Turn off engines at Traffic signals – Help India minimize its Oil Debt
Imagine the world with all its crude oil reserves exhausted and completed; the last of the last that is remaining being grabbed by the richest that are able to afford it by paying a huge premium for it. It sounds like a situation that will happen in far future, but all of us need to realize and be aware of the fact that the so called ‘far future’ is just 4 decades away. Can we envision a world sustaining without oil reserves? Can we still be ignorant of the fact that the oil reserves are getting completely drained up in the near future? Can we still continue comfortably the same level of oil consumption?
One needs to act upon to save the oil, use it very meticulously and postpone the exhaustion of the oil reserves by as much as possible. All of it can start with initiative as simple as -
• Turning off the engine of motor vehicles while one idles at the Traffic Light
Though it seems to be very small saving, it will definitely make a big difference when considered holistically. And studies did reveal the benefits of such actions. Such small initiative will not only result in saving of the oil but also gives many other cascading benefits. But all it needs is awareness and realization in the general public. If we can successfully market the cause and call for the action, the public will definitely join hands.
In India, domestically the oil production is roughly 0.69 million barrels per day. But the demand for oil is 2.2 million barrels per day. Hence, only 30% of the demand is met by the domestic oil reserves and the excess 70% of the oil required is imported by India. Currently, India is facing a huge oil deficit. It is one of the non-OPEC countries much dependent on its imports to fulfil the domestic consumption demand as it has a much lower level of production. The financial implication of such an imbalance between demand and supply resulted in a ‘huge debt’ that India owes to its oil suppliers and World Bank. The report on ‘Lower production and increasing debt of Oil and Gas – Threat to India’ in The Assam Times states that the current debt burden on Indian Oil Companies is Rs. 2 lakh crore. To add to the sorrow, countries such as Iran are already warning India that unless India pays back its debts, it might not be able to export oil to India going forward. So, India is suffering from a huge debt that is built up due to oil imports. ‘BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2007’ released by the British Multinational estimates that the world’s oil reserves would last for the coming 40.7 years only. Disturbingly, the Indian domestic oil reserves will be exhausted by the end of next 2 decades; i.e., 2 decades before the oil reserves of the world are used up. Hence after 2 decades, India would be dependent entirely on the imports of crude oil from other countries. Simultaneously, this will also result in building up the burden of ‘debt it owes’ to external countries. Now, can we help our country to lessen the burden of this debt? The answer is definitely a ‘Yes’. In fact, it is not just helping the country; in turn we are helping and saving ourselves too.
But how can we help? In India, the largest part of the crude oil is consumed in the form of Petrol or Diesel for running the automobiles. Hence majority of the end users of the oil are the public using automobiles or various other motor vehicles that uses either petrol or diesel in general. We can definitely save the oil without even decreasing the current utility of the public. As mentioned earlier, the initiative as simple as ‘turning off the engine of motor vehicles while one idles at the Traffic Light’ can make a difference.
Various studies show that a typical 2- wheeler when left idle for 2 minutes consumes petrol worth Rs. 3.50. On an average day, a 2- wheeler would spend its time idle for almost 10 minutes. Hence the amount that one 2-wheeler spends (or rather wastes) during idling time is Rs. 17.50. The below table shows the further calculations and specifies the range of savings that can be accomplished by just turning off the vehicle at traffic signals.
Idle Time 2 min 1 day 1 month (25 working days) 1 year. (25 days * 12 months)
1 vehicle Rs 3.50 Rs. 17.50 Rs. 437.50 Rs. 5,250
500 vehicles Rs. 1,750 Rs. 8,750 Rs. 2,18,750 Rs. 26,25,000
10,000 vehicles Rs. 35,000 Rs. 1,75,000 Rs. 43,75,000 Rs. 5,25,00,000
10,00,000 vehicles Rs. 35,00,000 Rs. 1,75,00,000 Rs. 43,75,00,000 Rs. 5,25,00,00,000

The above table clearly depicts that 0.26% of the current debt can be easily lessened just by turning off the vehicle during idle time by just 10 lakh 2 wheelers. But in reality, when we consider the large number of vehicles, much more impact and savings can be realised. All that we need to do is ‘Turn off the vehicle during idle time at traffic signals’.
The next step is that the general public should be made aware of this information. Initiatives like a sign board in vernacular languages at every traffic signal depicting the above savings would help people realise and start following the same. Also, since it is a direct saving to the user, captions such as “Save Rs. 400 per month out of thin air”, etc. can be captivating and serve the purpose.
Also, government can make sure that at every traffic signal, there is a digital display of time left for the traffic signal to open and close. This would help the driver to decide whether to turn off the vehicle or not, as technically, more fuel would be consumed while igniting the engine than keeping it idle for lesser time. So, if the waiting time is less than 30 seconds, then the driver can choose not to turn off the engine. This way, he/she can again contribute to savings.
To enforce this initiative legally, government can also pass Anti-Idling laws that would abide the drivers not to idle their vehicles unnecessarily with the engines turned on. A very good example of such a law is ‘Massachusetts Anti-Idling Law’ that prohibits the driver idling of his/her vehicle unnecessarily.
‘Turning off the engine during idle time’ does not only yield in terms of money, but there are many cascading benefits. To hint on a few of benefits, below are two of them:
• It halts the environmental pollution for few minutes per day from the automobiles.
• It protects the engine from early wear and tear, as during idle time the engine is running for no purpose. This in turn lengthens the life of the vehicle.
To conclude, all that needs to be done is to bring awareness among the public presenting them the facts in a captivating manner. I am sure, that once we come together and start acting for this cause, we will make a difference.
References
• Oil & Gas Journal - http://www.ogj.com/index/article-display.articles.oil-gas-journal.volume-109.issue-30
• EIA - http://www.eia.gov/countries/country-data.cfm?fips=IN
• Asian Correspondent - http://asiancorrespondent.com/262/india%E2%80%99s-oil-production-consumption-and-imports/