Energy Efficiency

India boasts one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The coming decades are poised to witness a rise in population, an increasing trend towards urbanization, rapid technological advancement, and a stronger push towards domestic manufacturing- all of which require energy. A large proportion of the energy we use in India at present is derived from traditional energy sources. An increased demand for energy might consequentially translate into higher carbon emissions unless we prioritise making our current systems more energy and resource efficient.

The industrial sector, which is a key driver of growth in India, is also responsible for approximately 26% of India’s total greenhouse gas emission in 2014 and 41% of the total commercial electricity consumption of the country in 2019. And with the government’s push for more indigenous manufacturing, the sector’s energy demand is only set to grow further. Implementing energy transition in the sector by adopting decarbonization technologies, demand management and energy efficiency can therefore have major payoffs for India’s emission profile. The government, in conjunction with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and other stakeholders, has already put into place various initiatives, like the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) and the SME scheme for Small and Medium enterprises, aimed at reducing the energy intensity of the sector.

Electricity consumption in the industrial sector is closely followed by increasingly high electricity consumption in residential and commercial buildings. Space cooling constitutes a major component of the energy demand in buildings. Governmental initiatives like the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), voluntary initiatives on green building guidelines or rating and a push for the adoption of thermal performance in building design, and construction materials can help reduce the internal heat load and lower space cooling requirements in buildings.

The India Cooling Action Plan launched by government of India recognises cooling as a development need with direct linkages with sustainable development goals like Health and Wellbeing (SDG 3), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11) and Climate Action (SDG 13), has committed to make cooling sustainable and accessible to all. The current energy demand for cooling and thermal comfort in space cooling, cold chain and mobility is far away from reaching its peak. Demand for cooling in these sectors is expected to rise nearly 5 to 8 times as compared to 2017-18. Again, the current set of refrigerants used in air conditioning and refrigeration system have high global warming potential. Higher level of energy efficiency and refrigerant transition in cooling has the potential of restricting the global mean temperature increase by 0.5 degree centigrade.

IEA analysis indicates that India avoided an additional 15% of annual energy demand and 300 million tons of carbon di oxide emissions between 2000 to 2018 by adopting energy efficiency in industry, business and domestic sectors.

Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation works with stakeholders in the government, academia, civil society, and industries to aid the design and implementation of policies that lead to low carbon growth in the three sectors: Industry, Buildings and Cooling.