Bhutans electric cars

Maximising the use of hydro power- February 4, 2014 Energy costs are an issue for all outh !sian nations" #n ri $an%a&s case, large hydro capacity is more or less exploited to the full" 'here is more space for mini hydro de(elopment but there are cost, purchase price and en(ironmental issues" olar, wind, wa(e, dendro, tidal and geo thermal as potential sources of power are almost in (irgin condition, (irtually unexploited, except for a few wind farms and limited solar applications" 'he technocrats, bureaucrats and politicians in the sector seem infatuated with coal and other fossil fuels, notwithstanding the high cost of fuel oil and the tragedy and)or farce of *orochcholai +2, brea%downs and counting-." ampur is set to follow" 'here are a bunch of people who are also tal%ing of going nuclear- /oor ri $an%a'he %noc%out punch is the prediction by the *ational Mo(ement of Electricity 0onsumers that we would ha(e the (irtual 12obson&s choice& between higher electricity charges or power cuts, (ery soon- 'homas 2obson was a li(ery stable owner in 0ambridge England, who hired out his 40 horses" #n order to rotate the use of his horses by customers, 2obson offered customers the choice of either ta%ing the horse in the stall nearest to the door or ta%ing none at all" 3e will also ha(e a similar choice for electricity, pay more or no power*issan $eaf to the fore 4hutan is doing something sensible in the energy sector" 5ecently elected /rime Minister of 4hutan 'shering 'ogbay announced a plan to start replacing official go(ernment (ehicles,

currently run on petrol or diesel, with the *issan $eaf, an electric car, by March 2014" !t a later stage, taxis and family cars would be gradually replaced by locally assembled electric (ehicles" 'his will ma%e 4hutan&s capital 'himphu a global electric (ehicle 1hot spot& and a showcase for green technology in outh !sia" For 4hutan, electricity is li%e oil for a country in the !rabian 6ulf region, it is the most important resource7 water cascading down from the 2imalayan glaciers supplies a constant source of energy to dri(er turbines, which hitherto has mainly pro(ided electricity which 4hutan sells to its neighbour #ndia" !lmost all the income from these clean energy exports 4hutan&s utilises to import highly-polluting fossil fuels to power 4hutan&s transport infrastructure" En(ironment and air pollution is becoming an issue in the 'himphu (alley due to the large number of (ehicles" 4y 2020 4hutan plans to reduce by 809 its fossil fuel imports" 'his is (itally important as fossil fuels are now imported to 4hutan through #ndia and #ndia also pro(ides a subsidy" 'he 5enault-*issan 0hief Executi(e 0arlos 6hosn met with /rime Minister 'ogbay at 'himphu recently for discussions on the supply of electric cars and battery charging systems" 4hutan has also spo%en with the !merican electric (ehicle ma%er 'elsa, based in 0alifornia" #deal ground 4hutanese officials as well as *issan executi(es point out that 'himphu and its current population of 120,000 is the ideal ground for a (enture of this sort" 'ashi 3angchu% of 4hutan&s 'hunder Motors, the assembler of the prototype electric car, also agrees" 2ydro power is cheap, due to the mountainous physical features" Most road trips are short" !t present 'himphu&s residents depend hea(ily on a fleet of :,000 minicabs" 'he introduction of hundreds of electric (ehicles will ha(e an immediate effect and impact in such a small and compact city" ! typical taxi dri(er in 'himphu presently spends around ; < 1: a day on fuel, whereas it is estimated that recharging an electric car would cost =ust 1, ; cents" 'he *issan motor company in a statement 1applauds the initiati(e ta%en by the 4hutanese 6o(ernment to leapfrog oil dependent mobility, in fa(our of >ero emission transport and is %een to support their ambitions&" 2owe(er *issan&s 0E? 6hosn admitted that the global sales of electric cars were more than four years behind expectations" 2e confirmed that *issan was in commercial tal%s with 4hutan o(er the supply of *issan $eaf electric cars and charging infrastructure" 'he newly-elected 6o(ernment of 4hutan seems determined to ma%e 'himphu a research and de(elopment centre for electric (ehicle technology" 'he segment is one of the most fiercely contested battlegrounds in the automoti(e

