Energy conservation refers to efforts made to reduce energy consumption. Energy conservation can be achieved through increased efficient energy use, in conjunction with decreased energy consumption and/or reduced consumption from conventional energy sources.Energy conservation is the practice of decreasing the quantity of energy used. It may be achieved through efficient energy use, in which case energy use is decreased while achieving a similar outcome, or by reduced consumption of energy services. Energy conservation may result in increase of financial capital, environmental value, national security, personal security, and human comfort. Individuals and organizations that are direct consumers of energy may want to conserve energy in order to reduce energy costs and promote economic security. Industrial and commercial users may want to increase efficiency and thus maximize profit. Energy conservation is the reduction of quantity of energy used. Energy conservation supports the eco friendly lifestyle by providing energy, which saves your money and at the same time saves the earth. When you decrease the amount of energy you use you automatically make efforts to reduce increasing global warming. The various ways in which Energy Conservation can be done are:
a. By using Renewable Energy Sources Renewable energy flows involve natural phenomena such as sunlight, wind, tides, plant growth, and geothermal heat. Renewable energy is derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly. In its various forms, it derives directly from the sun, or from heat generated deep within the earth. Included in the definition is electricity and heat generated from solar, wind, ocean, hydropower, biomass, geothermal resources, and biofuels and hydrogen derived from renewable resources.
Renewable energy replaces conventional fuels in four distinct areas: electricity generation, hot water/space heating, motor fuels, and rural (off-grid) energy services
b. By cogeneration Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat. All thermal power plants emit a certain amount of heat during electricity generation. This can be released into the natural environment through cooling towers, flue gas, or by other means. By contrast, Cogeneration captures some or all of the by-product heat for heating purposes, either very close to the plant, or especially in factories as hot water input for various other processes.
c. By utilizing Energy Efficient Devices Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature.
Installing fluorescent lights or natural skylights reduces the amount of energy required to attain the same level of illumination compared to using traditional incandescent light bulbs. Compact fluorescent lights use two-thirds less energy and may last 6 to 10 times longer than incandescent lights. Improvements in energy efficiency are most often achieved by adopting a more efficient technology or production process. There are various different motivations to improve energy efficiency. Reducing energy use reduces energy costs and may result in a financial cost saving to consumers if the energy savings offset any additional costs of implementing an energy efficient technology. Reducing energy use is also seen as a key solution to the problem of reducing emissions.
d. By designing Green Building Green building refers to a structure and using process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from sitting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This requires close cooperation of the design team, the architects, the engineers, and the client at all project stages. The Green Building practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort.
Although new technologies are constantly being developed to complement current practices in creating greener structures, the common objective is that green buildings are designed to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by: - Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources - Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity - Reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation
e. BY using Bio Fuel / Hybrid Vehicles Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well as solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases. Although fossil fuels have their origin in ancient carbon fixation, they are not considered biofuels by the generally accepted definition because they contain carbon that has been "out" of the carbon cycle for a very long time. Biofuels are gaining increased public and scientific attention, driven by factors such as oil price hikes, the need for increased energy security, concern over greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, and support from government subsidies.
Bio ethanol is an alcohol made by fermentation, mostly from carbohydrates produced in sugar or starch crops such as corn or sugarcane. Cellulosic biomass, derived from non-food sources such as trees and grasses, is also being developed as a feedstock for ethanol production. Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions. Bioethanol is widely used in the USA and in Brazil.
Current plant design does not provide for converting the lignin portion of plant raw materials to fuel components by fermentation.
onal security, personal security, and human comfort. Individuals and organizations that are direct consumers of energy may want to conserve energy in order to reduce energy costs and promote economic security. Industrial and commercial users may want to increase efficiency and thus maximize profit.
Energy conservation is the reduction of quantity of energy used. Energy conservation supports the eco friendly lifestyle by providing energy, which saves your money and at the same time saves the earth. When you decrease the amount of energy you use you automatically make efforts to reduce increasing global warming.
Need of Energy Conservation
The increasing demand for power has led to considerable fossil fuels burning which has in turn had an adverse impact on environment. In this context, efficient use of energy and its conservation is of paramount importance. It has been estimated that nearly 25,000 MW can be saved by implementing end-use energy efficiency and demand side management measures through out India. Efficient use of energy and its conservation assumes even greater importance in view of the fact that one unit of energy saved at the consumption level reduces the need for fresh capacity creation by 2 times to 2.5 times. Further, such saving through efficient use of energy can be achieved at less than one-fifth the cost of fresh capacity creation. Energy efficiency would, therefore, significantly supplement our efforts to meet power requirement, apart from reducing fossil fuel consumption.
The economic development of a country is often closely linked to its consumption of energy. Although India ranks sixth in the world as far as total energy consumption is concerned, it still needs much more energy to keep pace with its development objectives. India’s projected economic growth rate is slated at 7.4per cent during the period 1997-2012. This would necessitate commensurate growth in the requirement of commercial energy, most of which is expected to be from fossil fuels and electricity.
India’s proven coal reserves may last for more than 200 years, but the limited known oil and natural gas reserves may last only 18 years to 26 years, which is a cause of concern. The continued trend of increasing supply side capacity, operational efficiency improvements of existing power generating stations, reduction of losses in transmission and distribution, end-use efficiency and renewable technologies.
The policy goals and concepts would have to be shifted from “energy conservation” to “energy efficiency”, and from “energy inputs” to the “effectiveness of energy use” and “energy services”. Creation of new power generation capacity is costly and necessitates long gestation period whereas energy efficiency activities can make available additional power at comparatively low investments within a short period of time.
share of petroleum fuels in the consumption of commercial energy is bound to lead to more dependence on imports and energy insecurity.
India’s energy intensity per unit of GDP is higher as compared to Japan, U.S.A. and Asia by 3.7 times, 1.55 times and 1.47 times respectively. This indicates inefficient use of energy but also substantial scope for energy savings. The increasing global trade liberalisation and growing global competition have made productivity improvement, including energy cost reduction, an important benchmark for economic success. Therefore, a paradigm shift in our approach to energy policy issues is needed – a shift from a supply dominated one to an integrated approach. This integrated approach would have to incorporate a judicial mix of investment in the