How is the energy crisis in Europe shaping up? (GS Paper 3, Environment)
Context:
- As winter approaches, Europe faces an energy problem. The numerous leaks, apparently caused by explosions to the Nord Stream 1, which is an energy pipeline connecting Russia to Germany, has driven supplies to a halt.
- Amid anxieties about building up energy reserves, the gas field in Groningen in the Netherlands has once again come under the spotlight.
Why is this gas field relevant?
- The region of Groningen in the Netherlands has a gas field that began operations in 1963. During the 1980s, the area saw numerous earthquakes, minor enough to avoid large damage but big enough for local buildings to develop cracks. Following these quakes, the Dutch government had earlier said that it would shutter the field in response to local protests. The closure date was also advanced to 2022 from 2030.
- However, due to recent geopolitical tensions, the Dutch government wants to keep options open.
- A Bloomberg report said that if allowed, the additional supply from the field could go up to a level that would make up for what Germany imported last year from Russia. It said that the field still had potential for about 450 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas to be extracted.
Can oil or gas exploration cause earthquakes?
- The man-made or induced earthquakes can be pretty damaging. Examples of human activity that could lead to ‘induced seismicity’ are damming of rivers to create reservoirs, oil or gas extraction, and mining.
- To enhance energy extraction, waste water, sand and chemicals are injected into the earth at high pressure to create fractures in the rocks. This process, called “hydraulic fracturing”, helps improve the interconnectivity of the pores in order to enhance oil and gas extraction.
Injecting Fluid:
- In some cases, fluid is injected into pores connected to the fault which may substantially increase the pore pressure within the fault to counteract the effective frictional forces. This may trigger earthquakes.
- Also, fluid injection (water flooding) in a hydrocarbon reservoir (rocks that hold hydrocarbons which are oil and gas) is a common operation for the purpose of enhanced oil recovery.
- Water flooding through injection wells cause pore pressure in hydrocarbon reservoirs to increase, leading to decrease of effective normal stresses in reservoir rocks.
- Sometimes this decrease of effective stresses causes existing natural fractures to shift towards the window of critically stressed fractures leading to induced seismicity. A small fraction of these injection wells has induced earthquakes thus raising concerns.
Fluid extraction:
- Fluid extraction from hydrocarbon reservoirs causes an increase in net effective stresses, which, when supported by the geomechanics of the rock, may lead to development of new faults and fractures.
- In the case of Groningen, the ground subsiding has been caused by extraction alone over several years. Such extraction causes rocks to contract, as the pores get to hold less and less hydrocarbons over time.
Example of earthquake in Koynanagar, Maharashtra:
- A disastrous earthquake in Koynanagar, Maharashtra, of magnitude 6.5 occurred in Dec. 1967 which claimed at least 177 lives and injured more than 2,200.
- General consensus among seismologists was that it was due to reservoir-induced seismicity where the weight of the water column likely substantially altered the stress on an underlying fault / fracture resulting in an earthquake.
Don’t major gas suppliers in the U.S. or Russia have such problems?
- There are several places in the U.S. where hydraulic fracturing has induced seismicity. The largest earthquake known to be induced by wastewater disposal was a M5.8 earthquake that occurred near Pawnee, Oklahoma (USA) in 2016.
- As per the United States Geological Survey, four earthquakes of magnitude 5+ have occurred in Oklahoma, three of which occurred in 2016. In 2011, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake was induced by fluid injection in the Raton Basin, Colorado.
- Earthquakes caused by fluid extraction need not happen at every place that sees extraction. The geomechanical properties of the rock in question determine outcomes. The reaction of rocks to stresses can be different.
Should India be concerned about gas in the Netherlands?
- India’s domestic gas price is determined from the average of four global indicesviz U.S.’s Henry Hub, the U.K.’s National Balancing point, Canada’s Alberta and Russian gas.
- Compared with pre-pandemic times, the average domestic price of gas has more than doubled from $5.08/MMBTU to $11.62 and this is bound to rise again when the six-monthly reset takes place for April-September 2023.
- India consumed about 63.9 bcm in FY22, about 3.1 bcm more than in the previous year. Imports alone accounted for close to 50% of consumption, at about 30 bcm. Global production is estimated to decline from 4,109 bcm in calendar 2021 to 4,089 bcm in 2022.
- The situation would become challenging for the government unless the formula for determining domestic gas price is reviewed, he says. Till then, the government has to bear the higher subsidy burden on fertilizer as well as for the LPG sector.
India suffered income loss of $159 billion in key sectors due to extreme heat in 2021: Report
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- According to the Climate Transparency Report 2022, India suffered an income loss of USD 159 billion, 5.4 per cent of its gross domestic product, in the service, manufacturing, agriculture, and construction sectors due to extreme heat in 2021.
- Heat exposure in the country led to the loss of 167 billion potential labour hours, a 39 per cent increase from 19901999.
Labour productivity:
- Labour productivity in India is projected to decline by five per cent from the 19862006 reference period if global temperatures increase by 1.5 degrees Celsius.
- The decline in labour productivity will be 2.1 times more if the global temperatures increase by 2.5 degrees Celsius, and 2.7 times at a three degree Celsius scenario.
Farmers & crop productivity:
- Between 20162021, extreme events such as cyclones, flash floods, floods, and landslides caused damage to crops in over 36 million hectares, a USD 3.75 billionloss for farmers in the country.
- The annual damage from river flooding in the country is likely to increase by around 49 per cent at 1.5 degree Celsius of warming.
- The damage from cyclones will increase by 5.7 per cent.
Tropical cyclones and river flooding:
- The annual expected damage from tropical cyclones and river flooding at three degrees Celsius is 4.6 to 5.1 times that from 1.5 degrees Celsius.
- Precipitation is projected to increase by six per cent from the reference period of 19862006, at 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. Under a three degrees Celsius warming scenario, precipitation will increase by three times the precipitation anticipated at 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming.
Rainfall pattern in India:
- The rainfall pattern in India has changed in the past 30 years, impacting many economic activities such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
- Snowfall in India is expected to decrease under 1.5 degrees Celsius scenario by 13 per cent when compared with the reference period’s snowfall levels. At three degrees Celsius of warming, the decrease is expected to be 2.4 times the 1.5 degrees Celsius scenario.
Earth’s global surface temperature:
- Earth’s global surface temperature has increased by around 1.1 degrees Celsius compared with the average in 18501900.
- To address climate change, countries adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015 to limit global temperature rise in this century to well below two degrees Celsius, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
Way Forward:
- The impacts of climate change are already being experienced with an increase in the extreme weather events with more and more people and infrastructure affected.
- The need to transform our energy systems is obvious, requiring support for technology/best practice development, deployment at scales.
Vulture Conservation Committee in Tamil Nadu
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Government of Tamil Nadu has constituted the State-level Committee for Vulture Conservation (SLCVC) for coordination between various wings of the government to implement the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation (APVC) 2020-2025.
- The SLCVC will set up an institutional framework for conservation of vultures in the state.
Why Vulture Conservation?
- As many as seven of the nine species of raptors found in India are ‘critically endangered’ and ‘near threatened’, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.
- India’s vulture population dropped to 18,645 in 2015 from over 40,000 in 2003, the last vulture census conducted by intergovernmental body Bird Life International showed.
Composition of SLCVC:
- The committee was formed on the request of the principal chief conservator of forests of the state, who will also head the committee along with nine other members.
- The director of animal husbandry department and director of drug controller, food safety and drug administration department will also be members of the committee, along with noted members of different non-profits working for wildlife conservation.
Mandate of SLCVC:
- It will ensure scientific management of carcass dumps and analyse cattle carcass samples in the state to ensure no harmful drugs are ingested by vultures. They will also ensure management of wild animal carcasses in protected and unprotected areas.
- Experts agree that the use of some Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) to treat cattle, such as diclofenac, nimesulide, ketoprofen among others, has led to the crash in vulture populations across India.
- It will also work to establish efficient regulatory mechanisms for ban on drugs found toxic to vultures like NSAIDS that have been banned under the Vulture Action Plan (2020-25).
- The committee will also be tasked with creating more breeding grounds and rescue centres for the raptors in the state, along with regular monitoring of the vulture population in the state.
- It will also participate in the nation-wide vulture census and identify locations for carrying out the census and creating ‘vulture safe zones’ in the state. It will also prepare an Annual Report of Action Plan for Vulture Conservation.
Which areas in Tamil Nadu have vulture populations?
- The State is home to four species of vultures — the white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis), long-billed vultures (Gyps indicus), the Asian king-vulture (Sarcogypscalvus) and the Egyptian vulture (Neophronpercnopterus).
- Oriental white backed vulture, long-billed vulture, red-headed vulture found in Tamil Nadu are critically endangered, while Egyptian vulture is in the endangered category.
- While there have been reported sightings of vultures in other districts including Dharmapuri; essentially the Nilgiris, Erode and Coimbatore districts are believed to form one of the largest contiguous expanses where vultures are spotted.
- Home to the nesting sites of three of the four species of vultures seen in the State, the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, parts of the Nilgiris forest division and the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve are crucial strongholds for the vultures in southern India.
- Occasional migrants such as the Himalayan griffon vulture and the Cinerous vulture are also spotted each year. Tamil Nadu boasts the largest population of vultures south of the Vindhiya Mountain Range.
What role do vultures play in the local ecosystem?
