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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Energy Scenario in India’ for class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Energy Scenario in India’ especially written for school and college students.
Essay on Energy Scenario in India
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Introduction to Energy Scenario in India
- Essay on the Energy Summary of India
- Essay on the Energy Policy of India
- Essay on Energy Conservation in India
- Essay on Progress made in Energy Conservation in India
- Essay on State-Wise Electricity Consumption and Conservation Potential in Indian Economy
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Essay # 1. Introduction to Energy Scenario in India:
India has made rapid strides towards economic self-reliance over the last few years. Impressive progress has been made in the fields of industry, agriculture, communication, transport and other sectors necessitating growing consumption of energy for developmental and economic activities.
If India is to achieve the targeted growth in GDP, it would need commensurate input of energy, mainly commercial energy in the form of coal, oil, gas and electricity.
However, India’s fossil fuel reserves are limited. The known reserves of oil and natural gas may last hardly for 18 and 26 years respectively at the current reserves to production ratio. India has huge proven coal reserves (84 billion tones), which may last for about 200 years but the increasing ash content in Indian coal as well as associated greenhouse gas emissions are the major concern. Energy being an important element of the infrastructure sector has to be ensured its availability on sustainable basis.
On the other hand, the demand for energy is growing manifold and the energy sources are becoming scarce and costlier. Among the various strategies to be evolved for meeting energy demand, efficient use of energy and its conservation emerges out to be the least cost option in any given strategies, apart from being environmentally benign. The steps to create sustainable energy system begin with the wise use of resources: energy efficiency is the mantra that leads to sustainable energy management.
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Energy Demand and Supply:
On the energy demand and supply side, India is facing severe shortages, 70% of the total petroleum product demand is being met by imports, imposing a heavy burden on foreign exchange. Country is also facing peak power and average energy shortages of 12% and 7% respectively. The per capita energy consumption in India is too low as compared to developed countries, which is just 4% of USA and 20% of the world average.
Essay # 2. Energy Summary of India:
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Overall Production and Consumption:
India is both a major energy producer and consumer. India currently ranks as the world’s eleventh greatest energy producer, accounting for about 2.4% of the world’s total annual energy production and as the world’s sixth greatest energy consumer, accounting for about 3.3% of the world’s total annual energy consumption. Despite its large annual energy production, India is a net energy importer, mostly due to the large imbalance between oil production and consumption.
i. Petroleum:
India’s proved oil reserves are currently estimated (as of January 2005) at about 5 billion barrels or about 4.5% of the world total. Most of these reserves lie offshore near Mumbai and onshore in Assam state.
However, exploration is still happening and India’s off-shore and on-shore basins may contain as much as 11 billion barrels. India presently ranks as the 25th greatest producer of crude oil, accounting for about 1% of the world’s annual crude oil production.
About 30% of India’s energy needs are met by oil and more than 60% of that oil is imported. A strong growth in oil demand has resulted in India’s annual petroleum consumption increasing by more than 75% from what it was a decade ago and petroleum consumption is projected to climb to about 3 million barrels per day by 2010. India is currently the world’s sixth greatest oil consumer, accounting for about 2.9% of world’s total annual petroleum consumption.
ii. Natural Gas:
India’s natural gas reserves are currently estimated (as of January 2005) at about 29-32 trillion cubic feet (tcf), or about 0.5% of the world total. Most of these reserves lie offshore northwest of Mumbai in the Arabian Sea and onshore in Gujarat state.
India dos not yet rank in the top 20 of the world’s greatest natural gas consumers, but that will soon change. Natural gas has experienced the fastest rate of increase of any fuel in India’s primary energy supply; demand is growing at about 4.8% per year and is forecast to rise to 1.2 tcf per year by 2010 and 1.6 tcf per year by 2015.
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iii. Coal:
India’s has huge proven coal reserves, estimated (as of January 2005) at more than 90 billion tons or about 10% of the world’s total. Most of these reserves are relatively high ash bituminous coal and are located in Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh states. At the current level of production and consumption, India’s coal reserves would last more than two hundred years.
