Cement, Energy & Environment

The overall programme has delivered impressive results, particularly in home appliances, where STAR labelling has not become a household identity The buildings sector, too, has been able to simulate the 'Green Building movement' while interventions in the industrial sector are making economic sense to the industry to invest in energy efficiency. The ongoing XII Plan strategy, therefore, must focus on consolidating these gains, while expanding the scope of these interventions to hitherto uncovered sectors. The ones that readily come to mind are the transport sector, where efficiency norm of passenger cars and transport vehicles is long overdue; small and medium enterprises (SMEs), agriculture and municipal sectors, etc. Appliances o~d buildings Somf. of the suggestions for significantly enhancing the off-take of energy efficiency are as follows : (a) Expanded STAR Labelling Programme that must target at least 80 per cent of energy– using appliances. At present about 20-odd equipments are covered by the programme, of which 'he application in respect of 4 equipment is mandatory. There are many high-energy-consuming appliances that are out of this fold , most notable being those in the transport sector. The standards laid down for the current set of equipments need to be upgraded. BEE has been working on an innovative concept of introducing 'Super Efficient' appliances in the market ahead of time as a part of an international effort. Such Super Efficient appliances are ones whose energy performance is at least 30 - 50 per cent better than the best available in the market at present. They need to be implemented in those equipment where the growth rate is the highest (ACs, refrigerators , fans etc). All government procurements of energy– related equipment must be towards higher efficiency equipment. (b) Mandatory application of energy efficient/green building code must be made for all new commercial buildings that have connected load of 500 KW or more. In addition , application of the STAR rating programme for buildings need to be made more vigorous in an attempt to drive demand for efficient buildings from the consumers' side . Government could once again take the lead by requ iring all its offices to undertake energy efficiency upgrades. Demand-side management (c) The innovative Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) mechanism, pa rt of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE), announced recently, needs to cover more industrial establishments and sectors . At present, it is applicable to around 400 notified establishments in 8 sectors. Some of the new sectors that need to be covered are refineries, telecom, and auto manufacturing. (d) Demand Side Management (DSM) has the potential of delivering 20 - 25 per cent reduction in consumption as per several assessments done by the Planning Commission, BEE, and others. DSM could provide the much needed relief to the financially crippled distribution sector by enhancing their revenue realizations and plugging leakages . The Electricity Regulatory Commissions (ERCs) need to encourage utilities to invest in DSM, particularly in municipalities, agriculture and accelerated adoption of high efficiency end-use equipments. Given that the electricity business is regulated and all expenditures by the utilities must have regulatory approval, ERCs need to create an enabling framework for allowi ng DSM-related expenditures of utilities as pass-through in tariff. Finance availability In order that these interventions become practicable, availability of financial resources at reasonable rates for energy efficiency and enhanced awareness amongst all stakeholders is necessary. To stimulate financing of energy efficiency investments, Ministry of Power and BEE have set up innovative financial instruments namely, the 'Partial Risk Guarantee Fund' and the 'Venture Capital Fund'. These funds can mitigate the risk perception of banks and financial institutions towards energy efficiency project finance. One of the major successes of the last 5 years has been the STAR labelling programme. Apart from the fact that the programme was well structured and implemented, it owes its success to the impressive consumer awareness campaign implemented by BEE. 10 I