Self-discipline better than being policed.

The energy intensive chemical industry is out of the ambit of mandatory energy audits, at least for another two years. That was the most important take-home on day one of the two-day seminar on energy conservation organised by Indian Chemical Council. Under the Energy Conservation Act of 2001, 15 industries had been notified as Designated Consumers, chemical industry being one of them. It is mandatory for a Designated Consumer to appoint an Energy Manager, who is expected to develop and implement an Energy Management Plan, and Energy Audit by accredited Energy Auditors was part of that plan.

The reason being doled out for a new shortened list of Designated Consumers that excludes chemical industry from it is rather flimsy. The chemical industry, it is being argued, is far too diverse and disparate to evolve easy norms for benchmarking. How a two-year moratorium will help in making that arduous task any easier is anybody’s guess. But Energy Conservation is far too important an issue to be left to bureaucratic whims and fancies. The inability of supplies to cope with the growing hunger for energy is all too evident. The investments called for are mind boggling and in the short to medium term, energy conservation is the best bet to narrow the gap between supply and demand.

The crying need of the hour for the chemical industry is to discipline itself from within and not wait for it to be policed.