Ailing energy sector - I

The government has gone out of the way to provide heavily subsidised gas supply to exporters of five zero-rated sectors, but is the industry really responding to the challenge to bring real growth by a large margin and at reduced costs?
The concerned industry has presently responded with huge advertisements in government's praise but is the message complete and commitment really secure? The important part of the message is not there at all. The response should have included their commitments to meet the conditions of efficient utilisation of this precious resource, which technically they should have ensured even without this heavy subsidy! The natural gas was originally sanctioned to nearly all of these industries under special conditions of ensuring high efficiency utilisation and they should have responded with their full commitment to meet those conditions without any exception. The advertisements should have confirmed their resolve to meet the commitments of high efficiency utilization, without which there is really no economic solution. Presently, the industry uses natural gas primarily for the following:
1. Captive power generation Some industries ensure efficient utilisation of our precious gas and engine waste heat (60-65 percent) is fully utilized, mostly to produce steam and hot water for process but many industries really do not care. The result is catastrophic loss from national economic perspective, as more than half of our gas resource specially allocated to them is totally wasted.
2. Gas consumed for hot water and steam production There are many such "ghastly" installations, completely wasting our precious gas which should not be allowed. All such installations should be asked to convert to power cogeneration design in which case electric power will be available as "by-product" for sale, thus becoming a part of the solution (and not part of the problem).
3. Gas consumed for central air-conditioning There are many large air-conditioning installations which are based on inefficient "direct gas-fired absorption chillers". No gas should be allowed for such utter wastage and such installations should be converted to cogen-based chillers, with "free fuel" for electric power generation. Considerable power will be available, again at low cost, to add to overall solution.
Since the above inefficient gas utilization will be "converted" to double the efficiency and as the efficiency drive will affect huge number of installations, the overall benefit would be like "re-discovering" Sui gas wells! That could be the size of saving!