City to host All India Energy Summit tomorrow

Kolkata, Apr 16 (UNI) The first All India Energy Summit to discuss the global energy crisis and its possible solutions, will be held here tomorrow.

Organised by the India Energy Forum in association with the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry-(BCCI), the summit will be inaugurated by Assam Power, Environment and Forest Minister Pradyat Bordoloi in presence of Union Secretary of Petroleum and Natural Gas S C Tripathy.

The event will be participated by more than 50 environmental and energy experts from across the country and abroad, India Enery Forum president P S Bami here today claimed that dynamics of the Indian Energy sector had undergone a sea change over the past few years as continued economic development and population growth were driving India's demand for energy faster than its capacity to produce it.

India's energy demand, the sixth largest in the world, was also burgeoning at a very fast pace and therefore it was not surprising that President A P J Abdul Kalam called upon the nation to work for attainment of environment-friendly energy independence in a time bound manner, Mr Bami said.

The country should try to achieve energy security by accessing fossil fuel and then attain total energy independence,the Energy Forum chief quoting the President observed.

Also speaking on the occasion, BCCI president S Radhakrishnan said their main aim was not only to consider the issues related to oil and gas, which would certainly be a dominant fuel source in the short and medium term, but also to catalogue the existing and futuristic fuel options. ''The national integrated energy policy also calls for sustained effort to conserve energy in all its forms,'' he said.

The Conference would also deal with the objective of energy efficiency/conservation, he said.

Among other issues the Conference would deliberate in depth on petroleum exploration,short/medium terms options for natural gas, coal and lignite and will also include a session on biofuels and biodiesel.

UNI