Energy Auditing India

Just as an industry needs to know if it is working efficiently, if it is fully utilising its resorses without wastage -- its water and energy, its raw material, its finances, its man power -- so also a country needs to examine if its resources -- raw material, energy and water, finances and man power -- are being used with least wastage. And yes, what is the scope for reducing the wastage and conserving the resources for sustainable development.
So if we decided to ENERGY AUDIT India, how would we proceed?
This article prepared by myself and Mr Dua explores this concept, (it seems I have a slightly incomplete version on my comp... it will be completed shortly)

October 20 2004

“Energy Auditing India”

Introduction

One of the objectives of PCRA is to function as a “Think Tank” to the Govt. of India for future policies and strategies on energy efficiency, petroleum conservation & environment protection. In 2003-04, PCRA through its various brain storming sessions, assessed that just on the lines of Energy Audit in industries, there is need to carry out Energy Audit of the country on a fixed frequency – preferably once in five years coterminus with the plan period. Such a report generated one year before each plan period, shall become a part of plan document.


Energy conservation is a multifaceted activity involving both promotional & regulatory measures. The level of energy efficiency in developing countries is very low. The reasons for this are lack of technical knowledge, non-availability of energy efficient equipment / machinery and energy subsidies. Energy subsidies, particularly those encouraging energy consumption by keeping the energy prices low, result in low efficiency, environmental degradation and increased energy intensity.

As per world energy outlook, India’s Specific Energy Consumption per unit of GDP is higher by 3.7 times that of Japan, 1.4 times that of Asia and 1.5 times that of USA, indicating very high energy wastage and thus potential for substantial energy savings.

In an ideal situation, the Specific Energy Consumption measures how much energy is consumed per unit of GDP growth. In order to analyse the trends in Specific Energy Consumption, it is necessary to separate energy intensity changes into structural & behavioural changes on the one hand and technical energy efficiency changes on the other hand. The Specific Energy Consumption is closely related to economies of scale, process technology, instrumentation & control, structural changes, Govt. policies and end users behaviours. Yet, it is a universal scale for for benchmarking and setting energy efficiency targets.

As can be seen from the table given below, in India, the industrial sector consumes 50% of the total commercial energy but contributes only 25% to the country’s GDP growth. Currently, this sector consumes more than 100 MTOE (million tones of oil equivalent), with a growth rate of about 6% per anum. There is need; therefore, to bring about substantial improvements in the efficiency of energy use in the industrial sector, particularly with the Indian economy opening up to the
global markets. This would enable the Indian industry to compete effectively in the global market and also ensure higher profits. Based on various analyses, a saving potential of around 20% has been identified in the industrial sector without significant investment.

Taking clue from Energy Audit of an Industry

An industrial energy audit helps in energy cost optimisation, pollution control, safety aspects and suggest methods to improve the operating & maintenance practices of the system. It prepares for coping up with the situation of variation in energy cost, energy availability, reliability of energy supply, decision on appropriate energy mix, decision on using improved energy conservation equipments, instrumentations and technology. The energy audit provides necessary information base for overall energy conservation programmes and is a vital link in the entire energy management chain. Energy management in turn can be construed as the process of guiding & controlling energy users so as to yield maximum possible output per unit of energy.

To meet the stated objective of Energy Audit in a holistic manner, the overall process of an industrial energy audit can be placed under three broad categories:

1. Current plant performance
2. Process integration
3. Retraining of manpower

1. Current plant performance

For Energy Auditing of any industrial unit, the 1st step in this direction is sound knowledge of the current performance of major operating departments, process parameters and key equipments. Using this information, technical analysis is performed to check the present efficiency of energy use at each stage and to identify areas where technical improvement might be made. A good understanding of the parameters affecting the manufacturing process is essential. The cost involved for achieving enhanced performance is determined and financial analysis performed to identify cost effective measures.

