To avoid the kind of nuclear disaster that has happened in Japan, Professor Dirk Matten of the Schulich School of Business, York University, suggests that India should rely more on coal-fired energy generating plants and energy efficiency, instead of going for nuclear reactors in a big way.
Canada and India have signed the civilian nuclear agreement that, following ratification, will allow India to import uranium and other nuclear materials from Canada. Both countries are now reviewing the safety of their nuclear reactors.
"With its growing energy demands in the short term it is very difficult for India not to use the nuclear option," Matten, who teaches corporate responsibility, told Rediff-India Abroad.
"But at this stage -- now that the Japanese nuclear reactors, built in the 1970s, are in trouble -- it would make lot of sense to think more about alternative approaches and the first such approach should be energy efficiency," he said.
And India wouldn't have to go through the experiences that the industrialised world went through during the 1950s and 1960s as energy efficiency technologies are now available, he said.
"Coal-fired plants that are much more efficient and less environmentally harmful are also available," he added.
"There's a myth that India should follow the same pattern as the industrialised world," Matten said. "That's wrong. India can take a different path by organising smart and efficient way of energy development and its use."
Matten said that India shouldn't emulate the United States with high energy consumption.
"The way of copying the US doesn't work," he said. "Instead of heavily relying on nuclear energy, India should be investing in new technology, hybrid technology and that would make lot of sense combined with efficient and safe ways of power generation. There's so much cutting edge technology available that can make growth much more energy efficient than in the so-called developed world."
"At the end of the day there's lot of debate going on whether countries like India should enjoy the same level of energy consumption as in the West," he added. "I am saying growth should take place, but it should be through efficient and smart use of energy, through efficient technology. The big chapter in this is use of renewable energy and innovating and leap frog power generation through technology development."
 |
He cited the examples of Denmark and Germany which "strategically invested in hydro energy and created markets for renewable energy."
Image: The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai
