ALTERNATIVE ENERGY RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT: A NEW PARADIGM

The finite limits of fossil fuels have not been fully realized by the public. Inspite of the fact that dependency on imported oil has become a hard reality than a simple economics of supply and demand, there is a false sense of optimism that somehow the perceived policy changes will alleviate the supply problems and high cost of energy. The inexpensive and abundant supply of energy has indeed been the foundation of our civilization, as we know today. But this very growth in energy production and consumption is threatening our existing ecological balance. The problems of climatic variations, ozone depletion, acid rain and radioactive fall out, are all of global magnitude and all are related to the production and consumption of energy. It is therefore imperative that we review the alternative sources of energy, particularly in the light of increasing cost of fossil fuels and try to get out of this paradigm and look beyond the carbon-based energy sources. This will require appropriate incentives for R & D and a need to optimize the energy policies to help open new horizons