Volume : 4, Issue : 8, August - 2015

ENERGY CRISIS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO KARNATAKA STATE

Dr. C. Mallanna, Prof. D. A. Kolhapure

Abstract :

<p>There is acute shortage of energy in the coun&not;try. This leads to energy crisis which is apparent in frequent load shedding, power failure, closure of factories, man-hour loss and decrease in production. Part of the problem is related to the insufficient energy resources leading to the shortage in supply which is not able to meet the growing demands of power in the rapidly expanding industrial, transport, agricultural and urban sectors. A comparison of growing electricity generation through the plans and increasing demands shows that deficit is mounting year after year which now stands at one-fifth of the demand even at the abysmally low level of per capita consumption, i.e., 340 km as against the world average of 2,500 km and 8,000 km for the devel&not;oped countries. The consumption of electricity in the country is increasing at the rate of 10 per cent per year. According to the 14th electric power survey of India, the country‘s peak demand projected for the year 2010 AD is 1,72, 267 MW against the actual installed capacity of 85,795 MW in 1996-97. This requires additional installed capacity of 86,472 MW in Just 13 years which seems to be an uphill and impossible task. Against the target of 30,000 MW for the Eighth Plan only 7,960 MW has been in&not;stalled so far. This will lead to further decrease in per capita electricity supply and worsening of the power crisis. An energy crisis is an great bottleneck (or price rise) in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, particularly those that supply national electricity grids or serve as fuel for vehicles. There has been an enormous increase in the global demand for energy in recent years as a result of industrial development and population growth. Supply of energy is, therefore, far less than the actual demand. Karnataka State extends over an area of 1.92 lakh sq. kms, it occupies about 5.84% of the total geographical area of the country. The state is situated in the West-Central part of the Deccan Peninsula of the Indian union and is stretched between 13&deg; 3‘ and 18&deg;45‘ north latitudes and 74&deg; 12‘ and 78&deg; 40‘ east longitudes. The major portion of Karnataka lies in the elevation range between 450 and 900 metres above mean sea level. With a population of 4,49,77,201, it accounts for 5.4% of the country‘s population. For administrative purpose, the state has been divided into divisions, districts and taluks. There are 27,024 villages spread over 175 taluks. 69.07% of the population resides in rural areas (31,069,413 people).</p>