This involves detailed study of the following function :

Ų Inventory Control
Ų Process details
Ų Plant & machinery
Ų Product range & product quality
Ų Cost & quality of various energy inputs.
Ų Assessing the present energy consumption pattern
Ų Relating energy inputs & production cost
Ų Identifying potential areas of energy losses.
Ų Highlighting wastages in major areas
Ų Fixing of energy savings potential and prioritisation targets


2. Process integration
Process integration always results in energy savings. Process integration is a management /design tool to optimise energy resources in process plant employing conventional technologies. Process intensification involves making fundamental changes to processing technologies to yield improved product quality, throughput and energy efficiency.
Process integration is an established technology for continuous processes in the chemical industry. Pinch analysis is the most common process integration tool. It involves the use of heat exchanger networks to optimise heat energy by linking hot and cold process streams in the most thermodynamically advantageous way. Other tools take into account all energy flows (eg potential energy, pressure and momentum) using a technique known as exergy analysis. Developments are still needed to improve the analysis tools as well as technologies to recover the waste heat. One of the important areas is batch process integration..

3. Retraining of manpower: -

As industries are adopting advanced equipment and process technologies for competitiveness, the available manpower also needs to be imparted new knowledge and skills to operate such technologies, for which retraining is very essential. Retraining of manpower can be done through :

Ų Qualification improvement programmes
Ų Vocational courses/ distance education
Ų Workshops
Ų Training at OEM’s works.

Energy Auditing the Country

For Energy auditing of the county, sector specific approaches covering studies on energy conservation pattern and fixing energy saving potential of major industries like Aluminium, Steel, Textiles, Cement, paper, Fertilizers, petroleum and chemical etc. will be required as a first step.

Process Integration
In the context of “Energy Auditing of the Country” the process integration means synergistic role and action of various actors, which include: -
Ų Government – National & State level
Ų Energy Efficiency Agencies
Ų Equipment manufacturers
Ų Non Government Organisations (NGOs)
Ų Ministries / Departments like
o Planning Commission
o HRD Ministry
o State Technical Education Boards
o Department of Science & Technology
o Ministry of Power
o State Electricity Boards etc.
The other issues concerning, process integration which require action oriented approach are :-

Ų Integrated resources planning
Ų Demand side management
Ų Policy guidelines and concept

Retraining Manpower

For the success of ‘Energy Auditing India’ programme, involvement of people at the grassroots level will be important. This involvement can be ensured by motivation, education and legal liability for compliance. In this regard, the approaches can be as follows.

Ų Vocational training for skill building
Ų Mass education/awareness campaigns on behavioural and attitudinal changes towards energy and environment
Ų Statutory measures to curb inefficient use of energy and illegal practices like fuel adulteration and environmental protection

i) Vocational training for skill building and skill updation

Unfortunately, in India we have excess of qualified engineers but scarcity of competent skilled persons like plumbers, electricians, carpenters etc. Inspite of Government efforts to open Industrial Technical Institutes (ITIs) in every district HQ and other smaller towns, we have not been able to attract sufficient number of candidates to take advantage of these courses. The simple reason for lack of interest in acquiring ITI qualification is that the poor candidates, belonging to a particular category lack the means and basic qualification to enter these courses. For this category, it is much easier to learn the traditional skills from their elders, where no basic qualification is required. Also there is no opportunity for this category to update their skill /knowledge due to lack of basic qualification, resources and learning forums.

PCRA has prepared 60 films on vocational training, where persons with such background can update their knowledge to become more competitive. The list of some of the vocational films, produced by PCRA is given below:-

Ų Carpentry
Ų Domestic Wiring
Ų Masonry
Ų Lathe Machine
Ų Tractor Maintenance
Ų Plumbing
Ų Welding
Ų AC Repair
Ų Motor winding


ii) Behavioural and attitudinal changes through mass media

One of the objectives of PCRA is “To create awareness among masses about the importance, benefits and methods of conserving petroleum products and environment protection by enhancing information sharing and mass awareness.


