Energy Conservation Essay Example for Free

Energy Conservation Essay Abstract: The gap between supply and demand of energy is continuously increasing despite huge outlay for energy sector since independence. Further the brining of fossil fuel is resulting in greenhouse gases which are detrimental to the environment. The gap between supply and demand of energy can be bridged with the help of energy conservation which may be considered as a new source of energy which is environment friendly. The energy conservation is cost effective with a short payback period and modest investment. There is a good scope of energy conservation in various sectors, viz industry agriculture, transport and domestic, This paper will give overview of energy conservation in Indian scenario. Introduction India today has a vast population of more than 1.20 billions out of which nearly 75% are living in rural areas. Energy and development are inter-related. In order to have sustainable growth rate. It is imperative to have sufficient energy for systematic development in various sectors. Energy sector has received top priority in all Five year pains so far. During seventh Five Year plans 30% of the plan outlay was allotted to this sector. The installed capacity of electric power has increased from 1362 MW. At the time of independence to a staggering 70,000 MW. Despite such achievements, the gap between demand and supply of electrical energy is increasing every year as power sector is highly capital-intensive. The deficit in installed capacity was nearly 10,000 MW, by the and of eleventh five year plan. It is estimated that in 2011 alone India has lost above 10.0 billion US$ in manufacturing productivity because for power is projected to grow by 7 to 10% per year for the next 10 years. The working group on power had recommended capacity addition program of 46,645 MWduring the twelveth plan period along with the associated transmission and distribution works at a cost of Rs. 12, 26,000 corer. With this capacity addition there would have been a peak power shortage of 15.3 percent by the end of the 12th plans. The proven reserves of fossil fuel in India are not very large. A major share of scarce foreign currency is earmarked for importing petroleum products. The bill of which is continuously increasing coal reserve likely to be exhausted by the middle or centaury. Thus a bleak scenario awaits India in future unless absolutely new strategies are adopted. In spite of huge plan outlay of energy sector in last 60 years, most of the rural population has not yet been able to reach the threshold of enough energy to meet their basic human needs. There appears to be something basically wrong in planning. The planners have adopted the western model of centralized energy system without necessary modification to suit Indian condition. In future the energy conservation would assume more significance globally on the basis of the effect of burning fossil fuel on environment, particularly the global warming rather than the depletion of fossil fuel reserves and other consideration. Sector wise energy consumption:Sector Industry Transport Residential Agriculture Others %power consumption 49% 22% 10% 5% 14% THE SCOPE AND POTENTIAL The developing countries like India are obliged to maintain a certain growth rate for which energy is a basic ingredient. Failure to meet the energy demand for the basic needs of the economy will cause inflation unemployment and socio economic disorder. The major energy projects are capital-intensive and result in the degradation of the environment and ecology. Energy efficiency and conservation in the past have been neglected on the assumption of continuous availability of fossil fuel. Energy conservation is the strategy of adjusting and optimizing energy using systems and procedures to reduce energy requirements per unit of output without affecting socio-economic development. Energy conservation means going with what is available, while in developed countries 1% increase in G.N.P. needs barely 0.6% increase in energy consumption in whereas in India the corresponding increase in energy consumption is nearly 1.5% 1. Transmission and Distribution Losses India has a complex transmissio n and distribution network. The Transmission and distribution (T D) losses in Indian Power Systems are rather high. According to Central Electricity Authority (CEA) statistics, on all India basis the losses are around 20 percent. According to the estimates of a few other independent agencies, the real TD losses may be even higher than this figure power systems with those of more developed In order to estimate the cost effectiveness of the various modern techniques available for reduction of TD losses in the context of Indian environment, it is essential to have an idea regarding the energy losses taking place at the various stages of transmission and distribution of power as well as a further break—up of the line losses and transformation losses. The TD losses can be divided in to two parts, namely. Extra-high voltage (EHV) /High Voltage (HV) transmission and low voltage distribution. Out of total 15% TD losses targeted to be achieved. 2. Long Term Conservation Objectives of Energy 4. To take steps to prevent inefficient use of energy in future projects, buildings, products, processes etc. in every sector of energy use. 3. Areas of Energy Conservation The main areas where conservation was possible are as follows:1. Improvement in power factor would result in reduction in actual maximum demand on the system. 2. Improvement in plant load factor results in optimum utilization of plant capacity and increasing production. 