Er Neeraj Dubey
The 21st century has perhaps seen the best of efforts in relation to energy management, energy conservation and energy security. This century has seen many initiatives in the efficiency targeted towards energy management. Energy conservation means to reduce the quantity of energy that is used for different purposes. This practice may result in increase of financial capital, environmental value, national and personal security, and human comfort. On a larger scale, energy conservation is an important element of energy policy. In general, energy conservation reduces the energy consumption and energy demand per capita. This reduces the rise in energy costs, and can reduce the need for new power plants, and energy imports. The reduced energy demand can provide more flexibility in choosing the most preferred methods of energy production. The use of energy has been a key in the development of the human society by helping it to control and adapt to the environment. Managing the use of energy is inevitable in any functional society. In the industrialized world, the development of energy resources has become essential for agriculture, transportation,
Energy Conservation Week
Dec 15-Dec 21
technology, communications that have become pre-requisites of a developed society. The increasing use of energy since the Industrial revolution has also brought with it a number of serious problems, some of which, such as global warming, present potentially grave risks to the world. In society and in the context of humanities, the word energy is used as a synonym of energy resources, and most often refers to substances like fuels, petroleum products and electricity in general. Energy conservation makes it easier to replace non-renewable resources with renewable energy. Energy conservation is often the most economical solution to energy shortages. The industry has matured from “produce or perish” to “produce at merit”. Power industry in particular is at its spiraling best of optimized use of energy and efficiency in all its business segments namely generation, transmission, distribution and end-user consumption. India’s population is growing at a very rapid rate. Our country’ present power generation capacity is amounting to be 135,000 MW from different sources of energy and to meet the challenges of 1.25 billion people, the total requirements would be of about 800,000 MW. India’s energy demand will increase at a tremendous rate in the future and with the problems of carbon emissions, poor quality of domestic resources and no easy access to foreign energy resources, the Indian government must take energy efficiency and conservation seriously and bring in stricter regulations in order to achieve the tough goals it has set. Further, there is a focus on reducing the auxiliary energy consumption (energy that is consumed by the power plant to produce power). The concept being, energy saved is energy generated. Ever since humanity discovered various energy resources available in nature, it has been inventing devices, known as machines that make life more comfortable by using energy resources. Thus, although the primitive man knew the utility of fire to cook food, the invention of devices like gas burners and microwave ovens has increased the usage of energy for this purpose alone manifold. The trend is the same in any other field of social activity, be it construction of social infrastructure, manufacturing of fabrics for covering; porting; printing; decorating, for example textiles, air conditioning; communication of information or for moving people and goods (automobiles). Coal is the lifeline of the power sector. India till 2005 used to be one of the leaders in wind energy, which was completely an initiative of the textile sector starting in a village in Tamil Nadu. Initiatives such as smart grid, demand-side management (DSM) with CFL and LED lamps and signage for promoting efficiency at the supply side have already been taken up in the country. Reduction in energy demand and consumption at the end-user’s premises can free up electricity generation, transmission and distribution capacity at a fraction of the costs required to provide new capacity. All the initiatives taken in various segments of the power sector to promote energy efficiency have resulted in substantial cost savings and promoting energy efficiency. Sadiccha cooperative housing society on paud – road, pune, reduced its monthly electricity bill by almost Rs 10,000 in July, when it first switched over to compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) for its common areas and parking and replaced its worn-out water pump with a new, more powerful machine. The society, comprising 84 flats, is now accumulating funds to install a solar water-heating system. For residents of Chaitanya nagari housing society (phase I) in Warje – Mumbai, electricity saved is equal to electricity generated. They have also replaced all conventional bulbs in corridors, lifts and parking bays with CFLs, and are now contemplating harnessing natural sources of energy, like solar and wind. They saved nearly Rs. 25,000/- a year on lighting alone. Shilpa society in kothrud, awarded ‘most eco-friendly society’ in 2012, manages to save 50% of its monthly expenditure on electricity. In addition to using CFLs in common areas, they also smartly manage the water pumping facility by capitalizing on peak hours of water pressure. Individuals as well as residential societies at large can reduce their carbon footprint and save money, simply by better-utilizing alternative sources of energy like sunlight, and by ensuring a more energy-efficient lifestyle says experts. Atul Inamdar, programme officer of Green Energy Foundation, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that has been conducting seminars at housing complexes around the city, says citizens are waking up to the benefits of energy conservation. “We have got an encouraging response from residential societies, which are eager to contribute towards energy conservation. We have been educating them about switching over to alternate sources of energy like solar and also guiding them towards becoming smart users of electricity by using energy-efficient gadgets, LED lights and CFLs,” he says. City-based Prayas energy group has estimated that the use of energy-efficient home appliances like fans, air conditioners, televisions, tube lights and refrigerators in the country can help save about 57,000 million units (MU) of electricity by end of this year. Renewable energy, like that derived from the sun and wind is free and abundantly-available and, apart from a one-time capital cost, it incurs no recurring cost to its user, explains Anirban Sakar, who has been promoting its use even at the industry level.
This particular sector will definitely be one of the more emerging power sectors due to the advancements in technology in the near future because, The Sun provides as much of energy in one hour which the whole world consumes in one year. In the past few years, our country has shown a keen interest in the solar energy sector, because of its tremendous power potential. “Citizens have understood the value of saving electricity only in the last few years when there have been power cuts and tariffs have been increased. The author himself being a engineer took keen initiative in guiding the masses about the significance of saving energy by raising slogans, “Save Energy – Serve Nation” If we don’t take steps now to conserve electricity, our future generations will be forced to live in darkness,” he says.
(The author is Sr. Asstt. Professor GCET Jammu)
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