Assessment of Carbon-di-Oxide Emission Mitigation Potential through Implementation of Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation Measures in Power Sector of West Bengal

Abstract

Power is the basic need and key driver for economic growth and poverty alleviation as per capita energy consumption as an index for standard of living. In India, the important challenge is that the supply of electricity should be reliable with quality and available at affordable price. Power sector in India is growing at the rate of 8% per annum1 which, at least, if not more, has been reported to be necessary to achieve GDP growth rate of 8%. Indian Power Ministry, having the target of ‘Power for all by 2012’2, calls for reliable and quality power for all with optimal power cost of commercially viable power industry. With the increase of industrialization, the Indian government is struggling to meet the growing electricity demand. Though new renewable energy source is ranked fourth with an installed capacity of around 13.2 GW, power generation is still dominated by coal (78.5 GW)3. In the given scenario, where a country faced power shortage of 11% and pick demand shortage about 14% [Ministry of Power, Government of India (2009)], and almost half of the electricity produced does not reach the consumer and where more than 70% of the petroleum product demand is met by import, conservation of energy can lead to vital gains. In the present scenario, the issue of sustainability has been brought to the forefront, particularly because of increasing consumption of fossil-fuels, ever rising fuel import bill, India's commitment to reduce carbon intensity despite gigantic transmission and distribution loss of power. The present paper reviews the opportunity of carbon emission mitigation through implementation of Energy Efficiency measures in the Power Sector of West Bengal which also bring forward the collateral benefits such as sustainability in energy and economy, control of fuel consumption, reduction of import bill and reduction of losses in transmission and distribution. Some cases have been selected to represent scenario of generation and T&D loss separately. The findings of the selected cases are suitably extrapolated to arrive at recommendation and conclusion with regard to assessment and achievement of carbon emission mitigation potential of the power sector in the state of West Bengal.