Vijayawada /Hyderabad: The director general of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a statutory body of the Union ministry of power, has strongly emphasised on making 24 degrees Celsius the default setting in air conditioners for all consumers, particularly in commercial establishments across the country.
Telangana state SPDCL director (commercial) K. Ramulu said BEE sent the circulars to electricity departments and the Telangana state government, on receiving the order has asked all government departments and commercial establishments to follow the directions. He called for strict monitoring of ACs but added it was not possible to check departments and commercial establishments across the state. Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh too has received a similar order.
The development comes on the eve of a national workshop on development of an enforcement manual to enforce the Energy Conservation Act 2001, in New Delhi on Friday.
“Around 20 billion units worth Rs 10,000 crore of energy can be saved annually in the country through such pro-active energy efficiency measures,” BEE director-general Mr Abhay Bhakre said in a directive sent to Andhra Pradesh.
“Union power minister R.K. Singh, too, has in several meetings directed for taking special care in implementing the 24-degree campaign.”
If 50 per cent of the consumers adopt such measures, it would result in about 10 billion units of electricity being saved, which is equivalent to reducing 8.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, he explained.
“As one of the front-runner states at the national level in implementing energy efficiency measures, we expect Andhra Pradesh to take the lead in implementation the guidelines on default setting of ACs at 24°C in commercial establishments to save energy and protect environment,” he said.
The BEE director general said the present total installed air conditioner capacity of 80 million TR (tonnes of refrigerators) in the country may increase to about 250 million TR within 10 years. That would mean total connected load in India because of air conditioning could increase to about 200 GW by 2030, which is a mind-bogging figure.
“We see this as a major climate change challenge, as an AC will release almost 10 kg of carbon dioxide through emission every day, if it runs 8-10 hours a day,” he said.
The targeted commercial buildings will include hotels, shopping malls, airports, offices and government buildings. Default setting will also benefit normal consumers from the financial and health point of view, he said.
AP chief secretary Mr Anil Chandra Punetha said the state was extremely serious about implementing energy efficiency measures and use of star-rated electrical appliances for the benefit of the people. In fact, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has issued instructions to the energy department, APSECM and APSEEDCO to take up a comprehensive action plan to make every house in the state energy-efficient. “We have already taken several measures in implementing energy efficiency and energy conservation such as LED street lighting, distribution of BEE star rated electric appliances, energy efficient motors to farmers etc. We will also implement the BEE directions on air conditioners,” he said.
