Energy-efficiency message worth pursuing
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
POWER shortages have been an accepted fact of life in most of the developing world, not just Bangladesh. In the 1990s the Philippines have had to adjust with a four-day work week in Manila due to lack of electricity. China's chronic power shortages were estimated then to have cut industrial output by as much as 20 per cent. Next door, India too has had its problems. But over the past two decades, while others have been seriously trying to address this, decision-makers in this country have been found dilly-dallying, not quite knowing what to do. It therefore, comes as a pleasant surprise that the present government is thinking of conserving energy by switching light bulbs, replacing conventional incandescent lights with advanced energy-savers. This would be swift, economic and sound. Many enlightened countries, Sweden and Denmark in particular, have shown what can be done if the efficiency message is taken seriously.
Beginning early next year, low-wattage, compact fluorescent lights (CFL) are to be distributed free among nine-million households in the three main cities of Bangladesh. The World Bank (WB) is expected to lend about US$115 million to finance the country's renewable energy programme, out of which $15 million is to pay for the free (?) CFLs. The government should beware lest it be taken as a political ploy rather than an honest incentive towards a total phase-out of energy-greedy bulbs. There are smarter methods to do this. A cue may be taken from Bombay's electric utility, which years ago, started a leasing scheme similar to that of a US municipal utility, lending the lights to customers for a modest monthly fee that covered the cost of the bulbs, marketing, management and even anticipated breakage.
Since CFLs use far less power and last ten times longer, the potential for conservation of electricity is simply enormous. A senior power division official was quoted as saying that it would be possible to save at least 350 megawatt of electricity if the plan for total replacement were implemented. That is the equivalent of building a fairly large power plant at a cost of some US$ 500 million at least!
This and other energy efficiency strategies would release valuable resources that could be pumped into more productive and sustainable sectors. Energy-conservation programmes worldwide prove that the financial benefits of emphasising energy-efficiency are quite substantial, which is why the Indian Institute of Technology and bulb maker Philips India had been working together for decades to manufacture CFLs domestically. According to one 1990 estimate, a US$7.0 million factory in India could produce 12.3 million bulbs in seven years to save 1,587 megawatts of coal-burning electrical capacity. Therefore, investing in a CFL factory would be several hundred times cheaper than a coal-fired plant. China's annual production of CFLs was over 12 million then. One can imagine what the output is at present.
Using and making fluorescent bulbs being so cost-effective, Bangladesh too would do well to go for more domestic manufacture rather than open up exclusive agencies for CFLs from elsewhere. In addition, there is no reason why existing incandescent light-bulb factories could not be converted to produce CFLs to cater to the domestic market as well as for sale abroad.
While on the subject, it must be mentioned that considerable wastage result from the general apathy and lack of public accountability, not least from the extravagance of a relatively small elite of domestic and commercial users, who parallel the habits of consumers in rich countries. In government-funded educational institutions one often finds empty classrooms with full-speed fans and lights on, even in broad daylight. Neither the students nor the teachers apply their minds to this needless drain of valuable energy. Only the dutiful peon is expected to turn them off. The mindset must change if energy wastage in homes and offices is to be plugged effectively.
Beginning early next year, low-wattage, compact fluorescent lights (CFL) are to be distributed free among nine-million households in the three main cities of Bangladesh. The World Bank (WB) is expected to lend about US$115 million to finance the country's renewable energy programme, out of which $15 million is to pay for the free (?) CFLs. The government should beware lest it be taken as a political ploy rather than an honest incentive towards a total phase-out of energy-greedy bulbs. There are smarter methods to do this. A cue may be taken from Bombay's electric utility, which years ago, started a leasing scheme similar to that of a US municipal utility, lending the lights to customers for a modest monthly fee that covered the cost of the bulbs, marketing, management and even anticipated breakage.
Since CFLs use far less power and last ten times longer, the potential for conservation of electricity is simply enormous. A senior power division official was quoted as saying that it would be possible to save at least 350 megawatt of electricity if the plan for total replacement were implemented. That is the equivalent of building a fairly large power plant at a cost of some US$ 500 million at least!
This and other energy efficiency strategies would release valuable resources that could be pumped into more productive and sustainable sectors. Energy-conservation programmes worldwide prove that the financial benefits of emphasising energy-efficiency are quite substantial, which is why the Indian Institute of Technology and bulb maker Philips India had been working together for decades to manufacture CFLs domestically. According to one 1990 estimate, a US$7.0 million factory in India could produce 12.3 million bulbs in seven years to save 1,587 megawatts of coal-burning electrical capacity. Therefore, investing in a CFL factory would be several hundred times cheaper than a coal-fired plant. China's annual production of CFLs was over 12 million then. One can imagine what the output is at present.
Using and making fluorescent bulbs being so cost-effective, Bangladesh too would do well to go for more domestic manufacture rather than open up exclusive agencies for CFLs from elsewhere. In addition, there is no reason why existing incandescent light-bulb factories could not be converted to produce CFLs to cater to the domestic market as well as for sale abroad.
While on the subject, it must be mentioned that considerable wastage result from the general apathy and lack of public accountability, not least from the extravagance of a relatively small elite of domestic and commercial users, who parallel the habits of consumers in rich countries. In government-funded educational institutions one often finds empty classrooms with full-speed fans and lights on, even in broad daylight. Neither the students nor the teachers apply their minds to this needless drain of valuable energy. Only the dutiful peon is expected to turn them off. The mindset must change if energy wastage in homes and offices is to be plugged effectively.