The Energy Transition Advisory Committee (“Committee”) of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has recently released a report titled “the green shift” (“Report”). The Report has been published keeping in view the central government's endeavor to reach Net Zero emissions by the year 2070 making India a key player in the global fight against climate change. The Report focuses on transitioning towards low carbon fuel in India’s oil and gas sector and does a detailed analysis of the current status of India’s energy sector such as the aviation, shipping, surface and road transport industry.
It also recommends several reforms and policy changes to the central government in respect of the energy sector, with the aim to align the growth of the energy sector with the government’s existing stand of achieving Net Zero emissions by 2070.The instant update focuses on the key recommendations made by the Committee with respect to the surface transport industry as well as the aviation industry.
The surface transport sector includes light motor vehicles, such as two, three and four wheelers as well as heavy duty vehicles comprising trucks and buses. The industry has been rapidly expanding globally and accounts for nearly a quarter of energy consumption in the world. The Report states that in 2020, the global transport industry was responsible for approximately 7.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion. Transport also depends on oil more than any other sector, therefore 90% of the energy use for the surface transport sector comes from petroleum products.
There is therefore a need to reduce the high dependence on fossil fuels in order to achieve an overall Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions path. The Report notes that electrification of private transport is indicative of a disruptive transition from fossil fuels to electric vehicles and the same needs to be closely linked to renewable energy expansion and growth in the charging infrastructure.
The Report also acknowledges that electrification using currently available technologies is not a scalable option for heavy-duty transport, shipping, and aviation and therefore in the short term, there should be a focus on increased use of sustainable biofuels and clean hydrogen in sectors which are not mature for electrification.