industry worldwide and manufacturers are competing to dominate the future mar%et for these futuristic en(ironmentally friendly green cars" 'he 4hutanese 6o(ernment is see%ing foreign donor or in(estor support for this pro=ect, but has said it is determined to go ahead e(en on its own" /resently the import of personal (ehicles into 4hutan is banned in order to conser(e foreign exchange, but the 6o(ernment intends to introduce legislation in /arliament to exempt electric cars soon" 'himphu&s 'hunder Motors 3angchu%, a @ale trained en(ironmental scientist turned businessman, says his company has already spent nearly ; < 2 million on research and de(elopment on electric car technology" 'he company plans to spend another ; < 1 million on producing the first 100 electric cars, using the bodies of u>u%iMaruti cars from #ndia, imported batteries and electric motors and the proprietary technology for the interface between the engine and the gear box" 4hutanisation 4rea%ing out of its dependency on imported fossil fuels is (ital for 4hutan due to fossil fuels all being imported through #ndia and the #ndian 6o(ernment pro(iding a subsidy to 4hutan on the cost of the fuel" #ndeed this dominance of #ndia o(er 4hutan has resulted in a new word entering the lexicon of international affairsA 14hutanisation-& 'he word was coined in the context of political, security and economic relations between the tiny 2imalayan %ingdom of 4hutan and its giant neighbour #ndia" 'he earlier 6o(ernment of 4hutan while holding on to the traditional dependant relationship with #ndia also bro%e new ground in initiating a dialogue with the /eople&s 5epublic of 0hina, the 2imalayan neighbour to the *orth" !s has been pointed out, 4hutan is a (irtual hydropower reser(oir for #ndia" #ndia builds the reser(oirs, damns and turbines, installs the power lines and pays a negotiated price" #ndia supplies 4hutan with subsidised petroleum products, among others things" #t also guides 4hutan&s foreign relations" 'here is an #ndian !rmy 4rigade garrisoned in 'himphu, 4hutan&s capital city" 'he only golf course in 'himphu is run by the #ndian !rmy, and the control of access to this facility and the ?fficers Mess)0lub 2ouse, gi(es a whole new meaning to the words BdominationC and BinfluenceC of the #ndian 4rigade 0ommander o(er the 4hutanese golfing elites, ;*, diplomatic, #*6? and expatriates resident in 'himphu-

$abour from the neighbouring #ndian state of 4ihar migrate to wor% as daily paid labour on 4hutanese construction pro=ects, as the 4hutanese themsel(es ha(e land and are primarily agriculturalists" 'hey ha(e no need or wish to wor% as labour on road or hydro power construction pro=ects" 4hutan has an ongoing problem with encroachment by settlers from neighbouring *epal" 'he induction of #ndian migrant labour compounds this problem" 3hen 4hutan scheduled the recent and only second general election, the existing 6o(ernment was challenged by the more pro-#ndian present /rime Minister 'ogbay&s ?pposition party" #nexplicably, =ust a few days before the (oting at this election, the #ndian 6o(ernment suddenly announced it was withdrawing the fuel subsidy, gi(en to 4hutan" Fuel prices in 'himphu and the rest of 4hutan, went through the ceiling" 'he sitting 6o(ernment crashed to a resounding defeat at the election" 'he winners declared that relations with #ndia would be strengthened" 4hutanisation in practice'he #ndian fuel subsidy has since been restored" Finlandisation 4hutanisation is similar to Finlandisation" Finlandisation entered the lexicon of #nternational 5elations, in the context of the old ;nion of o(iet ocialist 5epublics +; 5. and the common border with Finland, 1,:40 %ilometres long" Finland was economically and politically in a literal ; 5 1bear hug&" Finnish politicians had to ensure that the o(iet 4ear was %ept in good spirits all times" 'his status of ha(ing to be being o(ertly docile to a neighbour was labelled the 1Finlandisation& of an independent country" ?lder Finns remember that at that time, a ma=or component of their compulsory military ser(ice was securing the forested and free>ing 1,:40 %ilometre border" 'he grip on Finland&s economy by 5ussia, the successor to the ; 5, to the disDuiet of Finns, is slowly tightening" 5ecently the 5ussia tate-owned ;nited hipbuilding 0orporation declared an interest in purchasing a Finnish company, !rctic 2elsin%i, a Finnish shipyard specialising in ma%ing ice brea%ing ships" 'he opening of !rctic shipping routes due to the effect of global warming brings into sharp focus the need of large number of operational ice brea%ing tugs to escort con(oys which would use this !rctic shipping route to Europe from 5ussian and !sian ports" 'his is a much shorter route and would be much faster than the outhern ?ceanic 5oute, which passes ri $an%a&s Eondra 2ead and the 2ambantota harbour" #ce brea%ing capacity will be critical for the operational (iability of this !rctic 5oute and clearly the 5ussians are thin%ing way forward" For the Finns, this comes hot on the

