Natural gas share to grow by 20 per cent: Deora

New Delhi, June1: The share of natural gas in the commercial energy mix will grow by 20 per cent and that of renewables will be around five per cent by 2030 to meet India's growing energy needs, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora said today.

''Thus, the primary dependence on hydrocarbons will remain,'' Mr Deora said while addressing a ministerial conference on 'Energy in a changing world' in Paris.

India's current energy mix is predominantly coal (54 per cent) and oil (32 per cent).

''We are second in wind power generation with 7240 MW of installed capacity. Our energy intensity which was 0.29 in 1985 is now 0.19 which has improved 40 per cent in a span of two decades,'' Mr Deora added.

It is estimated that improvement in oil recovery rate by just five per cent today would be tantamount to adding oil reserves of 50 billion barrels - the longevity of the oil reserves that is the reserve to production ratio would go up by two years, he said.

''If oil consumption can be cut by two per cent through measures like conservation as well as improvement in energy efficiency, this would translate into savings of almost two million barrels per day.

This is almost the production level, which the world is currently short of,'' Mr Deora said.

The Government recently announced a National Bio Fuel Policy with twin objectives of sustainable and environment friendly energy and rural development.

''The Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme launched in 2006 with a five per cent blend will result in procurement of 550 million litres of ethanol per annum,'' Mr Deora said adding that this will increase to 10 per cent in the next four years.

Further, the bio-diesel programme is likely to offer additional employment opportunities to 2.2 million people.

Industrial efficiencies particularly consumption in DG sets, boilers, furnaces, compressors and turbines are an integral part of major industries. Through technology, there is need to develop more energy efficient machines which will lead to more efficient burning of the fuel providing a high output and reduced pollution, the minister said.

The government and the national oil companies are absorbing over 85 per cent of the difference between cost of import and domestic oil prices to insulate vulnerable sections of the society from the vagaries of the international oil market, he added.

UNI