3.80% of the industrial electricity consumption is accounted for by induction motors which are mostly used for pumping and compressor application, etc. 4. Various furnaces, electrolysis baths and vessels operating at higher temperature are found to have inadequate insulation. Higher surface temperature means loss of electrical form of energy by radiation. This can easily be prevented by applying proper insulation to limit the surface temperature rise above ambient up to 200C. New Concerpts in Energy Conservation Energy Conservation offers a practical means of achieving development goals. It enhances the international competitiveness of industry in world markets by reducing the cost of production. It optimizes the use of capital resources by diverting lesser amounts in conservation investments as against huge capital investment in power sector. It helps environment in the short run by reducing pollution and in the long run by reducing the scope of global climatic changes. Energy conservation is a decentralized issue and largely depends on the individual unlike decisions of energy supply which are highly centralized. The housewife, the car driver, the boiler operator in industry and every other individual who consumes energy in some form or other is requiring participating in energy saving measures. In order to have energy efficiency strategies really effective some conceptual changes are imperative. †¢ Conservation must be recognized as a new source of Energy- â€Å"a benign and clean source† 1. To bring attitudinal changes in all energy users so that they strive for maximum energy efficiency in all products, projects, buildings, processes, domestic and commercial use, agricultural and transport use in consistent with economic considerations. 2. Take necessary steps to discipline those who fail to fall in line with the above changes. 3. To adopt policies which make energy conservation easy and attractive for being adopted by all energy users. End use management of energy demand should not be met by increased supply only. Energy efficiency is the most cost effective way to bridge the gap between supply and demand. In the past the energy planning was based on continuous supply of fossil fuel. What matters to a consumer of energy is not energy per so but the services it provides cooking. Lighting, motive power etc. thus the true indicator of development is not the magnitude of per capita energy consumption, but the level of energy services provided. A stage has reached when developing countries need not to look at energy consumption per capita as a sign of development and growth. The economics of major power projects ignore the time value of money. The gestation period of the project is ignored. Thus the projects which yield physical benefits after many years are treated at par with projects that yield immediate benefits. Thus no attention is paid to when the returns are obtained. subsidies, liberalization of licenses and loans at concessional terms. It is in this context that Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has introduced to schemes, with a sharp focus on energy conservation objectives in industries. These schemes are (a) Energy Audit Subsidy Scheme, and (b) Equipment Finance for Energy Conservation Scheme. These Schemes which were initially in operation for a period of 2 years have been extended up to the end of the twelvth Five Year Plan. . a) Energy Audit Subsidy Schemes ENERGY AUDIT AND FINANCIAL INCENTIVES 1) Energy Audit The Energy Audit is an accounting tool, an analytical device to detect energy waste.. One series of entries consists of amounts of energy which were consumed during the month in the form of electricity, gas, fuel, oil, steam: and the second series lists how the energy was used: how much for lighting, air conditioning, heating, production processes and other activities. Energy Audit, therefore, is a crucial tool for energy management because it indicates the scope for conservation by identifying the waste areas. Nearly 20-30 percent savings on energy can, at a conservative estimate, be easily achieved by any industry, if energy conservation measured identified by energy surveys are adopted. Moreover, at least 10 percent savings are possible simply by following good housekeeping practices which require no investment whatsoever. Even when a conservation measure demands investment, it is generally always paid back in less than two years. 2) Financial Incentives Assistance would be available under this scheme for preliminary as well as for detailed energy audit. The charges of the approved consultancy agency for carrying out the energy audit would be partly subsidized by IDBI which will bear 50% of the cost, the balance to be borne by the applicant company. For preliminary audit, the amount of subsidy available under this scheme per undertaking/company would be limited to Rs. 10,000 or 0.01 percent of gross fixed assets of the undertaking/company whichever is less. The limit of assistance for detailed energy audit would be Rs. 1.00 lakh or 0.05% of the gross fixed assets of the undertaking/company whichever is lower. Assets value shall be exclusive of revaluation reserves. b) Equipment Finance For Energy Scheme conservation For the purposes of EFEC scheme, equipment shall include plant machinery, miscellaneous fixed assets erection and installation charges, technical know-how fees for designs and drawings. Assistance under the scheme would be available only for installation of equipment for effecting energy conservation in the existing plants/processes and not for expansion or diversification of production capacities, even though, the same may also result in energy conservation. Assistance under the scheme would be in the form of term loan. APPROACHESAND CHALLENGES Approaches The various approaches of energy conservation may be divided into (i) short-term measures (ii) mediumterm measures and (iii) long-term measures. All the short-term as well as medium term measures for the energy intensive sectors may be taken up immediately so that their benefits can be realized during 12th plan itself. Further, the programmes for long- Recognizing the importance of energy conservation projects by the Government and the financial institutions in terms of concessions/reliefs income-tax, excise duties, customs duties, sales tax, term measures should also be initiated simultaneously during the 12th plan hey include: 1) Software components These include: (a) Promotion, motivation education, dissemination of information, data