The world crude oil price is relentlessly rising. The global demand for oil does not show any signs of subsiding. At this rate its price may soon reach 200 dollars a barrel. Added to this, the commodity prices have become capricious. The Indian economy is on the verge of collapse, unless some urgent measures are taken.

Oil is the chief villain. What rights have the oil - producing nations to increase its price? The common man cannot understand the rationale behind it. He thinks that cheap oil is a national right. But this is fallacy. The people of the nations that own the oil wells have the right to fix any price they deem fit. Unfortunately the demand for oil is not elastic. We are so dependent on it that we have to buy it at the price fixed by the oil-producing nations. The United States invaded Iraq mainly because it had its eye on its oil. But the problem was not solved. On the contrary it became more complex.

Importing coal:
Going in for natural gas is no solution. We may import it from Iran, but it costs five times more than coal. Importing coal and liquefying it is cheaper. Though for the moment the exorbitant price of crude oil may seem to spell disaster to our economy, the oil shock should not kill us. We have to treat it as shock therapy and make our economy dependent on other sources of energy. The days of using stored energy, mainly fossil fuels, are over. We have to increase our search for alternate sources, mainly renewal energy sources. Frantic efforts are being made in this direction all the world over. As usual the Western powers are far ahead of us. We are moving at snail's pace. Our tendency is to take things casually, saying that “some how” things get sorted out; of their own accord and that we would be out of the jingle.

When the world faced a similar grave oil crisis some three decades ago, the industrialized nations of the world not only increased their search for new oil deposits, they unveiled plans for the development of alternate sources. The Soviet Union was then still a powerful country. It had very ambitious plans of tapping solar energy on a large scale. It had dreamt of creating a vast network of solar photovoltaic units high above the earth. These SPV systems were expected to convert directly sunlight into electricity. The energy generators in the PV system are the solar cells, which are essentially thin wafers of silicon. These cells, when connected in series and parallels, constitute a solar panel. The panel would be so vast that the energy received from the sun could directly be used to light large areas on earth, thus making no difference between day and night!

Pipe – dreams:
The Soviet Union in those days had a number of pipe-dreams. Lysonko, for example propounded the theory that said that acquired characteristics of a living being could be made inheritable. Thus he had dreamt of evolving genetically modified seeds which would revolutionise agriculture. There were dreamers who had the vision of reversing the flow of a river and irrigating vast lands. They had also dreamt of raising thick forests on either side of the river. These forests or shelter belts were expected to alter the climate of the area! But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the safe haven provided to such dreams disappeared and with it, the idea of providing solar power on a large scale also vanished. In the meanwhile, new oil fossil deposits were discovered in the North Sea area and, with this discovery, the frantic efforts to develop alternate sources of energy, mainly solar energy, were almost halted.

But now things have once again changed for the worse. As usual, many dreams have sprung up in India also; and they are already building castles in the air. It is reported that in Nagpur a Chemistry Professor (lady) and her husband are said to have innovated a technology for converting waste plastic into fuel oil. It is really a novel and unique venture indeed. Accordingly, their venture is named “Unique Plastic Waste Management and Research”. Naturally they have received huge orders for this fuel oil from many industries. If waste plastic material has latent energy, which can be brought out and put to use, why should we not invoke the wind God “Mukhyaprana” and obtain wind power? Our forefathers— the Aryans were worshippers of the elements of nature — earth, water, air, fire and space (or Akasha). Indra, Agni, Vayu, Varuna and Prithvi were considered to be sacred.

Wind energy is being tapped by many companies. There are bio-fuel technology firms also in the offing. Formerly it was thought that renewable energy was only water-power or hydro - power. But today our dream merchants are locating power hidden everywhere! Sun, wind, plants, biomass and even wastes have power hidden underneath them. When man has almost reached the stage when he can no longer extract energy from the bowels of the earth, he has begun to tap it from other sources. At present it is estimated that about 9,500 MW renewable energy is being tapped in India from renewable sources. This is an infinitesimally small part of our total energy requirements. The Eleventh Plan has set high targets for renewable energy sources. It is said India has one of the largest programmes for developing renewable energy in the world.

Achieving targets:
Whether we have the will and are able to make concerted efforts to achieve the targets set under the plan, or not, there are no two opinions about renewable energy being non-depleting and it goes a long way in reducing emissions of green - house gases. For example, about 4000 villages are lit up by solar photovoltaic energy cells. That may not seem very big, but it is a good beginning. We have to remember that by 2012 our energy needs are projected to be more than 240,000 MW. It means an increase of more than 20,000 MW per year. It is critically important for a growing economy like India. Our sources are many. They are solar, wind, biomass, urban wastes, bio fuels and small hydro sectors.

India receives solar energy equal to more than 5,000 million KWhr / year. This is far more than the total energy consumption by the country. But only a small portion of this is being used today. Biomass energy provides ample scope. By using the surplus biomass material (about 150 million tons) about 17,000 MW can be generated. With regard to hydro projects, only 10 per cent of the potential is utilised. Urban and municipal wastes can provide 15,000 MW. Bio-fuels are another source of energy. We are actually in the midst of plenty. What is need is the will to find a way!