State to introduce energy conservation policy

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When Kerala kicked off the Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) campaign last year, it was a national first. Now the state is set to claim another first by rolling out a policy for energy conservation. The draft policy will be out within days. Drafted by the Energy Management Centre (EMC), the policy is meant to arm energy conservation endeavours in the state’s industrial, domestic and commercial sectors with comprehensive guidelines and direction, sources in the power sector said. The policy will seek to address a wide range of issues such as benchmarking programmes in the energy sector, energy audits, enforcement of green building codes and star-labelling of electrical appliances. “Energy efficiency initiatives are a win-win situation for all concerned, especially in the long run. The draft of the policy is expected to be out in a week and the first discussion on it is planned for September 3,’’ a senior official said. The policy is expected to be a big step towards the creation of energy efficient households and industries. Domestic consumers account for majority of the KSEB’s consumers and the policy hopes to encourage energy savings through the use of efficient lighting systems. EMC, which is Bureau of Energy Efficiency’s nodal agency for energy efficiency initiatives in Kerala, has already coordinated several initiatives in the state, including the LDF Government’s hyped CFL campaign, comprehensive energy audits in select government buildings and industries, waste heat recovery schemes and BEE’s star-labelling concept for home appliances.A recent sample survey by the EMC pegged the estimated annual energy saving potential in Kerala at 1.558 billion units a year. By adopting CFLs and BEE-star labelled home appliances, the domestic sector alone can save between 15 and 20 per cent energy annually, says the survey.Industries have the potential to save between seven and 10 percent of electrical energy and the agricultural sector, between 20 and 30 percent by adopting energy efficient pump sets.