bank and creation of national Energy Conservation centre (b) Promotion of RD in technologies, equipment etc. (c) Promotion of studies on policies, economics of energy use, demand management, various types of survey etc. (d) Developments of standards. (e) Rectification programmes. They include:2) Hardware Components The following are included under this category. A. Energy efficient projects in all the sectors including co-generation. B. Demonstration projects-Models of efficient appliances, demonstration centres etc. Energy may not be very cooperative as there is an information gap in these areas. The creation of a database and its scientific analysis is the backbone of any future planning and decision making. There are certain challenges in effective implementation of energy efficiency programmes. Some of them are given below: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Technological Economics Motivation and Awareness Institutional and Legislation . STRATEGIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS In sixth Five Year Plan (1980-84) for the first time the significance of energy efficiency and conservation was realized. In the Seventh Five Year Plant document too the Planning Commission identified energy conservation and efficiency as thrust areas based on the recommendations of the inter Ministerial working Group (IMWG) (1983) on energy conservation. The Eleventh Year Plan document has also emphasized the implementation of rectification programmes for agricultural pump sets for achieving energy efficiency in the agricultural sector. Even though the Eleventh Five Year Plan realized the opportunity, potential and need for energy conservation it did not incorporate any concrete programmes, policies and budgetary provision in this regard. The working Group on Energy conservation has recommended a comprehensive scheme for twelvth Five Year Plan period. This includes awareness programmes, training, development, research, energy audit, energy efficiency measures in various sectors, providing subsidies to implementing agencies and covering other aspects as well. The status of energy conservation in various sectors is as follows: 1. Agricultural Sector C. Technology import/up-gradation-Acquisition of state-of-art technology through foreign collaborations. D. Strengthening of Transmission and Distribution systems of various State Electricity Boards to reduce the system losses to 15% range. E. Development of infrastructure such as improvement of transport systems, communication systems, electrification of railways etc. 2. Stages of Energy Efficiency The different types of activities of energy efficiency could be put into four distinct categories. The first two types given below concern existing plants and equipment and latter two to new ones:†¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Soft or managerial Solutions Modest Investment New Technology of Production Technological Break through Challenges One important factor in achieving energy efficiency and conservation target is the response of the and-user. As often, the behavior of many end-users of The farmers in the country have installed about 18 million pumps operated by diesel/electricity. These roughly consume 30 billion kWh of electricity and 6 billion litres of diesel. It is necessary to provide the much needed irrigation to the crops but, unfortunately, the pumping systems adopted have remained inefficient and the consumption of electricity and diesel has been 50 to 100 percent more than what it should be. Regarding petroleum products, India produces hardly 60% of the required crude oil indigenously, importing more than Rs. 15,000 crores worth of crude oil and petroleum products to meet the current demand. The excessively wasteful consumption of energy in the agricultural sector has to stop both for conserving energy per se and reducing the irrigation cost for the farmers. There has been an increase in the absolute consumption of energy in agricultural sector. The electricity consumption has grown at the rate of 14.4% per annum whereas the oil consumption has increased at the rate of 10.1% per annum. 2. Transport Sector of light bulb known as E-lamp (electronic light) has been introduced recently in USA. This lamp is supposed to consume 75 percent less electricity than conventional incandescent lamp. Its lifetime is between 15,000 to 20,000 hours. The E-lamp has made its bid to become the â€Å"Compact Disc† of residential lighting, but events during the next few years may determine whether it will become a household word. 4) Industrial Sector The sector uses, nearly thirty two percent of the commercial energy. This sector is second only to industrial sector. Further, this sector is heavily dependent on petroleum products. Import of petroleum is nearly 35 percent of total expenditure on imports in India. Its consumption is increasing at an annual rate of 6 to 8 percent. Automobiles thus offer one of the most promising areas for major savings. There are tow modes of transport which are most common, viz. rail and road. Unlike the railway, the road sector is not wholly in the organized sector and hence its database is rather weak. The road transport has increased very fast during last decade or so. One approach to achieve energy conservation is to shift a part of the traffic from road to rail. It is imperative to develop research and development activities in the direction of improving the fuel efficiency of vehicles and developing alternate energy sources. According to the report of Advisory Board on Energy the conservation potential in transport sector is nearly 20% which can be achieved by an investment of Rs. 890 crores. Conservation measures would yield an annual savings of Rs. 765 crores and avoid an investment of Rs. 432 crores for creating additional energy capacity. A series of measures including operation control, upgrading driver’s skills training programmes to create fuel conservation consciousness and proper use of clutches, reduction of body weight, speed restrictions and improved over hauling practices has been recommended.