Why in News?

• The Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan delivered the keynote address at the TERI’s World Sustainable Development Summit 2020 on ‘Energy Future Road Map’.

Highlights:

• India will continue to lead the Global Sustainable Energy Agenda.
• India will remain cognizant of the need to root economic development firmly to achieve the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals and commitments made at COP 21.
• The Minister commented that India is now the third-largest energy consumer after the US and China.
• With the energy demand increased to 882 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2017, the per capita consumption of energy is still 30% of the global average.
• The country’s energy consumption is projected to grow at 4.2 percent per annum up to 2035.
• India’s share of the total global primary energy demand is set to roughly double to about 11 percent by 2040, driven by strong economic development.
• Despite the country’s system-wide energy transition measures, crude oil would continue to play a critical role at this stage of development in meeting the country’s energy requirements.
• The Government has set out a road map for reducing India’s crude oil imports by 10% by 2022.
• He said that the country is working towards transformation to a gas-based economy, tapping into indigenously produced biofuels, apart from adopting renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, to achieve the much-needed carbon reductions.
• The Minister also noted that the decarbonisation of the energy sector is picking up momentum in India.
• He also stated that the government is working to improve energy efficiency and productivity, demand substitution, improving refinery processes and promotion of bio and alternate fuels.
• India is enhancing collaboration with countries such as Brazil and the US, to improve blending technologies in the transport sector.
• To reduce vehicular pollution, BS VI quality fuel, equivalent to Euro 6 standard, will be supplied in the entire country from 1 April 2020.
• Given the abundance of biomass in the country, the use of Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) will be promoted in a big way in automotive, industrial and commercial uses in the coming years.

TERI’s World Sustainable Development Summit 2020:

• The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) is the annual flagship event of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
• Started in 2001, the Summit has become a focal point for leaders and stakeholders across the world to bridge thought and action for sustainable development.
• The Summit series has emerged as the premier international event on sustainability which focusses on the global future, but with an eye on the actions in the developing world which could bend our common future.
• The WSDS has continued the legacy of the erstwhile Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) which was initiated in 2001 with the aim of making ‘sustainable development’ a globally shared goal.
• WSDS 2020 Theme: “Towards 2030: Making the Decade Count”
• The Energy and Resources Institute – TERI:
• TERI is a leading think tank dedicated to conducting research for the sustainable development of India and the Global South.
• TERI was established in 1974 as an information centre on energy issues. However, over the following decades, it made a mark as a research institute, whose policy and technology solutions transformed people’s lives and the environment.
• It is located in New Delhi.