Earth Day — Lets pledge to save our planet by adopting cleaner mobility
The ‘new normal’ for all of us in these days is watching the blue skies,waking up to the chirping of birds and the AQI hovering below 100. Our cities haven’t experienced such good environmental conditions at least in last few decades. Some pockets might have experienced curfews or bandhs but never ever a complete lockdown. As mere humans we are unlearning, reinventing, and nature is testing our capabilities and value systems.
The storm clouds of this pandemic still hang over India. We are living in unprecedented times. No body had thought of this disaster coming and hence did not have the time to prepare for this kind of emergency. The days ahead are difficult, uncertain…. we are not sure how long this would last. But whenever the routine life resumes, albiet slowly and gradually in a staggered maner, one thing is certain — Life will not be the same as it was before the pandemic stuck the world. We have been reminded, probably the harshest way that improved quality of life on environmental indicators is possible. How we translate this into realty is in our hands. This is an opportunity for us to change our perspective towards our surroundings, the environment and people around us. To think of the impacts that our actions have on society and country at large. The choice is ours whether we continue to consume fossil fuels and pollute our air, water and land or to opt for cleaner, healthier and environment friendly options. Which may be a bit expensive in the beginning but with greater acceptability would become affordable in due course of time.
Technological advances and disruptions are common in all spheres of our lives; be it the way we work, travel, shop, study etc. We need to embrace technological agnostic solutions that have an overall positive impact on human lives as well as our surrounding environment. India can leapfrog the western mobility paradigm of private-vehicle ownership and create a shared, electric, and connected mobility system saving 876 million metric tons of oil equivalent, worth $330 billion (INR 20 lakh crore), and 1 giga-tonne of carbon-dioxide emissions by 2030. Transition to Electric vehicles cut reliance on oil and offer zero emission mobility for a cleaner environment.
There are immense opportunities in the manufacturing of electric vehicles, components, batteries, EV chargers, charging infrastructure. Lithium is the New Oil. Battery recycling could be used to overcome the lack of relevant materials resource in India. India can become Self Reliant in Battery Materials through Urban Mining. The Indian EV industry is evincing interest in battery swapping because of the speed factor. With a maximum refueling time of 5 minutes, this technology can make charging of EVs a quick affair. Industry and the government should make selective investments in cell manufacturing, because, as new battery chemistries mature, this will keep local battery manufacturers innovative and competitive even globally.
Further, we all have seen the tangible disruption that telecom industry has gone through. In a time frame of less than a generation, the Indian Telecom Sector has gone from providing basic mobile telephone with the bare minimum services to the advent of the Smartphone revolution concomitant with the roll out of Successive Generations of Wireless technologies. Shifting from traditional and conventional diesel/petrol vehicles to clean energy vehicles is going to be an inevitable and a tangible disruption given commitment to health and climate goals of many nations across the globe.
Indian auto mobile industry has to be agile to ride the wave of change which is sweeping the world. The industry has to be pro-active in in its investments towards clean mobility initiatives. There is no better time than now , to think and act towards switching our perspectives and investments towards building supply chains for clean mobility in India. The old saying ‘Health is Wealth’, stands good in these difficult times. With auto indstry’s progressive and pro-active approach by moving their investments towards ‘Zero Emission Vehicles’ will be highly regarded as it adds ‘health and wealth’ to the Indian society.
Finally, may we remember the words from the historic chorus written in 1985 by Micheal Jackson and Lionel Richie.
We are the world, We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making, We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me
It’s a choice we all have to make for our own lives! Steps to transition towards ‘a new normal’ must be guided by public health principles, together with economic and societal considerations. May we not loose the sight!
Authors:
Joseph Teja, YP — Smart Transport & Electric Vehicles, NITI Aayog and Harkiran K Sanjeevi, DDG — DMEO, NITI Aayog.
Views expressed are personal.