India is currently the third-largest coal-producing country in the world (behind China and the United States) and accounts for about 8.5% of the world’s annual coal production. India is also currently the third-largest coal consuming country (behind the China and the United States) and accounts for nearly 9% of the world’s total annual coal consumption. More than half of India’s energy needs are met by coal and about 70% of India’s electricity generation is now fuelled by coal.
The annual demand for coal has been steadily increasing over the past decade and is now nearly 50% greater than it was a decade ago. Even though India is able to satisfy most of its country’s coal demand through domestic production, less than 5% of its reserves is coking coal used by the steel industry. As a result, India’s steel industry imports coking coal, mainly from Australia and New Zealand, to meet about 25% of its annual needs.
iv. Electricity:
India is presently the sixth-greatest electricity generating country and accounts for about 4% of the world’s total annual electricity generation. India is also currently ranked sixth in annual electricity consumption, accounting for about 3.5% of the world’s total annual electricity consumption.
Overall, India’s need for power is growing at a prodigious rate; annual electricity generation and consumption in India have increased by about 64% in the past decade and its projected rate of increase (estimated at as much as 8-10% annually, through the year 2020) for electricity consumption is one of the highest in the world.
India is currently ranked fifth in the world in terms of total installed electricity generating capacity and accounts for about 3.5% of the world total. Hydroelectric capacity represents about one-fourth of India’s total installed capacity and overall, India is currently ranked sixth-largest in the world in that category (accounting for about 3.7% of the world’s installed hydroelectric generating capacity). There is a large amount of hydroelectric capacity in construction and planning stages across the country.
National Energy Plan for any country is framed to manage and regulate the use of energy efficiently to meet the county’s energy demand and harnessing the available energy resources and as per the prevalent energy scenario across the globe and at the same time meeting the national & international regulations on energy use keeping in view the impact on environmental during exploration and used of energy.
Essay # 3. Energy Policy of India:
National Energy Plan of any country elaborates the various policies adopted by the government related to the use and exploration of energy resources keeping in view the county’s interest. The energy policy of India is largely defined by the country’s burgeoning energy deficit and increased focus on developing alternative sources of energy, particularly nuclear, solar and wind energy.
About 70% of India’s energy generation capacity is from fossil fuels, with coal accounting for 40% of India’s total energy consumption followed by crude oil and natural gas at 24% and 6% respectively. India is largely dependent on fossil fuel imports to meet its energy demands — by 2030, India’s dependence on energy imports is expected to exceed 53% of the country’s total energy consumption.
In 2009-10, the country imported 159.26 million tonnes of crude oil which amounts to 80% of its domestic crude oil consumption and 31% of the country’s total imports are oil imports. The growth of electricity generation in India has been hindered by domestic coal shortages and as a consequence, India’s coal imports for electricity generation increased by 18% in 2010.
India has the world’s fifth largest wind power industry, with an installed capacity of 11800 MW. India has the world’s 3rd largest coal reserves. Due to rapid economic expansion, India has one of the world’s fastest growing energy markets and is expected to be the second-largest contributor to the increase in global energy demand by 2035, accounting for 18% of the rise in global energy consumption.
Given India’s growing energy demands and limited domestic fossil fuel reserves, the country has ambitious plans to expand its renewable and nuclear power industries. India has the world’s fifth largest wind power market and plans to add about 20GW of solar power capacity by 2022.
India also envisages increasing the contribution of nuclear power to overall electricity generation capacity from 4.2% to 9% within 25 years. The country has five nuclear reactors under construction (third highest in the world) and plans to construct 18 additional nuclear reactors (second highest in the world) by 2025.
Major Thrust Areas of India’s Energy Policy:
The India’s Energy Policy has thrust on the following areas:
1. Energy Conservation:
Energy conservation has emerged as a major policy objective, and the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 was passed by the Indian Parliament in September 2001, 35.5% of the population still lives without access to electricity.
This Act requires large energy consumers to adhere to energy consumption norms; new buildings to follow the Energy Conservation Building Code; and appliances to meet energy performance standards and to display energy consumption labels. The Act also created the Bureau of Energy Efficiency to implement the provisions of the Act.
2. Rural Electrification:
(i) The key development objectives of the power sector is supply of electricity to all areas including rural areas as mandated in Section 6 of the Electricity Act. Both the central Government and state governments would jointly endeavour to achieve this objective at the earliest. Consumers, particularly those who are ready to pay a tariff which reflects efficient costs have the right to get uninterrupted twenty four hours supply of quality power.
About 56% of rural households have not yet been electrified even though many of these households are willing to pay for electricity. Determined efforts should be made to ensure that the task of rural electrification for securing electricity access to all households and also ensuring that electricity reaches poor and marginal sections of the society at reasonable rates is completed within the next five years. India is using Renewable Sources of Energy like Hydel Energy, Wind Energy, and Solar Energy to electrify villages.
(ii) Reliable rural electrification system will aim at creating the following:
(a) Rural Electrification Distribution Backbone (REDB) with at least one 33/11 kv (or 66/11 kv) substation in every Block and more if required as per load, networked and connected appropriately to the state transmission system.
(b) Emanating from REDB would be supply feeders and one distribution transformer at least in every village settlement.
(c) Household Electrification from distribution transformer to connect every household on demand.
(d) Wherever above is not feasible (it is neither cost effective nor the optimal solution to provide grid connectivity) decentralized distributed generation facilities together with local distribution network would be provided so that every household gets access to electricity.
This would be done either through conventional or non-conventional methods of electricity generation whichever is more suitable and economical. Non-conventional sources of energy could be utilized even where grid connectivity exists provided it is found to be cost effective.
(e) Development of infrastructure would also cater for requirement of agriculture & other economic activities including irrigation pump sets, small and medium industries, khadi and village industries, cold chain and social services like health and education.
(iii) Particular attention would be given in household electrification to dalit bastis, tribal areas and other weaker sections.
(iv) Rural Electrification Corporation of India, a Government of India enterprise will be the nodal agency at Central Government level to implement the programme for giving access to electricity to all the households in next five years. Its role is being suitably enlarged to ensure timely implementation of rural electrification projects.
(v) Targeted expansion in access to electricity for rural households in the desired timeframe can be achieved if the distribution licensees recover at least the cost of electricity and related O&M expenses from consumers, except for lifeline support to households below the poverty line who would need to be adequately subsidized. Subsidies should be properly targeted at the intended beneficiaries in the most efficient manner.
Government recognizes the need for providing necessary capital subsidy and soft long-term debt finances for investment in rural electrification as this would reduce the cost of supply in rural areas. Adequate funds would need to be made available for the same through the Plan process. Also commensurate organizational support would need to be created for timely implementation. The Central Government would assist the State Governments in achieving this.
(vi) Necessary institutional framework would need to be put in place not only to ensure creation of rural electrification infrastructure but also to operate and maintain supply system for securing reliable power supply to consumers. Responsibility of operation & maintenance and cost recovery could be discharged by utilities through appropriate arrangements with Panchayats, local authorities, NGOs and other franchisees etc.
(vii) The gigantic task of rural electrification requires appropriate cooperation among various agencies of the State Governments, Central Government and participation of the community. Education and awareness programmes would be essential for creating demand for electricity and for achieving the objective of effective community participation.
The electricity industry was restructured by the Electricity Act 2003, which unbundled the vertically integrated electricity supply utilities in each state of India into a transmission utility, and a number of generating and distribution utilities. Electricity Regulatory Commissions in each state set tariffs for electricity sales.
The Act also enables open access on the transmission system, allowing any consumer (with a load of greater than 1 MW) to buy electricity from any generator. Significantly, it also requires each Regulatory Commission to specify the minimum percentage of electricity that each distribution Utility must source from renewable energy sources.
The introduction of Availability based tariff has brought about stability to a great extent in the Indian transmission grids.
3. Bio-Fuels:
In India, about 6,00,000 km2 of waste land that is available and over 3,00,000 km2 is suitable for Jatropha cultivation. Once this plant is grown, it has a useful lifespan of several decades. During its life Jatropha requires very little water when compared to other cash crops. It is estimated that renewable and carbon neutral biomass resources of India can replace present consumption of all fossil fuels if used productively.
4. Wind Power Showcase:
Another major thrust area is in the wind energy harnessing. India is proving incentives to the foreign companies to invest in wind energy sector. Gujrat and Tamil Nadu are the leading states in wind energy harnessing.
5. Oil:
The state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) acquired shares in oil fields in countries like Sudan, Syria, Iran, and Nigeria – investments that have led to diplomatic tensions with the United States. Because of political instability in the Middle East and increasing domestic demand for energy, India is keen on decreasing its dependency on OPEC to meet its oil demand, and increasing its energy security.
Several Indian oil companies, primarily led by ONGC and Reliance Industries, have started a massive hunt for oil in several regions in India including Rajasthan, Krishna-Godavari and north-eastern Himalayas. The proposed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline is a part of India’s plan to meet its increasing energy demand.
6. Nuclear Power:
India boasts a quickly advancing and active nuclear power program. It is expected to have 20 GW of nuclear capacity by 2020, though they currently stand as the 9th in the world in terms of nuclear capacity.
India has been using imported enriched uranium and is under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, but it has developed various aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle to support its reactors. Development of select technologies has been strongly affected by limited imports.
Use of heavy water reactors has been particularly attractive for the nation because it allows Uranium to be burnt with little to no enrichment capabilities. India has also done a great amount of work in the development of a Thorium centered fuel cycle. While Uranium deposits in the nation are extremely limited, there are much greater reserves of Thorium and it could provide hundreds of times the energy with the same mass of fuel.
The fact that Thorium can theoretically be utilized in heavy water reactors has tied the development of the two. A prototype reactor that would burn Uranium-Plutonium fuel while irradiating a Thorium blanket is under construction at the Madras/Kalpakkam Atomic Power Station. Uranium used for the weapons program has been separate from the power program, using Uranium from scant indigenous reserves.
7. Hydrogen Energy:
Hydrogen Energy program started in India after joining the IPHE (International Partnership for Hydrogen Economy) in the year 2003. There are nineteen other countries including Australia, USA, UK, Japan are members. This globe partnership helps India to set up commercial use of Hydrogen gas as an energy source. This will implemented through Public Private Partnership.
8. Solar Energy:
India’s theoretical solar potential is about 5000 T kWh per year (i.e. ~ 600 TW), far more than its current total consumption. Currently solar power is prohibitive due to high initial costs of deployment. However India’s long-term solar potential could be unparalleled in the world because it has the ideal combination of both high solar insolation and a big potential consumer base density. With a major section of its citizens still surviving off-grid, India’s grid system is considerably under-developed.
Availability of cheap solar can bring electricity to people, and bypass the need of installation of expensive grid lines. Also a major factor influencing a region’s energy intensity is the cost of energy consumed for temperature control.
Since cooling load requirements are roughly in phase with the sun’s intensity, cooling from intense solar radiation could make perfect energy-economic sense in the subcontinent, whenever the required technology becomes competitively cheaper.
9. Electricity Trading with Neighbour Countries:
Despite low electricity per capita consumption in India, the country is going to achieve surplus electricity generation during the 12fth plan (2012 to 2017) period provided its coal production and transport infrastructure is developed adequately.
Surplus electricity can be exported to the neighbour countries in return for natural gas supplies from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan are producing substantial natural gas and using for electricity generation purpose. India can supply its surplus electricity to Pakistan and Bangladesh in return for the natural gas imports by gas pipe lines.
Similarly India can develop on BOOT basis hydro power projects in Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan. India can also enter into long term power purchase agreements with China for developing the hydro power potential in Brahmaputra river basin of Tibet region. India can also supply its surplus electricity to Sri Lanka by undersea cable link. There is ample trading synergy for India with its neighbour countries in securing its energy requirements.
Essay # 4. Energy Conservation in India:
The strategy developed to make power available to all by 2012 includes promotion of energy efficiency and its conservation in the country, which is found to be the least cost option to augment the gap between demand and supply.
Nearly 25,000 MW of capacity creation through energy efficiency in the electricity sector alone has been estimated in India. Energy conservation potential for the economy as a whole has been assessed as 23% with maximum potential in industrial and agricultural sectors.
Energy Conservation Act:
Considering the vast potential of energy savings and benefits of energy efficiency, the Government of India enacted the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. The Act provides for the legal framework, institutional arrangement and a regulatory mechanism at the Central and State level to embark upon energy efficiency drive in the country.
Indian Industry Program for Energy Conservation (IIPEC) under IIPEC the task groups for textile, cement, pulp and paper, fertilizer, chlor-alkali and aluminium have been formed. Each task force is being headed by stakeholders and BEE is actively involved in organizing the programs. The members from the industry participate in this project for sharing best practices, declaring their voluntary targets and benchmarking, etc.
The salient features of Energy Conservation Act 2001 are:
EC Act 2001 empowers the Union Government and in some instances the State Government to:
i. Notify energy-intensive industries, establishments and commercial buildings as designated consumers.
ii. Prescribe energy consumption norms and standards for designated consumers.
iii. Direct designate consumers to appoint certified energy managers for efficient use of energy.
iv. State Government to amend the energy conservation building codes to suit regional and local climatic conditions.
v. Direct owners of commercial building to comply with the energy conservation building codes.
vi. Direct mandatory display of labels on notified equipment and appliances.
vii. Specify energy consumptions standards for notified equipment and appliances.
viii. Prohibit manufacture, sale, purchase and import of notified equipment and appliances not confirming to standards.
ix. Under the provision of this Act the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) was established with effect from 1.03.2002.
x. The mission of the BEE is to institutionalize energy efficiency services, promote energy efficiency delivery mechanisms and provide leadership for improvement of energy efficiency in all sectors of the economy.
Importance of Energy Conservation:
In a scenario where India tries to accelerate its development process and cope with increasing energy demands, conservation and energy efficiency measures are to play a central role in our energy policy. A national movement for energy conservation can significantly reduce the need for fresh investment in energy supply systems in coming years. It is imperative that all-out efforts are made to realize this potential.
Energy conservation is an objective to which all the citizen in the country can contribute. Whether at household of a factory, a small shop or a large commercial building, a farmer or a office worker, every user and producer of energy can and must make this effort for his own benefit, as well as that of the nation.
Potential for Energy Conservation:
i. India’s energy intensity per unit of GDP is higher compared to Japan, US and Asia by 3.7, 1.55 and 1.47 times respectively. This indicates inefficient use of energy but also substantial scope for energy saving.
ii. One unit of energy saved at the consumer end avoids nearly 2.5 to 3 times of capacity augmentation due to PLF, auxiliary consumption and T and D losses.
iii. The conservative estimate of potential of energy saving in India is creating nearly 25,000 MW of new capacity.
The main reasons for higher specific energy consumption in Indian industries are obsolete technology, lower capacity utilization and poor operating and maintenance practices. EC has received increased attention in India since the mid-seventies but its impact is felt at a low face due to inhibiting attitudes, insufficient technical know-how, market distortions, high cost of efficient end use devices, capital shortage, etc. There is a need to design interventions in terms of policies and institutions which address these issues and create incentives for energy conservation.
Now that the EC Act, 2001 has given new impetus to the energy conservation issues and the ESCOs and the financial institutions are in place to implement the EC projects through performance guarantee contract mechanisms, energy conservation projects are bound to be successful in the future.
Essay # 5. Progress made in Energy Conservation in India:
The progress made by India in energy conservation can be seen in the following three areas:
(A) Policy and Institutional.
(B) End Users.
(C) Technology.
(A) Policy and Institutional:
Recognizing the fact that efficient use of energy and its conservation is the least-cost option to mitigate the gap between demand and supply. Government of India has enacted the Energy Conservation Act – 2001 and established bureau of energy efficiency.
The mission of BEE is to develop policy and strategies with a thrust on self-regulation and market principles, within the overall framework of the EC Act with the primary objective of reducing energy intensity of the Indian economy.
The EC Act provides for institutionalizing and strengthening delivery mechanism for energy efficiency services in the country and provides the much-needed coordination between the various entities.
In terms of time frame, energy policy of India has the following objectives to achieve:
Energy Policy of India-Short Term:
i. Maximize returns from the existing assets.
ii. Reduce losses in transportation and in end use.
iii. Initiate action to reduce energy intensity of different consuming sectors and promote conservation through organizational and fiscal measures.
iv. Initiate steps to meet the basic energy need of rural and urban households so as to reduce the existing inequities.
v. Maximize satisfaction of demand for energy from indigenous resources.
Energy Policy of India-Medium Term:
i. Progressive steps to substitute petroleum products by coal, natural gas and electricity.
ii. Action for accelerated development of all renewable energy resources especially hydro potential.
iii. Promote programs to achieve self-reliance in energy sector.
iv. Create appropriate organizational changes in consistent with the overall energy strategy.
Energy Policy of India-Long Term:
i. Promote an energy supply system, largely based on renewable sources of energy.
ii. Promote technologies of production, transportation and use of energy that are environmentally begin and cost effective.
Under the energy policy of India, the important features of energy conservation Act 2001 include:
(a) Standards and Labelling:
Evolve minimum energy consumption standards for notified equipment and appliances. Prohibit manufacture, sale and import of equipment and appliances not confirming to standards. Introduce mandatory labelling to enable consumers to make informed choice.
This program will initially focus on energy policy issues of energy efficiency improvement in unorganized sectors such as domestic and agriculture sectors through improvement of designed energy efficiencies of energy consuming appliances and providing this information on comparative basis in the form of energy labels.
(b) Designated Consumers:
Schedule to EC Act provides list of 15 energy intensive industries and other establishments to be notified as designated consumers (DC). DCs to appoint or designate energy managers. Get energy audits conducted by accredited energy auditors and implement techno-economic viable recommendations. Comply with norms of specific energy consumption fixed and submit report on steps taken.
This program will initially focus on energy policy issues of energy efficiency improvement in organized sectors such as energy intensive industries and commercial sector through establishment of energy management system, capacity building of energy professionals, implementation of energy audits, establishments of specific energy consumption norms and support to consumers on providing information on authentic energy data.
(c) Energy Conservation Building Codes:
The new buildings are required to be designed and built with energy efficiency consideration right from the initial stages itself. The development of energy conservation building codes is necessary for this purpose. The codes would be applicable to commercial buildings constructed after the relevant rules are notified under the Energy Conservation Act.
The bureau would constitute committee of experts for preparation of energy conservation building codes for different climatic zones. Central Government to prepare guidelines on ECBC. To be modified by states to suit local climatic conditions. To be applicable to new buildings having connected load of 500 kW or more.
Promotional Provisions to Support EC Act:
Various promotional provisions in support of the EC Act have been initiated by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, which are briefly explained below:
1. Indian Industry Program for Energy Conservation (IIPEC):
This voluntary program of sharing of best practices, undertaking and specific energy consumption targets has full acceptance in the 8 sectors of industry including aluminium, cement, chlor-alkali, fertilizer, pulp and paper, petrochemicals, refinery and textile sector. Best practices have been recorded and published through CDs and also incorporated in BEE’s website which is being updated periodically for use of designated consumers.
2. Voluntary EC Policy Declaration by Indian Industry:
Industries have been approached to declare their top management commitments on energy conservation. 44 industrial units under the national campaign on energy conservation 2005 declared their energy management policies and have committed to reduce their specific energy consumption levels.
3. Small Group Activities on Energy Conservation:
BEE supports designated consumers in improving their energy efficiency through launch of voluntary programs. BEE launched small group activity focused on energy conservation in 4 industrial units in textile and cement sector. Feedback received from the units indicates that about 5% savings through housekeeping and no cost measures are possible through this concept.
4. National Energy Conservation Awards:
Industrial units have been motivated through national energy conservation award scheme. Electricity savings achieved by the participating industrial units. Response from the first time introduced schemes for government buildings and commercial buildings (private sector) was also encouraging.
Mandatory Provisions of the EC Act:
1. Strengthening Energy Management and Energy Auditing Capabilities of Energy Professionals:
To strengthen the energy management and energy auditing capabilities in the country, first and second national certification examination for energy managers and energy auditors has been successfully conducted in 2004 and 2005 all over the country. Certified energy managers will be required to be appointed or designated by designated consumers whereas certified energy auditors will be considered for accreditation.
2. Accreditation of Energy Auditors:
Many energy auditing agencies have been cleared for accreditation on the bases of their energy auditing capabilities and institutional set up. These auditors have carried out over 2000 energy audit studies during 2003-05.
3. Fixation of Norms for Different Industrial Sector:
To start with cement and pulp and paper sectors have been selected for fixation of specific energy consumption norms.
4. Manuals and Codes for Standardizing the Process of Energy Auditing:
Draft code on 7 technologies (equipment) lighting systems; dryers; cogeneration plants, electric motors, electric transformers, fluid piping systems (network), insulation and air conditioners/ chillers (HVAC) are prepared. The energy performance codes would provide a definite method of field testing of utility equipment in the designated consumer premises. The energy performance codes would improve credibility of energy audits and provide industry and energy managers as to what to expect from the energy audit.
5. Notification of Designated Agencies:
States governments and union territories have notified state level designated agencies for the prose of implementing EC Act within the state.
6. Standards and Labelling:
The preparatory work relating to standard and labelling program of electrical appliances including household refrigerators, window air conditioners, distribution transformers, fluorescent tube lights and ballasts has been initiated.
7. Energy Conservation Building Codes (ECBC):
ECBC structure and analysis methodology has been prepared. Data collection and stringency analysis has also been completed and the first draft of ECBC for stakeholder review is ready.
(B) End Users:
1. Energy Efficiency in Indian Industry:
Industry is the major energy consumer utilizing about 50% of the total commercial energy use in India. The six key industries namely aluminium, cement, fertilizers, pulp and paper, petrochemicals and steel – consumes about 65% of the total energy use in India. The energy intensity in some of these industries is reported to be higher than the industries in developed countries.
One of the main reasons for higher energy use is the presence of obsolete and energy inefficient processes in some of these sectors. To promote adoption of energy efficient processes, they are identified as designated consumers under schedule to the energy conservation Act.
By complying with various provisions of EC Act, as applicable to designated consumers namely meeting specific energy consumption norms, conduct of regular energy audits and implementation of techno economic viable recommendations and establishment of energy management system through appointment of certified energy manager is expected to boost adoption of energy efficient processes and technologies.
2. Energy Efficiency in Government Buildings:
Bureau of energy efficiency has undertaken energy audit studies in 8 government buildings to set up an example for private buildings to pursue similar efforts. The buildings included. Rashtrapati Bhawan, Prime Minister’s Office and Defence Ministry blocks in South Block, Rail Bhawan, Sanchar Bhawan, Shram Shakti Bhawan, Transport Bhawan, R and R Hospital, Terminal I, Terminal II and Cargo Sections of Delhi Airport and AIIMS. Energy savings potential between 23 to 46% has been identified in the above buildings. Energy audit study has been implemented in Rashtrapati Bhawan. Implementation work in Prime Minister Office, Sharam Shakti Bhawan and Transport.
(C) Technology:
The new generation industrial plants installed in India have excellent energy efficiency norms comparable with the best and most energy efficient plants in the world. This shows the deep penetration of advanced energy efficient technologies in many of the Indian industrial plants. For example, in Indian cement plants, the technology penetration is very high and the energy efficiency norms are comparable to the best energy efficient plants in the world.
Further, some of the Indian steel plants are already undergoing a process of modernization and are adopting more energy efficient practices. Technology updating is also positive in the Indian Power and Pulp and paper sector. These has been commendable progress in energy efficient technologies employed in thermal and electric utilities.
Use of fluidized bed boilers and furnaces, variable frequency drives, energy efficient pumps, fans, compressors and cooling towers are widely employed in Indian industries. Energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps and electronic ballasts are penetrating domestic, commercial and industrial sector at a very faster rate. Standard and labeling program of EC Act will further boost manufacturing and adoption of energy efficient technologies.
The increasing preference for commercial energy has led to a sharp increase in the demand for electricity and fossil fuels. Use of fossil fuels has resulted in emission of huge quantity of carbon dioxide causing serious environmental damages. There is still a considerable potential for reducing energy consumption by adopting energy efficiency measures at various sectors of our country.
Energy efficiency will not only reduce the need to create new capacity requiring high investment, but also result in substantial environmental benefits. With the enactment of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, a legal framework is now available for promoting energy efficiently in all sectors of the economy. Efficient use of energy and its conservation will succeed as a program if opinion leaders and captains of industry take the lead in supporting the conservation program.
Essay # 6. State-Wise Electricity Consumption and Conservation Potential in Indian Economy:
There are several estimates of energy efficiency and conservation potential in the Indian economy. Most of them have based their assessment at the macro level taking note of some demonstration projects that were implemented in various sectors.
Prominent amongst them are the Integrated Energy Policy (2006) that provides an estimate of energy saving potential in the Indian economic activity of 15-20%, the ADB study (2004) of demand side management potential in industry, buildings, municipalities and the very recent national mission for enhanced energy efficiency that seeks to unlock a market potential of Rs. 74,000 crores and an avoided capacity addition of 19,000 MW.
In this background, it is necessary to assess detailed potential in each sector and in each state, given that the implementation of the energy conservation Act, 2001 is with the state governments through their notified state designated agencies (SDAs).
BEE, with the approval of ministry of power, has initiated a scheme for capacity building of SDAs during the current plan period. A19 point state level energy conservation action plan (ECAP) has been evolved for 32 states/UTs and is under implementation.
As a part of the program, it was considered necessary to carry out a detailed assessment state-wise in some key sectors of the economy. National productivity council (NPC), an autonomous organization under the ministry of commerce, government of India, was tasked to undertake this work in all 35 states/UTs.
The study focused only on estimation of the total electricity consumption and saving potential in the following sectors of each state/UT:
i. Agricultural pumping.
ii. Municipal water and sewage pumping, street lighting.
iii. Commercial buildings like hotel/resorts, hospital, shopping mall/ multiplex, office building, public park/monument having connected load of more than 500 kW.
iv. Representative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which have high saving potential.
NPC constituted dedicated teams for all states in order to conduct this study. Data collection questionnaires for each of the four sectors were prepared and sent to the different organizations. Support of SDAs and local distribution companies were also taken for gathering details of the entities in each sector and ascertaining their energy consumption.
The data collected was analyzed and validated by data collected from distribution companies to make them robust, complete and uniform. In addition, energy audit results of audits conducted by individual entities or other organizations engaged in this purpose to ascertain a reasonable energy saving potential in each sector in the state.
The methodology employed by NPC for this purpose is as under:
(a) Data Collection:
Directly from the organizations in the state engaged in each sector by way of questionnaires designed for this purpose.
(b) Data Collation and Validation:
By verification of data from third party sources like DISCOM, industry associations at the state level.
(c) Data Verification:
On a sample basis by field visits to facilities.
(d) Assessment of Potential:
By conduct of sample audit studies in certain facilities and by survey of similar audits conducted by the entities at the state level in the recent past.
In addition to the above, the study also looks at the large industries and the household sector. For this purpose the consumption reported in the report of central electricity authority titled All India Electricity Statistics 2009: General Review 2009, was adopted for the two sectors. The energy saving potential was assessed based on the experience gained in implementing programs in industry and household sector by BEE and NPC.
In this connection, the following methodology was adopted:
(a) Industry Sector:
The national energy conservation awards provided the basis of assessment of electrical savings in large industries. The evaluation of awards conducted by BEE and NPC over the last 17 years has indicated an average electrical savings of around 7-10%. In estimating the potential for saving, the study has adopted the lower of the range, i.e. 7%.
(b) Domestic Sector:
The potential for savings has been estimated on the basis of several studies carried out by various organizations. The assessment is based on the potential in both urban and rural households and also the different income strata.
For the urban households, the studies indicate a conservative potential of 15-20% while in the rural household it is assessed at 40-50%. The difference is essentially due to the fact that in rural/semi-urban segments, the main load is lighting where the efficiency gains are potentially much higher than others. In light of this, the study has used 20% as the potential in the domestic sector.
India has a long history of promoting energy efficiency through various national level institutions, which include BEE, PCRA, IREDA, NPC, NCB, TERI, CII and FICCI. After the enactment of Energy Conservation Act-2001, these institutions have become more active. Though each institutions has a different role and approach, they all are working for a common cause of energy conservation.