The Hindu Business Line : GIS mapping of energy-intensive industries in the works

Data link
Interface with Google Earth proposed.
Mapping helps generate specific info on where load centres are located.
Industry uses about 50% of total commercial energy; saving potential estimated at 25%.

New Delhi June 25 In a bid to ensure better targeting of its energy conservation efforts, the Centre is planning to deploy a Geographic Information System-based mapping of `energy-intensive' industries and large buildings across the country.

The mapping tool, which is in the works, is proposed to be interfaced with Google Earth to offer a spatial distribution of the energy-intensive industrial consumers and ensure geographically-referenced data generation for beefing up the energy conservation effort.

"The idea is to see if energy conservation measures such as efficiency norms issued for restricting consumption in industries and the recently launched building codes are being targeted rightly and whether the implementation of these steps is showing results in case of specific designated users. The GIS system would enable generation of information for these users with specific reference to where the load centres are located," a Power Ministry official said.

GIS is a system for capturing, storing, analysing and managing data and associated attributes that are spatially referenced to the earth.

In the Act

Under the provisions of the Energy Conservation Act 2001, a total of around 10,000 energy intensive industries and large buildings are to be mapped into a GIS system to enable data verification and compliance of energy conservation measures, officials said.

The list of `energy intensive industries' that would be targeted in the first phase include the aluminium sector, fertilizers, iron and steel, cement, pulp and paper, sugar, textile, chemicals and the railways network.

The Government, in March this year, notified nine of these industries, where large energy users (units having connected load of 5 MW or energy consumption of 30,000 tonnes of oil equivalent per year) would be targeted.

According to The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the industrial sector uses about 50 per cent of the total commercial energy available in the country, where energy savings potential is estimated to be as high as 25 per cent.

Strategy needs

According to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, the twin-pronged energy management strategy being deployed in case of the designated energy-intensive industries is promoting conservation and systemic efficiency.

"This exercise requires the establishment of a system of collection, analysis, and reporting on the organisation's energy consumption and costs. Conservation initiatives including waste heat recovery systems, cogeneration, and the utilisation of alternative sources of energy are also important for the conservation of energy," a Government official said.

For instance, according to BEE estimates, of the total electricity consumed in the industrial sector, electric motors account for approximately 70 per cent of consumption. Electricity use in these motors can be brought down if the cooling is improved along with operating controls at the rated voltage, besides regular maintenance.

New sources

Also, moving from existing sources of energy to the new renewable sources — as in the case of the sugar industry, where bagasse is being used to generate power in a large number of sugar mills — would improve the situation, officials said.

Introduction of new technologies with state-of-the-art machines and new processes, which will help in saving energy, also play a crucial role. The use of the dry process, as against the wet process, in the cement industry and the electric arc furnace versus the conventional method of steel production are proven examples, officials said.