A number of initiative have been taken by PCRA to bring in attitudinal changes amongst the masses for efficient utilisation of energy.

Ų An infotainment radio programme “Boond Boond Ki Baat” is being aired on every Monday at 9.30 am by AIR FM Gold to spread awareness on the issues concerning energy efficiency & environment protection. The important topics covered so far are
o Energy Act
o Coal Bed Methane
o Green House Gases
o Bio-fuels
o Solid waste management
o CNG
o Fuel cells
o Auto fuel policy and energy efficient lighting system etc.
Ų A very interesting edutainment programme “Khel Khel Mein Badlo Duniya” is being broadcasted on Doordarshan. The programme has been produced by PCRA and DAVP. The main topics covered in the various episodes of this programme are: -
· Wind Energy
· Solar Energy
· Bio-gas
· Vermiculture
· Transportation of petroleum products
· Vehicle population in metros
· Metro Rail
· Energy saving potential in different industries etc.


Ų Regular Press Advertisements are being released by PCRA to achieve maximum reach to the households of the country. Sectoral advertisements on “Oil Conservation” for Transport, Industry, Agriculture and Domestic sectors were released in the leading national/ regional newspapers / magazines all over the country.
Ų PCRA has associated itself with “Lifeline Foundation”, an NGO of Gujrat by sponsoring their unique project, “The Highway Rescue Project” to evacuate highway accident victims within one hour of a distress call. PCRA as a sponsor to this project, displayed its conservation messages on these boards as well as stickers during last year , thereby spreading mass awareness on conservation while associating itself with this noble cause.
Ų Films and TV spots are considered to be one of the most effective communicating media for PCRA’s Education Campaign Programmes Over the years, PCRA has developed several educational films and TV spots on the theme of oil conservation & environment protection in various languages that are being screened regularly during various charted activities of PCRA and sponsored in various TV channels.
Ų Large amount of literature giving useful tips for efficient utilization of energy and petroleum products in various sectors of economy is being printed and distributed by PCRA to educate the masses about the importance of efficient utilisation of energy.


iii) Statutory measures to curb inefficient use of energy ,fuel adulteration & environment protection

In addition to persuasive measures it is necessary to introduce statutory measures to curb inefficient utilization of energy. Energy conservation Act 2001 , which makes Energy Audit


mandatory for certain types of industries is one step in this direction. As has already been stated, energy intensity in our country remains very high in comparison to developed countries. Again it is not true that we have not improved our Energy efficiency at all. The good news is that the Indian consumer has progressively become more efficient in consuming the available energy supply. As per the report from the Planning Commission, Energy intensity of our growth has reduced from 1.55 to 0.74 i.e reduction of 50% during the last three decades. To be globally completive, a demand/ need driven programme is more likely to succeed than a supply driven prograame based on subsidies. Lot is required to be done to improve energy efficiency in the industrial sector.

Fuel adulteration is another area of concern in our country. Although Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has given direction to setup 2 fuel testing laboratories to check fuel adulteration in NCT & NCR, the lack of will in the enforcement agencies is coming in the way of checking fuel adulteration, which results in environment pollution. Strict measures are necessary to be undertaken to check the menace of adulteration.

Energy Supply Scenario –2002-2003
Source Available Quantity
· Coal –370 MMT a. Used for Electricity generation- 285 MMTb. Used directly by industry – MMT
· Electricity –107973 MW a. Thermal- 76607 MWb. Hydro- 26910 MWc. Nuclear –2720 MW
· Petroleum –112 MMT
· Natural gas –97 MM 3
· NCES – MW a. Biomass – MWb. Solar – MWc. Wind – MWd. Tidal - MW



· c.
· d.
·
·
· e.

TABLE- 1




TABLE –2


Sector specific, % energy consumption Vs % contribution to GDP
Sector % Energy Consumption % Contribution to GDP
Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing 5.0 23
Industry 49 25
Service - 50
Training & consultancy - -