Centre to develop policy for energy efficient equipment

Kolkata: The Centre is all set to develop a policy enabling the electronic equipment manufacturers to adopt the most advanced technology to produce energy efficient equipment.

This is one of the most important steps towards protecting the environment, said Abhay Bakre, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency under the Ministry of power.

He was speaking at the sideline of the Annual Environment and Energy Conclave organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry at a city hotel on Thursday.

"We are developing policy to have more energy efficient and advanced equipment for the consumers. The main purpose of the move is to produce better cooling machines. There has been a significant hike in the procurement of cooling machines in the country," Bakre said.

He also said the number of various cooling machines used in households and commercial buildings will soon go up in the country. According to an estimate, the number will be doubled by 2030. Around 60 lakh air-conditioning machines were sold for household purposes across the country in a year and the number may soon go up to 1.5 crore due to huge demands of such machines in the market.

Bakre has stressed on the importance of constructing energy efficient building so that Air-conditioning machines consume minimum energy.

The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2017 has already been chalked out by the Union power ministry that would be implemented for commercial purpose throughout the country. The method of bringing residential buildings under this new policy is already in the process. "It is ultimately up to the respective state governments whether they would implement the Energy Conservation Building Code. There must be some standards which the electronic equipment manufacturers must abide by. Using of advanced technology-based equipment will reduce the demands of energy. There are some states who have adopted the ECBC 2017," Bakre maintained. While responding to media questions, he said there has already been a major shift in the industry where AC machines have become more advanced and energy efficient.

For example, due to the latest innovations, AC machines which were earlier getting 4-star category tags are now getting 1-star tag. A rating in this regard was done in January this year, while another assessment will be done towards the end of 2020.