Repeating mistakes of the past

By By Eng. Parakrma Jayasinghe

Bio Energy Association of

Sri Lanka

The much-awaited outcome of the interim President is now over. Will this result in some measure of hope for the beleaguered public of reversing the downward slide of the economy and the resultant crisis on the very livelihood of most strata of the society? Some resolution of the energy crisis, particularly the fuel shortage remains the most critical issue.

Sri Lanka has got itself cornered without any immediate solutions in respect of the transport fuels, for which the country is 100% dependent on imported fossil fuels, and for which no short term or medium term solution cannot be expected. However, there was definitely a solution emerging on the one sector which is equally critical for the day to day life of a significant portion of the people. That is the shortage of LPG, even at the grossly escalated prices.

Although this problem which started some months back with exploding gas cylinders and appliances, resulted in long queues of housewives and children languishing for hours and days in gas queues with scant expectation of the arrival of the lorry load of gas cylinders. No doubt this was an intolerable situation, particularly for the low income families, living in high rise apartments in the urban areas.

I consider it a sign of the resilience of the Sri Lankan society, when a welcome change emerged in that while the empty cylinders remained in the queues, once more with the home grown methodologies for their safety and the priority order , hoping that someday the gas became available, people no longer stayed in the queues. The other imported alternative fuel kerosene also having disappeared from the market, with a different set of queues at the petrol stations and the local source of kerosene, the Sapugaskanda also being shut down, did this mean that they stopped cooking altogether? Not by any means.

Even though the change may not have been easy or comparable to the convenience offered by an LPG cooker, they would have reverted to the use of our own fuels, particularly fire wood. The large amount of fire wood bundles which appeared in the shops in the urban centres and even supermarkets , is clear evidence of this.

In our previous articles we explained that another set of Sri Lankan entrepreneurs had come to the rescue by designing and selling a number of well made and modern stoves, with out the disadvantage of the smoke and soot from the traditional use of firewood for cooking. It is clear that there was a great demand for these stoves too as the manufacturers had long waiting lists.

However there is a grave doubt if history is repeating itself and the government once more trying to reverse this positive trend?

It will be recalled that in year 2003, there was a similar escalation of price of LPG and the people were accepting a novel wood burning stove invented and promoted by the NERD Centre. The “Spectra” stove manufactured under license from NERD by a local entrepreneurs was finding a ready and expanding market. However, the then government instead of promoting this positive trend and supporting the development of a reliable supply chain for the processed fuel wood needed, promptly reduced the price of LPG. This was done not due to any drop in the world market price of LPG but on the lopsided notion of subsidising the cost to the fraction of population using LPG. As Sri Lanka did not have the current parallel crisis of shortage of foreign exchange, they may have scored some political millage even at the cost to the economy and destroying the even minute step in the direction of gaining energy security.

This well designed and efficient stove illustrated below is still being offered by some manufacturers with further improvements and is finding a market. (See figure 1)

There are a large number of other models designed to use charcoal as well as wood targeting different strata of households and other larger scale uses presently available in the market, which has alleviated the problems faced by the people as mentioned above. (See figure 2)

Now what does the government do under these circumstances?

Promises have been made by the then Acting President that arrangements have been made to import adequate LPG for the next four months. It is learnt that the shipment just arrived has been made possible by a loan from the world bank but would not be adequate even to serve half of the pent up demand in the Districts of Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara. It is a moot point if the balance shipments promised by him would ever materialise. It is also known the payment due for the diesel and petrol shipments on order have not been made completely. One would expect that these shipments including the crude oil needed to restart the refinery should take much higher priority for the release of the scant foreign exchange that Sri Lanka can raise by scraping the bottom of the barrel, to revive the transport sector which has literally ground to a halt.

But the fact remains that such irresponsible statements may already have blunted the positive sentiments of the domestic consumers, who have made the wise decision to shun the non sustainable and expensive use of LPG in the future. The only reason for this shortsighted and nationally irresponsible action by the government could be political aimed at a last ditch effort at reviving their already lost public appeal, aiming at the fight for the forthcoming selection of a new President. The foreign exchange allocated for this move is what could have been used to pay for the much more important transport fuels, which would help the entire population and not the limited few who would continue to depend on LPG. Hardly the type of leadership to be expected from those on whom the people have depended on to serve them.

It is only hoped that the people would have better sense to see the reality and that the time has come not to believe in any promises made by the government. While those who are fortunate to get a cylinder of gas is well advised to use it sparingly to last many months while adopting the solution available now to cater for their main cooking requirements. Thus they can face the future with the confidence that they need not spend days in a gas queue, even though the next shipment fails to arrive as promised.

There is a most important aspect of the cost of the next cylinder of gas, which already went up by Rs 50.00 and the distinct possibility of further increases, if the world market trends and the price offered by the private sector supplier is any indication. Even at the present prices the comparison of cost of using LPG as compared to the other options is worthy of note as noted below.

(See graph)

This economic reality alone should be adequate for the households not to be duped by the empty promises made by the government and in the interest of long term energy security of the kitchen.

It is to be noted that the cost of coconut shell charcoal the current preferred fuel for the stoves in the market is rising due to it being in short supply and being already sought as the main raw material for the manufacture of activated carbon , a major source of most valuable foreign exchange at this time of need. Fortunately the alternative of wood charcoal is equally effective. The supply chain of wood charcoal is now developing offering one more lucrative means of regular income generation to those prepared to venture in to this business. The necessary instructions are available in our web site www.bioenergysrilanka.lk or by contacting us on email bioenergyasl@gmail.com

Let the kitchen be the forerunner in gaining our much needed independence for our energy supplies ridding Sri Lanka from the trap of over dependence on imported fossil fuels, which is ruining our economy and social life.