By Roman Targosz / Published on Mon, 2009-07-13 19:43
Commercial, or in other words non-technical losses account for more than 1% of electricity use around the world. The dominant component of these losses is electricity theft. In the largest extent, electricity theft is a problem related to residential customers. In some countries, electricity theft is in the range of, or far exceeding, technical losses in the transmission and distribution sector.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-07-07 05:30
Five times cheaper than nuclear power
A recent study by the World Resources Institute (WRI) calculated that India could reduce its annual electricity usage by 183.5 billion kWh by investing US$ 10 billion in energy efficiency improvements.
India’s energy demand is expected to more than double by 2030. The country is consequently in need of a huge amount of new power generation capacity. Considering the figures of the WRI, the cheapest generating capacity for India will no doubt be energy savings.
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By HDK / Published on Thu, 2009-06-04 08:40
India, with a population of over 1.10 billion is one of the fastest growing economies of the world. As domestic sources of different conventional commercial energy are drying up, dependence on foreign energy sources is increasing. There exists a huge potential for saving energy in India. After the first ‘oil shock’ (1973), the government of India realized the need for conservation of energy and a ‘Petroleum Conservation Action Group’ was formed in 1976.
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By Angelo Baggini / Published on Mon, 2008-11-17 10:00
Year: 2008
Policy Status: In force
On 30 June, India released its first
National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) outlining existing and future policies and programmes directed at climate change mitigation and adaptation. The plan outlines
eight "national missions" running up to 2017, and ministries are directed to submit detailed implementation plans to the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change by December 2008. The missions are wide ranging, targeting
energy efficiency and
renewable energy, as well as improved research capacity on climate change issues. Other missions target
water efficiency,
agriculture,
forestation, and
ecosystem conservation. Missions addressing energy efficiency are outlined below.
National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
The plan estimates that current initiatives, based on the Energy Conservation Act of 2001, will yield 10 000 MW of savings by 2012. Building on this, the plan recommends mandating specific energy consumption decreases in large energy-using industries, including a system for companies to trade energy-savings certificates. It also highlights the use of incentives, including reduced taxes on energy-efficient appliances. Finally, it recommends financing for public-private partnerships for demand-side management (DSM) programmes that reduce energy consumption in the municipal, buildings and agricultural sectors.
National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
The plan seeks to promote energy efficiency as an essential component of urban planning. It calls for extending the Energy Conservation Building Code, and emphasises urban waste management and recycling, including power production from waste. In the transport sector it calls for stronger enforcement of automotive fuel economy standards, using pricing measures to encourage the purchase of efficient vehicles, and providing incentives for the use of public transportation.
The various missions each have a lead ministry, responsible for developing objectives, implementing strategies, timelines, and monitoring and evaluation criteria to be submitted to the Prime Minister's Council for Climate Change. The Council will be responsible for undertaking periodic reviews and reporting on the missions' progress. Relevant indicators, allowing assessment of both avoided emissions and adaptation benefits, are also to be developed.
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By Angelo Baggini / Published on Thu, 2008-11-13 10:00
Year 2007
Policy Status In force
The
Energy Conservation Act of 2001 mandated the creation of the
Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), established in March 2002. The BEE was mandated with establishing an Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC). A National building code was developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards, and last revised in 2005, however it does not specifically address energy efficiency issues, though it promotes the use of new and innovative technologies and methods.
The ECBC was developed in 2006 and issued May 2007. It has been developed to account for five different climatic zones, particularly for envelope component requirements. It is not mandatory the first three years, and will become so in 2010, to allow the necessary implementation capacity to be developed. The code will be mandatory for all
new buildings (commercial buildings or complexes) with a connected load of
500kW or more, or a contract demand of
600 kVA or greater. It will also apply to buildings with a conditioned floor space of 1 000m2 or greater.
The code sets
minimum requirements for building envelope c
omponents, lighting, HVAC, electrical system, water heating and pumping systems. There would be three ways of being compliant with the ECBC. First, through a prescriptive approach, i.e. all minimum standards for separate components must be met. Second, the envelope and lighting system would be assessed through a systems performance criteria, while other components would have to meet the minimum requirements. Third, setting the whole building target energy use and trading off between systems (Energy cost budget method).
State and municipal governments must implement the code, while state governments are allowed to modify the code if necessary to account for local climatic conditions. In February 2008 an ECBC tip sheet and Technology atlas were distributed to developers, architects, engineers and other building energy efficiency professionals.
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By Angelo Baggini / Published on Thu, 2008-11-13 10:00
Year: 2006
Policy Status: In force
In 2006, India pledged to launch a comprehensive energy labeling program for appliances under the framework of the
Energy Conservation Act of 2001. The Indian
Bureau of Energy Efficiency's long-planned labeling program first addressed refrigerators and fluorescent tube lamps. The rating grade models on their energy efficiency, starting from one star, implying low energy efficiency, to a five star grade for the most energy efficient model.
