Shell Lubricants hosted the 4th edition of global lecture series on Monday. The event saw a panel of industry experts discuss the energy challenges faced in India and across the globe and the sustainability solutions to tackle the same. Experts at the event, held at the IIM Bangalore campus, emphasized on the importance of technological collaboration to develop new technologies and equipment.

The world’s population is expected to rise to 9 billion by 2050, up from the current 7 billion. Globally, the energy demand is going to be 200 percent higher by 2050, but more importantly, for India the energy demand is going to be 400 percent higher, Nitin Prasad, Managing Director, Shell Lubricants India said, adding that the energy challenge in India is magnified even more, as a fair chunk of the increase in population will be in India.

In the concept of energy efficiency, the role of lubricants is getting more important. “This year (at the global lecture series), the focus has been on highlighting the connect between global energy efficiency and adoption of fuel-efficient practices on a daily basis. We believe that the right set of lubricants, can not only bring efficiency to an industrial unit but in due course of time, to an entire industry,” Prasad said.

Felix Guerzoni, Global Product Application Specialist, Shell Global Solutions emphasized on the increasing need for cautious use of natural resources and maximization of fuel economy across all processes. "The global energy landscape today is marked with numerous challenges. Depleting resources, increased energy demand and wasteful use of fuel are some of the key concerns that tend to lower the output of our industries, equipment and machinery," he said.

Industry experts reiterated that despite some growing acceptance for the electric and hybrid powertrains, the internal combustion engine is far from being phased out. According to Cameron Watson, General Manager, Shell's OEM and Direct Sector Technology, the internal combustion engine will comprise two thirds of the total powertrains globally by 2050.

Speaking about the use of biofuel for greater fuel efficiency, experts suggested a cautious approach and that efforts should be undertaken to see that biofuels are sought in a sustainable manner — in a way that it does not lead to shortage of food and encourage deforestation. It was observed that, a high demand for biofuels resulted in a massive increase in irrigation, leading to a shortage of water in some countries.

The event was also attended by officials from the Indian automotive industry such as P Panda, Sr Vice President (Product Development), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, KK  Gandhi, Executive Director (Technical), Society of Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and Rajendra Petkar, Head-Power Systems Engineering, Tata Motors among others.

In light of the deteriorating quality of air, the Government of India recently indicated that it was considering skipping the BS V emission norms, set to be implemented in 2020 and move to BS VI, originally slated for 2024, instead. Gandhi suggested taking a holistic step-by-step approach to the same and warned that leapfrogging could result in safety issues. The auto industry as a proactive measure has agreed to adopt BS V and VI in 2019 and 2023 instead, provided requisite fuel is made available.

K Srinivas, Deputy Director, Automotive Research Association of India expressed concern over the difference in the quality of fuel being used across the country. He suggested a ‘one country, one fuel quality and one regulation’ policy to improve the condition of vehicle pollution.