heels of the 5ussian in(estment by 5osatom, a 5ussian atomic reactor builder, to rescue Finland&s troubled Fenno(oima nuclear plant by in(esting a one-third share and also selling a nuclear reactor to the Finnish company" 'he ; 5 was a huge trading partner of Finland, not necessarily by Finland&s free choice" 3hen the ; 5 collapsed the Finnish economy plunged into a massi(e recession in the early 1FF0s" 4ut not all Finns seem concerned" !t a recent *ordic 0ouncil meeting in ?slo, Gyr%i Hatainen, the Finnish /M, said of the 5ussiansA B# wouldn&t say they were tightening their grip" 3e are (ery satisfied if there is more 5ussian in(estment into Finland" 3e need foreign in(estment into Finland"C 'he recent declines in the paper and pulp industries and the sale of the flagship Finnish corporation *o%ia to the ; !&s Microsoft ha(e made the Finns increasingly worried about what will pro(ide the impetus for economic growth in the *ordic nation" ?ne 2elsin%i based business executi(e commentedA B# understand why people are cautious about the 5ussians coming to Finland" 4ut with the forestry industry and *o%ia suffering we need all the help we can get"C 'o ice hoc%ey cra>y Finns, the most symbolic transaction was the sale of one of the nation&s main ice hoc%ey clubs, Go%erit, to a consortium of 5ussian businessmen, close to the 5ussian /M, Iladimir /utin" 'o the Finns it is disconcerting that Go%erit will from 2014 play in the higher-powered 5ussia-based Hontinetal 2oc%ey $eague" #n the same way, Finland&s trade with the E; has been decreasing, while at the same time, trade with 5ussia has increased" 'he Finnish /M has publicly statedA B'he economies are integrating"C Finnish exports to 5ussia ha(e almost tripled, with Finnish companies such as tyre ma%er *ubian 5en%aat and retail giants Hes%o and toc%mann showing strong growth in trading with 5ussian corporates, mainly in the tate sector" ?(er and abo(e business, a record number of 5ussian tourists arri(ed in Finland, in 201:" ! total of 1": million tourist (isas were issued to 5ussian tra(ellers by Finnish authorities" 'he demand by 5ussians for Finnish tourist (isas is so high that the Finns are opening up new (isa offices in southern and central 5ussia as well as iberia" 'oday, 5ussian is the most spo%en foreign language in Finland" 'he 2ead of Finland&s #nstitute of Migration has predicted that 5ussian spea%ers in Finland could displace wedish spea%ers as the largest number of foreign language spea%ers in Finland, by 20J0" wedish is the official second language of Finland by 20J0" Hatainen, the Finnish /M, explainsA B4ecause of our history, there are people who ha(e negati(e memories from the war time" 4ut there are more and more people who tend to thin% it&s only good that our people reintegrating"C 'he /M has expressed

disappointment that too few students are learning 5ussian" 2e also points out to a larger number of 5ussian businessmen coming to 2elsin%i" 'he /M saysA B/re(iously it was industrial" *ow it is entrepreneurial too and that is good"C 2owe(er, some Finns are worried about nuclear pro=ect Fenno(oima" 'he Finnish Finance Minister has stated that she wanted Finland&s /arliament to reopen its debate on the permit granted to 5ussia to build the Fenno(oima nuclear power plant" o among Finnish society, Finlandisation, e(en in the post-; 5 era, is still a li(e issue, as is 4hutanisation is to the 4hutanese, similar to any small economy neighbouring a humongous one, as we ri $an%ans well %now6ross *ational 2appiness 4hutan is also well %nown for championing the measuring of 6ross *ational 2appiness +6*2. it&s instead of the traditional measure of economic de(elopment 6ross Eomestic /roduct +6E/." 'he en(ironment sustainability aspect of electric cars is an important part of the 6*2 philosophy" 4hutan pursues the measurement of 6*2 by studying the four platforms of economic de(elopment, en(ironmental preser(ation, cultural promotion and good go(ernance" #n 200K /resident ar%o>y of France appointed a 0ommission on the Measurement of Economic /erformance and ocial progress chaired by *obel pri>e laureate economist Goseph tiglit> and including another *obel /ri>e winning economist !martya en" 'he 0ommission presented its report in eptember 200F, calling on the world, in the words of tiglit>, to abandon its 16E/ fetishism&" 'he 0ommission agreed with the criticism that 6E/, as a measure of well being does not ta%e into account the depreciation of capital goods, although the (alue of reduction is based on mar%et prices, not e(erything has a price , the (alue of ser(ices such as owner occupied housing and (oluntary child care by parents is imputed by assumption" 'he 0ommission also examined the well being of future generations" ?ur successors will inherit a stoc% of resources, machines, buildings and institutions, the Duality of their li(es will depend to a great extent on our beha(iour and in(estments we ma%e today, especially in their human capital, education, health and en(ironment" Economic acti(ity can be considered as sustainable if future generations can expect to be at least to be well off as us" 'he 0ommission concluded that finding any one measure which catches all this seems too ambitious and that it is wiser to loo% at a wider range of indicators that is a bas%et of figures broadening official statistics beyond 6E/ alone" 'he 0entre for 4hutan tudies has de(eloped a 6*2 index with nine domains, :: indictors and 124

