

India could draw from the experience of countries that had initiated voluntary adoption of energy efficient standards and labels. The automobile industry alone had the potential to achieve a 25 per cent reduction in energy consumption, he said.

Calling for a paradigm shift in the way the world looked at energy given the increased convergence of energy security and climate change issues, Ravi Capoor, executive director, PCRA, said energy efficiency measures could meet 60 per cent of the incremental demand for energy even with existing technologies.

Fuel efficiency standards could be achieved through a mix of tough legislation, financial incentives, research and development and consumer education, he said.

M. B. Lal, member (Petroleum and Natural Gas), Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, said doubling the energy efficiency targets envisaged in the Integrated Energy Policy could effect a savings of 86 million tonnes of fuel by 2030. I. V. Rao, representative of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, recommended an integrated approach to the issue of vehicle fuel standards that included not just improving fuel economy but also air quality and emission control measures and traffic management.