One million points to be replaced with CFLs

One million points to be replaced with CFLs

Jayashree Nandi | TNN


Bangalore: Cut your carbon footprint by replacing the bulb! To address power crisis concerns in states and the larger threat of global warming, the Centre has come up with a unique scheme of making energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) as cheap as Rs 15. Power-starved Karnataka will be one of the pilot projects.
In Bangalore alone, Bescom is planning to replace 1 million points in Bangalore Rural, as part of the scheme. “We will start inviting tenders in the next two months before shortlisting agencies.
“Our first target will be 1 million homes in Bangalore Rural district. We are expecting an energy saving of 70-75%, compared to the use of incandescent bulbs. But it also depends on the duration of usage. It is expected to be a good leap in power conservation in the state,” Bescom general manager B N Satya Prem Kumar told The Times of India.
It plans to utilize the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol to recover the cost differential between the market price of CFLs and the price at which they are sold to households.
Though CFLs have penetrated the commercial market completely, the needs of the household sector are still vastly met by incandescent bulbs, which are energy inefficient and costly — over 90% of the electricity is converted into heat, and only up to 10% is used for lighting. CFLs provide an energy-efficient alternative to the incandescent lamp as they use only one-fifth the electricity. According to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), it is estimated that about 400 million points in India today are lit by incandescent bulbs. If replaced by CFLs, it would lead to a reduction of over 10,000 MW in electricity demand. This would not only reduce carbon emissions but also result in reduction of peak load.
The yojana is a public-private partnership between GoI, CFL manufacturers and state-level electricity companies. Under the scheme, only 60 Watt and 100 Watt incandescent lamps will be replaced with 11-15 Watt and 20-25 Watt CFLs respectively. BEE will monitor electricity savings in each project area in accordance with the monitoring methodology by CDM.
Greenpeace India has been commissioned by BEE to conduct stakeholder meetings and monitor the project in different parts. “There is a lot of interest in the market. We consider the scheme a milestone because if it actually replaces 400 million bulbs, it means avoiding up to 55 million tonne of carbon emissions. But we will monitor the project thoroughly because implementation is key to its success,” said Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Vinuta Gopal.
POWER-POINTS With incandescent bulbs, over 90% of power turns into heat, up to 10% used for lighting; CFLs use only one-fifth this energy Around 400 m points in India lit by incandescent bulbs: replacing them would not only reduce emissions but also peak power load in the country, which faces shortage of 15% CFLs save over 10,000 MW in electricity CFLs in houses account for only 5-10% Low penetration rate due to high price: costs 8-10 times more than incandescent bulbs, but last 10 times longer
Smartmeter BEE has developed smartmeters based on GSM technology that are fitted between the socket and CFL in sample households in each project area. The GSM-based meter collects data on hours of use and energy consumed by the sample CFL, and sends this information by SMS to the central server.
Blowing out
the lamp Some countries have banned or will ban incandescent bulbs Ireland in 2009 Australia, Argentina, Italy, France by 2010 UK by 2011 via voluntary retailer agreements Netherlands by 2011 voluntarily Canada by 2012 US by 2014 China in 2017 Cuba, Venezuela provide free CFLs Brazil subsidizes CFLs Russia begins marketplace initiative Belgium announced ban Japan, New Zealand considering ban