(ariables, including an unpolluted en(ironment" ound political reasons ?(er and abo(e 6ross *ational 2appiness, we see that 4hutan has sound political reasons, in trying to brea% its dependence on fossil fuels for energy supplied through #ndia" For hydropower de(elopment, 4hutan has so far collaborated with the 6o(ernment of #ndia" 4ut in the forest around the Eagachuu 5i(er in 4hutan&s 2imalayan foothills, the first #ndian pri(ate sector de(eloped hydro power pro=ect is coming on stream" #ndia&s 'ata /ower has a 2,9 sta%e in this pro=ect which is co-financed by the !sian Ee(elopment 4an% +!E4." 'he power generated by this 12, M3 plant, will be transmitted to #ndia" #n the world&s first example of cross border use of the ;*&s 0lean Ee(elopment Mechanism, 4hutan is permitted to earn carbon credits, as the power exported to #ndia will reduce emissions across the border by J00,000 tons of carbon dioxide per annum" #n reality so far only around ,M3 of the potential of 1,J00 M3 of hydro power is being produced in 4hutan7 in winter when the flow of water in the ri(ers is low, 4hutan has still to import electricity" 4ut e(en at this low le(el of exploitation, hydro power is 4hutan&s largest export and accounts for 1)Jth of 6E/" 'here is also the disruption caused to the en(ironment by big hydro power dams and reser(oirs" 4hutan would prefer run of the ri(er hydro pro=ects, which li%e ri $an%a&s mini hydros ta%e ad(antage of the altitude differences in the country&s steep terrain, directing water through tunnels and shafts to power turbines, lea(ing part of the ri(er to flow along the original bed" 4ut this dependence on hydro power as the single biggest export item is a manifestation of the 5esource 0urse that affects countries which ha(e one humongous export item, which stunts the growth of other parts of the economy" $i%e ri $an%a&s export of labour which has resulted in shortages of manpower for local labour intensi(e industries" 4hutan has to di(ersify its agriculture and animal husbandry, de(elop tourism, small, medium and micro industries and enterprises" !t present the only exploitable asset is hydro power, but o(erdependence will cause problems" #f all (ehicular transport in 4hutan can in time be electronic and not fossil fuel based, then that would really impro(e the 4hutanese people&s 6ross *ational 2appiness, Duality of life, the en(ironment and also secure the nation&s independence and so(ereignty" 4hutan could be a model for the rest of outh !sia&s fossil fuel emission polluted mega cities on this aspect of electric powered transport" 5emember 0olombo&s electricity-dri(en tramsL 3e in our usual short-sighted and infinite wisdom scrapped them" 4ut $ondon&s $ord Mayor 4oris Gohnson is hitting the

road with a 1green& electric taxi cab inno(ation which is scheduled to hit the streets in March 2014" 3hile *issan already has a prototype electric cab, the *I200, Metrocab is also wor%ing on one" 'he 0hinese automa%er 6eely is also in the running" *issan has an agreement with the panish city of 4arcelona to supply electric cabs" 'himphu will ha(e company" +'he writer is a lawyer, who has o(er :0 years of experience as a 0E? in both tate and pri(ate sectors" 2e retired from the office of ecretary, Ministry of Finance and currently is the Managing Eirector of the ri $an%a 4usiness Ee(elopment 0entre".