- As scavengers,vultures help prevent the spread of many diseases and can remove toxins from entering the environment by consuming carcasses of dead cattle/wildlife before they decompose. Unfortunately, their tolerance for harmful substances does not extend to man-made drugs.
What are the challenges which impact vultures in the State?
- There are multiple. For one, temple tourism in the Sigur plateau is centred primarily around vulture habitats, such as Siriyur, Anaikatty and Bokkapuram. Over the last few years, there have been recorded instances of vultures abandoning nesting sites located too close to temples inside these reserves, with activists calling for strict controls on the amount of people allowed to attend these festivals.
- Another threat is the spread of invasive weeds such as the Lantana camara in vulture-landscapes, which hinder the birds from scavenging as their large wing-spans require plenty of open area to safely land and to take to the skies in case of any major threats.
- Finally, due to the illegal tapping of water along the streams running through these areas, possible climate change, and forest fires, the Terminalia arjuna trees, that many vultures use as nesting sites are disappearing. Only through a multipronged approach of increasing the amount of food available to the birds and managing invasive species can vulture numbers start rebounding.
What are the steps taken to protect vultures in the State?
- The State government has banned the use of diclofenac, a drug, to treat cattle, while there are strict restrictions for the sale of other NSAIDs in the Nilgiris, Erode and Coimbatore districts.
- Additionally, as the vultures in the Sigur plateau utilise landscapes in neighboring Karnataka and Kerala, experts have called for a synchronous vulture census to accurately identify vulture populations and nesting sites.
Unregulated helicopter tourism industry in India
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Context:
- Three months after a chopper went down into Arabian Sea leaving four dead, another chopper crashed into the Uttarakhand hills killing seven on-board recently. Are civil helicopters being regulated efficiently?
Incidents in 2022 during Char DhamYatra:
- In August, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) imposed a fine of 5 lakh rupees each on five helicopter operators, which had been carrying tourists to KedarnathDham, for flight disturbances. It also suspended officials of two other operators for three months for violating safety rules.
- But just four months later, seven people lost their lives when a helicopter ferrying pilgrims from the Kedarnath temple crashed into a hill amid poor visibility. Pilot too was among the dead.
- The DGCA has issued an operational advisory to all helicopter operators, demanding strict compliance with safety standards and warned of strict enforcement action against operators and personnel found responsible for such incidents.
- It also said that a spot check would be conducted. It also said that all operators had to ensure that their pilots were sufficiently qualified.
Gaps:
- The recent helicopter crash and the fatal Pawan Hans accident near Bombay High in June have highlighted the gaps in standards.
- Insufficient updates in training and familiarisation were evident in both accidents.
- The pilots involved in these accidents had relatively little experience on the machines that crashed.
- For example, the pilot in recent crash had reportedly been an offshore pilot for close to 15 years and mostly flown multi-engine aircraft. He had joined Aryan Aviation only in September, just a month before the crash, and began flying a single-engine helicopter.
Recurrent training:
- Against this backdrop, the crucial question was what kind of recurrent training had the pilot been provided to make him proficient in hill-flying.
- Recurrent training refers to refresher courses that pilots must go through on a regular basis. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration of the US has specific regulations addressing the type, quantity, and frequency of recurrent training required for pilots and crewmembers.
Training &standardisation review:
- Data also points to an urgent need for a comprehensive training and standardisation review.
- According to a report published on Statista on civil helicopter accidents in India between financial years 2006 and 2019, while loss of control was the most common cause of accidents, most of them were not fatal. Instead, loss of visual reference caused the most fatal accidents. A total of 47 accidents occurred in the fourteen years, with 21 of them being fatal.
- Loss of visual reference is a situation in which the pilot has lost reference to the horizon or ground. Research by US aviation experts has found that it is either the pilot's decisions or lack of attention that is most commonly associated with such a condition occurring.
- Thus, they suggest that dealing with loss of visual reference needs to be a part of a pilot's ongoing training, instead of being limited only to the initial training phase. Pilot decisions that are likely to cause such a condition include continuing operations in adverse weather.
Indian civil helicopter market:
- The Indian civil helicopter market is nascent. In fact, reports in 2021 had indicated that it might even be diminishing in size.
- Helicopter operations in India are well below its potential, even as their requirement has been rising in areas like tourism, mining, corporate travel and medical services.
- As of now, the total number of civil registered helicopters in India was around 250. Meanwhile, Brazil had around 1,250, Australia around 2,000, and the US more than 14,000.
Way Forward:
- Recently, Union Civil Aviation Minister JyotiradityaScindia recently revealed that the government was planning to establish helipads along new highways to allow immediate evacuations during emergencies.
- As such, it is important to find a comprehensive solution. For that, first there is need to identify where the gaps in the system exist.
- Statutory requirements regarding instructor qualification and helicopter pilot training are also inadequate compared to their fixed-wing counterparts. This is an area calling for urgent attention.