Energy labels became mandatory for many electricity-consuming appliances in 2007, including pumps, motors, air conditioners and televisions. The BEE plans to coordinate a consumer education campaign to publicize the new labels.
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By Hans Nilsson / Published on Mon, 2008-04-28 10:17
President Barroso announced an interesting shift in the Chinese attitude to the post-Kyoto agreement when visiting Beijing last week. The Chinese premier Wen Jiabao is said to have indicated that China could participate fully in an international agreement provided that the old industrialised nations promised to reduce their emission until 2020 and a financial mechanism for technology transfer is established.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Wed, 2007-10-24 07:30
Demonstrating poor quality
For electricity consumers in India, supply interruptions and low voltage levels are a constant source of concern. Utility companies recognize the problem and are now making major investments to improve Power Quality (PQ). However these improvements are coupled to tariff increases. To verify if real PQ improvements have been made, effective monitoring of the supply quality is crucial. Monitoring also helps track the sources of interruptions and enable comparisons of PQ at various locations.
Governments and regulatory commissions in India use IEEE developed reliability indices such as CAIDI, SAIDI, and SAIFI. These indices require extensive measurements and complex calculations and their use is still in an initial phase in India.
Prayas has now developed a complementary tool, the Electricity Supply Monitoring Initiative (ESMI). Prayas is an Indian non-governmental, non-profit public charitable trust involved with health, energy, learning, and parenthood initiatives. The concept of ESMI is to execute basic monitoring of supply continuity and voltage levels at ordinary consumer locations, in order to get an idea of the actual situation in the field and to increase the accountability of electricity utilities. A data logger records the supply voltage at one minute intervals, as well as the timing and duration of supply interruptions.
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By Hans Nilsson / Published on Sun, 2007-04-29 07:00
It has been estimated that 1.6-2.0 billion people do not have access to electricity. The IEA made a survey of the issue and also of some success stories in electrification in their World Energy Outlook 2002.
However, we may have to consider that the problem is bigger than just access. In many places, the "losses" (to use a euphemism) are great. Electricity disappears from the lines due to clever connections made by people in need, and even when theft is not the problem, electricity may be sold at prices far below the cost. If we are ever to design a sustainable system, we need to apply more energy efficient solutions, but what is the incentive if you do not pay?
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Fri, 2007-03-09 17:41
During a very interesting webinar presentation last month, Mark Lively showed how market can contribute to improve operating conditions in the electricity system.
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By Hans Nilsson / Published on Fri, 2007-01-26 06:46
In some of the comments in Europe (let us be tactful and avoid names) to the issue of climate change and the need for measures, there has been an undertone of self-righteousness, rather than willingness to act. Some have said that many of the European countries are so small that it does not matter what they do. Some have gone as far as saying that focus should be shifted to countries like China, India and Brazil and others. Absolutely, but how?
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Wed, 2007-01-03 08:30
At the Strategic Forum on Energy Supply in the 21st century
If we want to secure the world’s energy supply and mitigate climate change, there is no time to waste. That was the strong message of Fatih Birol’s presentation to the Strategic Forum on Energy Supply in the 21st century (Brussels, 19 December 2006). Fatih Birol is a chief economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA) and lead author of the World Energy Outlook 2006.
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By HDK / Published on Mon, 2006-04-10 10:54
This paper describes the benefits from a policy on electrical energy efficiency, and suggests policies and technologies that could be used to help capture them as India moves towards more economically optimal levels of electricity consumption.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Fri, 2006-03-24 10:57
According to the Ernst & Young 'Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index', the five most attractive countries for investment are Spain, USA, Germany, UK and India, in that order.
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By Hans Nilsson / Published on Thu, 2006-01-19 06:22
The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate was announced some months ago as a co-operation between the U.S., Australia, The Republic of Korea, Japan, India and China to foster climate-friendly technologies. They have now had a meeting in Sydney and made public a report of what impact such collaboration could bring and a workplan for eight different task-forces, most of them related to energy supply, but also some for key-industry areas such as steel, aluminium, cement, buildings and appliances. Given that the partnership involves some of the fast-growing markets and that, according to press, the allocation of resources could be substantial (50 MUSD from the U.S. and 100 MAUD from Australia) this could be another boost-action for energy efficiency applications.
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By Anne Rialhe / Published on Sat, 2005-04-30 00:00
Energy-using products can present varying levels of efficiency. Labels and energy-efficiency standards are one of the main policy tools to provide transparency to the market, and improve efficiency. Labels and standards can be voluntary or mandatory. They can be applied on individual products or on a class of product. The correct combination of these different aspects is essential for the success or failure of a labelling program. Depending on the expected target - removing the worst products, improving best available technology (BAT) or promoting new technologies beyond BAT, governments should develop balanced programs promoting energy-efficient technology. As people's behavior usually offset these technical improvements, information and education campaigns are strongly needed.
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