Energy fixing

Bureau of Energy Efficiency says it is likely to meet Plan target. Experts say claims far from truth

Energy efficiency is often called the low hanging fruit of climate change. Each unit of electricity saved is considered a unit less generated, which means less greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Under the 11th Five Year Plan, programmes promoting energy efficiency aim to save five per cent of energy consumption, or avoiding 10,000 MW addition in generation capacity.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in April claimed it is most likely to meet the Plan target since the avoided generation capacity recorded till December 2010 was 7,415 MW, equivalent to the generation capacity of two proposed ultra mega power plants in India (about 4,000 MW each). But experts say a closer look at the figure shows the actual saving is, in fact, much less.

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