Go green or else you will go red seems to be the sustainable mantra for the growth of industry said Ved Prakash Mahawar, former Director, ONGC Ltd & OMPL and Advisor to Greentech Foundation while delivering the keynote address at the inauguration of the two-day National Summit on Environment at Hotel Vivanta in Guwahati.
Over 200 delegates Comprised of Environment, Sustainability, Professionals, Regulatory Authorities, Specialists, Practitioners, Consultants, Green Crusaders and others are attending the summit being organised by the New Delhi-based NGO, Greentech Foundation, informed Kamleshwar Sharan, Chairman & CEO of Greentech Foundation.
Clean India, Green India is our Dream India, said Kamleshwar Sharan.
Today the whole world is rising to the environmental challenges and moving towards sustainable living practices and products.
Towards this journey, the market is witnessing products such as Green Steel, Green Cement and Green Paper, products that we have not heard of in the past. Tenders were recently floated in the UK and sought for Green Cement. Green steel is seen as the race to clean up one of the world’s polluting industries. Buildings, bridges, and vehicles all use steel. Steel manufacturing produces more CO2 than any other heavy industry, comprising around 8% of total global emissions. Efforts are underway to move steel production away from coal-fired furnaces to ones powered by electricity or hydrogen.
Beginning his address, Mr Mahawar said we have three different forms of energy—Green, Clean and Renewable Energy. Now the new buzzword is Geothermal Energy. It is the process of heat derived from the below earth’s surface, which can help generate clean and renewable energy. This will help develop tourism to attract visitors all through the year in regions like Leh and Ladakh said Mr Ved Prakash Mahawar.
Speaking further he added the entire world is emitting 36 billion tonnes of carbon across the world every year. China, the USA and India are the three largest polluters in the world. Though India is 3rd polluting in per capita carbon emission we are way better at 100 and above place.
He asked the delegates to contribute to making their industry a green industry. If you don’t go green, we will go red, he said. He spoke about Hydrogen Energy, Brown, Black, Pink, Grey and Blue Hydrogen Energies.
Mr Mahawar added that carbon capturing is turning out to be a big market. It is turning out to be 136 billion US $ in a year and it is likely to reach 230billion by the year 2030. Hydrogen energy is going to be the future, he said.
Can all conventional vehicles in the world be converted into Electrical Vehicles? Mahawar asked the audience. From fuel-based vehicles to electrical it may take 30 years or more. There are 1.6bn vehicles the world over excluding two-wheelers. Every year 70 million new vehicles are added. Converting these into EVs (Electrical Vehicles) is a gigantic task. Just 7 million EVs have been produced the world over each year, he told the audience.
If you think EVs will ensure a clean environment, think again Mahawar told his audience.
Mr Mahawar expressed apprehensions about whether a mass transition to electric vehicles (EVs) causes the electric power grid to collapse. Some argue that EVs will make the grid unstable, which could mean hefty investments to upgrade existing infrastructures to withstand the load. There will be the need for fresh investments in smart grids, he said.
SSC Parthiban, Former Executive Director, Head Corporate CSR, ONGC Ltd said ONGC has a Rs 500 crore annual CSR fund. 20 to 30% of this is spent on Biodiversity and Environmental related issues. We found that there was a dip in the eastern swamp deer population in Kaziranga. This special species was on the verge of extinction. We spent Rs 2.5 crore in Assam. At that time there were 19 swamp deers in Assam and its population has gone up to 130. He said. Only 800 swamp deers exist in the world now, he said.
Top executives and representatives from many big corporate houses, public sector undertakings and companies such as ONGC, NTPC, SAIL, Kirloskar, Kone, TNPL, Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers etc are participating in the summit.