Due to the conflict over Strait of Hormuz strait and Atomic and Political policies, following the assassination of Iran supreme leader Khamenei, the war was initiated between Israel supported by the United states of America (USA) and Iran. This is so significant as Iran, Saudi Arabia and the majority of west Asian countries are rich in oil reserves and Natural Gas. The region is supplying a major portion of crude oil and liquid petroleum gas and natural gas to the rest of the world. The two sides are mainly targeting the Crude oil reserves and Natural gas plants in and around the region.
Even though diplomatic talks are initiated the attacks are still continuing as the conditions laid by the both sides for ceasefire are not realistic as per the geographical constraints. Due to this crude oil rates in the international market per barrel are increasing day by day. The same is the case for natural gas also. If the war continues for the next few months, it will have a severe impact on the highly populated countries like India, China and the rest of the developing countries and an oil and gas crisis will arise. And these might be a significant inflation of daily needs as transportation charges may increase. At this point, the question will arise on the readiness of the nation to face the consequences of the West Asian war and Energy crisis.
The Need for Renewable Energy
At this time, the technology of renewable energy sources plays a significant role. Even though several efforts are made in this Renewable Energy area during the last 25 to 30years, still it is not reached to the general public. Now it is time to switch the energy consumption from conventional sources to the Non conventional Sources of energy. Many top engineering colleges in Maharashtra are conducting path-breaking research in renewable energy to shift away from fossil fuels.
The Indian Road transportation system is majorly dependent on petroleum products like Diesel and Petrol. And at the same time the LPG , supplied by different companies like HPCL, ONGC, Indian oil etc., significantly used for domestic cooking. Petroleum by-products are obtained from fractional distillation of the crude oil while natural gas reserves are limited to the coastal areas of the nation. Both are important in daily life of Indian nationals for the said purposes.
The Need to Shift to Electrical and Hybrid Vehicles
Now there is a time to switch to the electric and hybrid vehicles for simple road transportation. Already so many startups are initiated towards green energy in the form of Electric vehicles, pollution free Bicycles. So, the public should switch towards these means for simple road transportation. It will be the counter for the upcoming crisis in the supply of petroleum by-products. This will increase the research opportunities in the Hybrid vehicles and employment opportunities for the skilled manpower in that area. This indirectly creates entrepreneurial opportunities for the engineers in the energy sector.
In most of the cities in India, electric bus transportation is in use now. In metro cities, the Electric vehicle charging stations are already set up but these should be extended to the rural areas also. Apart from this, Indian railways already achieved about 80% electrification, which is a significant step towards achieving self-reliance and Green House Gases (GHG) reduction. Apart from the dependency, the electric vehicles embedded with the Internet of things are so secure and less risky. So, the impact of the anticipated crisis on the railway transportation is minute.
Impact of the War on LPG Supply Chains
The next anticipatory effect is on the supply of the LPG supply to domestic cooking. Already the Indian Government is making some policies towards this like consumer switching from LPG to Piped Natural gas (PNG) in the PNG implemented cities, Limiting LPG cylinder supply for domestic consumption purpose, Assuring the public by releasing factual updates from time to time. But at the same time, the domestic cooling dependency on LPG or PNG should be shifted to alternatives. Already induction cooking tops, microwave ovens, solar cookers, electric ovens are available in the market for the domestic cooking purpose. Thanks for advances in electrical and electronics engineering for development of these products.
By shifting to these alternatives can cause a significant growth of core engineering branches in the era of Artificial Intelligence and Internet. Already long back the biogas digesters are developed in Indian rural areas by Khadi and village Industries Commission. The ministry of renewable energy already provides good incentives and subsidies for adapting the biogas digesters.
It is a boon for the rural homes as India is an agriculture-based country. The animal and domestic waste can be fed to the digester with some catalysts and the Biogas will be released after bio material digestion. A simple bio gas plant of a rural home can provide continuous supply of Biogas for the cooking purpose. But the calorific value is somewhat lower as compared to the LPG.
The byproducts of biogas digester are biogas (also called gobar gas), different alcohols such as Ethanol. The alcohols also have the burning ability comparable to petroleum products like kerosine so can be used as an alternative to them. The community bio-plants can provide some employment opportunities to the rural labor.
The public of the nation should be aware of these technologies and can adapt them which will significantly contribute to the Revenue sector avoiding reliance on oil rich countries of the world.
Conclusion
As one of the best engineering colleges in Nashik, Sandip Foundation is already shifting towards renewable energy with the use of solar water heaters. For inside transportation and for campus visits, the Group is using the Electric vehicles. And the electricity supply is augmented with solar power. Artificial ponds such as the Neelam Sagar project are already developed adjacent to the campus to support the ecosystem. The different kinds of daily wastes are regularly collected and dumped in the remote area of campus which can be useful as biomass energy. The green campus is taking several measures in the aspect of developing renewable energy resources. And definitely in the near future, it can become a role model for several institutions.