Introduction
As we all know, "energy is the capacity to do work". Energy consumption, economic growth and population increase are interlinked. The energy demands of developing and developed countries are increasing day by day.
India, being a developing country is not an exception. There is a rapid increase in energy consumption in India. In 1980, the consumption was 4.16 quadrillion Btu (quads) which increased to 12.8 quads in 2001. The increase of 208% in energy consumption is due to the increase in population, industrialization, urbanization and other developmental activities. The population of India crossed one billion mark in the year 2000. The average growth rate of population being 2.1% per year over the last three decades, though in 2001 the growth rate declined a little to 1.9%.With about 16% of the world’s population, India consumes only 3.4% of the total energy produced in the world. This energy consumption is still lower than that of Germany (14.35 quads), Japan (21.92 quads), China (39.67 quads) and Unites States (97.05 quads). The United States consumed 24.5% of world’s commercial energy with its population share of only 4.6% in the world. In India, the per capita energy consumption in 2001 was 12.6 million Btu which is one of the lowest in comparison to the rest of other Asian countries. It is l∕5'h of world average and l∕26lh of that of USA.
Energy consumption is also one of the indicators of the development of a country. India has to go a long way to be at par with the developed nations but at the same time, there is also a need to keep a watch on the environment. The development, of course, should not be at the cost of environmental degradation. We should keep in mind the resources available to us and use them optimally and very cautiously for the sustainable development.
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