Energy in India

Ravi Datt sits behind the old steering wheel of his bus and steers his passengers through India's traffic - past cars, rickshaws and the occasional ox cart. He is being watched. His supervisor, Umed Singh Chouhan, sits beside him and takes notes. Chouhan observes how Datt drives and whether he wastes gas by overtaxing the motor. This is because Datt is a participant in a seminar on energy-efficient driving.

The seminar is being coordinated by the Petroleum Conservation Association. It is really making a difference for the seminar participants. Many of them never knew that they could save gas and thereby money while driving.

"I taught myself how to drive," Datt said. "As such, I did not know how to drive in an energy-efficient manner." But with the unbelievably high price of gas in recent years, driving efficiently is increasingly important, he said.

No economic growth without energy

The Indian government has also recognized the necessity of using available energy sparingly. As a result, the Office for Energy Efficiency BEE was founded in 2002 to address energy issues.

BEE helps large corporations to reduce their energy costs, and also advises farm workers. The agency seeks to make each polluter aware of the importance of conserving energy, as well.

Energy efficiency sounds complicated, but it is really very simple, said BEE's Saroubh Kumar. He explains that each person could start with small things, like using energy-saving lights instead of regular light bulbs or using newer energy-saving devices.

In order to promote these ideas, BEE began putting stickers on items like refrigerators or air conditioners sold in electronics shops. The stickers display between one and five stars, where one star means that the device uses a lot of energy, and five mean that its energy use is optimal.

Saving energy around the house

The government hopes awareness of energy issues will become second nature to Indian citizens. But it does not want to stop there. The government and research institutes are attempting to extend these ideas further.

Energy-saving houses, for example, are being advertised and include new and unusual technologies that reduce energy consumption. The prototype of such a house has been built a short distance outside of India's capital, New Delhi. Architects and engineers here came up with an especially environmentally-friendly variation on an air conditioner: the ground air tunnel. In the wall of the basement, there is a hole that is at least a square meter in size. The end of a tunnel protrudes from this hole into the room.

"The tunnel is 75 meters long and lies four meters under the ground," said Tanmei Sharma, who leads visitors through the energy saving house. "Our idea centers on the fact that the average temperature remains constant throughout the year at this level underground."

Sharma said it didn't matter whether it was 118 degrees in the summer or 50 to 60 degrees in the winter. The average temperature underground remained at 77 degrees. According to Sharma, the air blows into the various rooms of the house throughout the entire year. In the winter, the air serves to heat the house, and in the summer, it cools the house.

Traditional role models

However, this tunnel does not strike all environmental experts as innovative. Chander Busham of the Center for Science and Technology in New Delhi said that people have already for a long time paid attention to building houses that do not become overheated in the summer.

Furthermore, Busham said that most traditionally built homes come out better in terms of energy use than the new buildings equipped with modern technology. Instead of relying solely on new ideas and technologies to achieve energy efficiency, he said traditional knowledge and approaches should be considered.

Perhaps a lasting solution can be found by combining tradition and innovation.

Author: R.S. Yadav/Silke Ballweg
Editor: Sabina Casagrande