Energy efficiency: A change in attitudes needed
Photo: Amran Hossain
Efficiency has many components. One of the main components has to do with public awareness. The lack of awareness is everywhere. Since consumers are paying Tk.450 for a gas burner does not entitle the average consumer to keep the stove on 24 hours a day to save money on a box of matches. Instances such as this can be found ten-a-penny. In the public sector, for example, there are 250 air coolers installed in Dhaka University, which run regardless of whether there are people in the room or not. The same could be said for most other government buildings across the country. This is the scenario that is prevalent across the land: in private sector, and at apartment blocks. Apartment blocks have become a major headache since most modern apartment blocks are now sporting energy-hungry appliances.
Only over the last few years have consumers begun to feel the pinch of rising electricity bills as the state finds itself unable to sustain high rates of subsidies. The rationalisation in energy pricing has caught up with us as today's dependency on oil-fired power generation dictates realistic pricing adjustments being introduced at a hitherto unknown pace. While demand for power continues to climb at a higher rate than production, it becomes imperative to delve into ways whereby we can stop energy wastage. Decades of low energy prices coupled with little or no incentive to replace old power plants have helped to land us in this mess. We are now at a critical juncture. With less than half the population having access to electricity and the other having erratic supply of electricity, productive sectors ranging from agriculture to industry are bearing the brunt of the crunch.
This brings us back to the subject of energy efficiency at every level of consumption. Driving home the message that energy is not free to waste requires massive awareness campaigns that must be initiated by the government. This goes far beyond the mere issuing of public service statements and printing of posters. As pointed out by some energy experts, the education sector can play a crucial role in educating tomorrow's consumers on the need for energy conservation. Teachers and students can be trained to check their daily electric consumption and tailor-made courses can be arranged to understand the correlation between electricity consumption and cost of production.
For its part, the government can encourage the growth of energy efficient commodities by reducing taxes on specific items to encourage consumers to buy greener products like energy efficient lighting (fluorescent tube lights, energy saving lamps etc.). The Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute can play the role of watchdog ensuring that imported products conform to stated specifications and performance. For the rural populace, the large and vibrant NGO sector can come up with easy term loans to promote energy efficient appliances help raise awareness at grassroots level about how to save energy. Looking beyond awareness raising, policy level initiatives are required to introduce architectural designs with energy saving systems. For instance, the use of automatic energy conservation devices like room occupancy sensors that automatically detect the number of people present and adjust cooling with the use of "building automation system." While estimates vary as to how much power could be conserved through such measures, even if we were to estimate a conservative 15% saving (peak energy demand estimated at 7,300MW), this translates into nearly 1,100 megawatts of additional energy that could be diverted to energy-starved industry. At present, the country possesses 6,200MW to 6,500MW de-rated generation capacity. So, if we save an estimated 15%, we would not be requiring any new investment for any additional generation capacity.
When fuel is cheap, there is no compulsion to save. To put it in another manner, the commodity price (natural gas or power) is sold cheaper than the cost of production, and then inevitably there will be wastage. The real price of generating electricity and reduction in subsidies are two important elements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) billion dollar loan given to Bangladesh. As pointed out by the new managing director of IMF, Christine Lagarde, rational pricing of energy has become a key component of the organisation's new approach. The new way of thinking evolves from the rationale that governments around the world "need to target spending to the people who need it most -- by moving away from universal price subsidies, especially on energy, and moving toward effective and targeted social programmes such as conditional cash transfers. As a good example, Iran slashed its enormous energy subsidies and compensated the population with cash transfers. Mozambique is also phasing out poorly-targeted fuel subsidies and using the savings to improve social protection. It is easy to point the finger at the government for the pains that are being driven home on the general populace due to largely an unsustainable subsidy regime. It is however much more difficult to initiate changes in our lifestyles and give up all those luxuries we have to take for granted. But at the end of the day, everyone must pitch in.
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