JAIPUR: Rajasthan, which has retrofitted 8 lakh smart LED street lights under the Ujala scheme, has saved energy worth Rs 144 crore, said Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) managing director Saurabh Kumar here on Monday. The company under the ministry of power has retrofitted 40 lakh LED street lights and has distributed 27 crore LED bulbs at affordable rates across the country.
Besides LED lights, energy efficient fans, electric vehicles etc, EESL is expanding its portfolio including the recently announced pre-paid meters that would be rolled out in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to provide power to BPL families. Kumar said that the company is currently undertaking an audit of suez and water pumps in the 300 Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) cities to replace them with energy efficient ones.
“Most of the pumps are today inefficient in terms of power consumption. We will complete the audit by the end of this year. After that it is up to the state governments if they want to implement the project on their own or through us. We will do this exercise for the 500 Amrut cities,” said Kumar on the sidelines of its first international symposium to promote innovation and research in energy efficiency (Inspire-2017).
Bureau of Energy Efficiency, which promotes use of energy efficient processes, equipment, devices and systems, is also working on 20 more products. Currently, it has 21 products with energy efficiency labels out of which nine are mandatory. “BEE is working on 20 more products such as tractors, computers, and cooking appliances,” said Abhay Bakre, director general, BEE.
Energy efficiency plays a key role in reducing emissions and addressing climate change. India has taken a number of important initiatives to reduce its emission levels. Commenting on the direction and commitment of Indian government, John Roome, senior director, World Bank Group, said, “India has the critical global role to play. Because it’s such a big market, it has the power to drive technology and institutionalize good practices. India has in the past 3-4 years has taken a global leadership position in energy efficiency and it can share its experience with other countries.”
Roome said there are lot of things happening around the world but not at the scale and speed we need.
“When one looks at the opportunities to address climate change, energy efficiency is critical. In energy sector, at least half of the reduction has to come from energy efficiency and the other half can come from renewable energy,” added Roome.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes
