'Reducing dependence on petroleum only way out'

Delivering the keynote address at a seminar on “Global warming: Present and future scenario” organised by the Department of Biosciences of Mangalore University in association with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Karnataka Rajya Vigyan Parishat at the varsity premises on Thursday, he said there have been no new researches on the alternative sources of energy since people are used to depend themselves on petrol, coal and other traditional resources.

“We are totally regulated by the most powerful petroleum lobby. It is this oil lobby that decides who should be our Prime Minister and who should be our President. They are very particular in seeing that there will be no new inventions in the alternative energy resources,” he said adding that so long as people are in the stronghold of the petroleum lobby, there would be no cooling down effect on the earth, but only global warming.

Emphasising on the inevitability of finding out new avenues in the energy scenario, Hegde quoted the example of Germany where people generate electricity from cars and use it in their houses, and produce energy at their rooftops and contribute it to the national grid.

“A day will come when we say good bye to carbon-based technology and welcome the hydrogen-based technology,” he added. “About 97 per cent of energy is lost in the transmission process, which adds to the temperature of the atmosphere. The lost energy is converted into heat waves. The major challenge before us is how to concentrate and condense the energy scattered around us in the air and make it useful for the society,” he observed.

Hegde expressed his concern that the parts of northern Karnataka have already been officially accepted as the second largest deserts in the country after Rajasthan. “The ground water table has declined below 1,100 ft in Kolar and 800 ft in Chitradurga,” he worried.

Ecologist Dr N A Madhyastha spoke on “Climate change and need for an ecological insurance,” while Marine Geology Department faculty Dr H Gangadhar Bhat spoke on “Global warming monitoring satellites”. NITK Assistant Professor Dr Arun Isloor spoke on
“Eco-friendly approaches for mitigation of climate change”.

Earlier, the seminar was inaugurated by Alva’s Education Foundation Chairman Dr M Mohan Alva. Vice Chancellor Prof T C Shivashankara Murthy presided. An exhibition of nature and wildlife photography by Dr Akhter Hussain was also organised. On the occasion, MSEZ Green Belt Advisor M Dinesh Nayak was felicitated for his life time service towards  environment conservation.