What if the solution to rising fuel and fertiliser costs is already in our bins? LPG cylinders are running dry in our favourite food establishments. A few more weeks and they will squeeze our household budgets as well. Some 90% of India’s LPG imports come through the Strait of Hormuz. The International Energy Agency will release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves, which would cover four days of global consumption. India claims to have more than 60 days of oil reserves, but only two days of LPG reserves.The other impending crisis few people are talking about is fertilisers. The Kharif sowing season is soon upon us and urea and phosphates will be critical ingredients for a hearty crop. Interestingly, these too depend on natural gas. India’s fertilisers also predominantly come from the Gulf. Freight rates have reportedly risen ten-fold to account for the risk of passing through the Strait.Remember when Sri Lanka banned costly chemical fertilisers to save money? It cost them over USD 400 million in tea export, nearly half their food production and arguably led to the fall of the government as shortages sparked public anger.You may say we will get our gas and fertilisers from elsewhere. Russia is offering alternatives, after all. Yes, but this will be much more expensive than what we have had so far. Typically, when energy prices rise, anger grows against the government. Will the current government withstand rising food and fuel prices? Or will it strongly subsidise fuel and fertiliser and reverse its hard-earned gains in reducing India’s fiscal deficit?I would argue the current crisis may be an opportunity in disguise. We have long struggled to manage our wet waste. Kitchen scrapings, animal dung, sewage water, agricultural waste have long polluted our soil, water and air. Many programmes attempt to salvage value out of organic residues through conversion to biogas or compost. Yet none of these programmes have taken off or sustained momentum after the initial impetus.Consumers are often to blame for this. We are locked into familiar patterns and reluctant to try something new. The stigma of waste-derived material is an added deterrent. I would urge those so inclined to visit some oil dumps or at least look them up on the internet. Given the right infrastructure and human attention, anything can be transformed into a finished product.After all, the most important discovery that boosted food production was a pile of bird guano off the Latin American coast. And of course, animal dung is the oldest fertiliser known to man.Is it all worth it though? Spending thousands of crores from the government exchequer to subsidise biowaste transformation for a passing storm? “This too shall pass,” right? Wrong, most likely. This war has been forty years in the making, with all sides declaring it a holy war. There is a an adage in foreign policy: “Allies are temporary, interests are permanent.” Unfortunately, conflict appears inevitable in this region with ethnic and religious divides.Since we have entered a new state of disorder in geopolitics, supply shortages will be a recurring theme. Two more straits in the South China Sea and the Red Sea are also chokepoints that are likely to be held hostage at some point.Besides war, long-term strategy dictates a transition to renewable sources of energy and fertiliser. Firstly, oil imports may be a much bigger drain on India’s finances than subsidies for renewable energy. Moreover, special economic zones and other incentives support India’s petroleum industry. India also has strong decarbonisation targets dependent on weaning off of fossil fuels. Decarbonisation would be best done quickly as exports to European countries will soon include a carbon tax.So what needs to be done? Major challenges include inconsistent market prices, lack of adequate storage and transport for feedstocks and products such as biogas and compost. Backyard biogas plant subsidies are set to expire in March 2026. These should be extended. Offtake agreements must be prioritised to ensure steady prices and limit uncertainty. Capital expenditure for storage and transport infrastructure for biogas and compost must be sanctioned. Research into best practices in treatment processes and operations should be incentivised. Farmers need to be handheld to enable a smooth transition to organic or low-fertiliser farming. Finally, a mindset change among consumers and farmers should be sparked through awareness campaigns.“Never waste a good crisis,” said Winston Churchill. Let’s not waste this opportunity to transform our wet waste.Vishwanath Varma is a research consultant with Waste Warriors Society. He holds a Ph.D. in Evolution and Behaviour and has an interest in public policy. The views expressed are personal.