Moily Launches Mega Petroleum Conservation Campaign Fuel Benchmarking Norms for LPG stoves and Diesel Pump to be announced soon Moily stresses need for implementation of Fuel Efficiency Standards for vehicles Dr. M.Veerappa Moily Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas launched the Mega Petroleum Conservation Campaign at a National Workshop on Fuel conservation in Transport Sector here today. Speaking on the occasion he informed that under the guidance of his Ministry, Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) has formulated benchmarking norms for LPG stoves, and diesel pumps, in consultation with Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and other stakeholders. This will facilitate availability of more fuel efficient appliances to the consumers, thereby reducing consumption of LPG and Diesel. These norms would be announced by BEE this year. Dr Moily pointed out that a key strategy for fuel saving would be to introduce fuel economy standards for vehicles. In fact, a large number of countries have already set up mandatory standards for their vehicle fleet as a primary step towards fuel conservation. These include Europe, China, Japan, USA, Canada, Australia, Taiwan and South Korea. He stressed implementation of fuel economy standards for vehicles which will not only help in achieving substantial savings in fuel consumption but will also facilitate in deriving considerable co-benefits in terms of reduced CO2 emissions and other local pollutants. He suggested important steps in this direction which including devising separate fuel economy standards for passenger and freight vehicles; devising standards for other fuel based appliances like diesel pumps, generation sets, and boilers/furnaces. Use of gas based equipments. Explaining the tremendous financial burden because of huge import dependence, the Minister said there exists considerable potential to save diesel and petrol in transport sector by adopting simple but effective conservation measures. These include – Good driving practices, better maintenance regime, fuel saving tips like switching off engines at traffic signals, joining car pool, usage of public transport etc. “In order to reduce the consumption further, an inclusive approach, combining strategies to increase fuel economy in all types of vehicles while providing desired service is necessary. The expanding use of low-carbon fuels, including biofuels, as well as electricity and hydrogen are also feasible alternative,” he added. The Minister further said that the increase in oil consumption by the road transport sector over the past few decades has been fuelled primarily by economic growth coupled with preference for personal vehicles (cars and SUVs), especially the bigger and more powerful ones that are oil guzzlers. Moreover, a large chunk of freight (intra-city and inter-city) is transported via road transport leading to excess demand for oil and heavy impact on the environment and health. ADB has projected in its report on on-road transport in Asia that if the “business as usual” scenario continues, the oil consumption of on-road-vehicles in India might gear up to nearly six times in 2035, which is quite alarming. He also elaborated various activities planned during the next six-week long Mega Petroleum Conservation Campaign. Dr. Moily stated that PCRA alongwith Oil PSUs have been given targets of specific activities which would disseminate awareness among the consumers. The objective will be to sensitize the people about adoption of simple but effective conservation tips in our daily life which can lead to saving of petroleum products. I have also written to State Governments and other partner ministries to co-operate with my officials in this event.” he said. The Minister added that as part of this Mega Campaign we will also be undertaking a large-scale Media Campaign including print, television, radio, cinema, websites, etc. We will also be conducting LPG Clinics, Kisan Melas, driver training programmes, Nukkad Nataks, Marathons, checking of vehicles at ROs etc. to drive home the message of ‘fuel conservation’. PCRA will also be using SMS facility to give fuel saving tips direct to the consumers. He also said,” India is having a large percentage of young population and this young generation is the largest user of two wheeler transport. I am happy to inform you that during this Mega Campaign we will involve youth icons like Virat Kohli and Saina Nehwal to propagate the message of fuel conservation. We will also communicate fuel saving tips to them through smart phone applications and new media tools”. Dr. Moily re-iterated that he has personally taken up with the Union Power Minister, Road, Transport & Highways Minister, Urban Development Minister and Agriculture Minister to support this mega campaign through their activities.” I have also sought the support of all Chief Ministers in this nationwide campaign for propagating the petroleum conservation message. I have requested the Urban Development Minister to introduce “Free Cycle Scheme” in select cities for saving fuel and offered funding support from our oil sector companies. I have written to MOS for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, asking him to consider ‘staggered office timings’ for Government offices, which will help in decongesting road traffic during peak hours. I have also urged all the Chief Ministers, major PSU heads and heads of different central ministries to declare one day of the week as ‘bus day’ during which all may be encouraged to utilize only public transport for their daily commute”. Dr Moily added. The training of drivers is very important to improve their driving habits. Under PCRA’s ‘Drivers Training Programme’ (which is a 3 day intensive module), already 50,000 drivers have been trained. We propose to train another 20,000 STUs drivers in next 6 months. Subsequently, with the assistance of STUs, we would like to train other 1 lakh drivers in the next 2 years. Similarly, at transport hubs, we plan to give half day training to “Truck Drivers”. We propose to cover 30,000 truck drivers in the next 2 month,” he said. The Minister Underlined that a concurrent third party evaluation of these activities will be done to know the impact and learn lessons that will help PCRA and Oil PSUs to further improve their activities and make it consumer oriented.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 15:01:16 +0000
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