Energy Saving News
India's Energy Credit Trading Plan To Curb Climate Change
Seeking to curb greenhouse gas emissions, India - the world’s 4th-largest polluter - plans to start a market to trade energy saving credits that may reach 740 billion rupees ($16 billion) in 5 years.
The Director General of The Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ajay Mathur, explains: "Businesses that exceed energy efficiency targets will be awarded credits that can be traded on power exchanges with companies that fail to meet the goals."
Ian Wrigley, Council Member of the Energy Saving Association (ESA) welcomes this initiative: "Adopting energy efficiency in the workplace is such a powerful way of combating climate change, reducing carbon emissions and preserving the environment. By saving energy with systems that lower energy consumption, businesses reduce their carbon footprint and enhance their profits by reducing energy bills".
The exchange-traded system could help India reach its target of reducing carbon intensity, or the amount of CO2 released per unit of gross domestic product (GDP), by as much as 25% from 2005 levels by 2020.
“We’ll start to see a lot more domestic and bilateral trading of this sort pick up because as we’ve seen [in Copenhagen], it’s incredibly difficult and time-consuming to implement a global, binding system,” said Ishani Chattopadhyay, chief executive officer and founder of Arctic Holdings Ltd.
Chattopadhyay pointed out that Australia has introduced energy savings certificates at the state level, and that the U.K., France, Italy and some U.S. states have started similar programs, according to the Washington, D.C.-based World Resources Institute.
The Indian government expects to set energy efficiency targets for companies by the end of March 2010, says Mathur.
India unveiled a plan in April aimed at saving the equivalent of 23 million metric tons of oil by 2015 by encouraging power-intensive industries and businesses to reduce their consumption through energy efficiency measures.
The government will reimburse up to 50% of unpaid bank loans given to companies that seek to invest in energy efficiency projects, Mathur said in a recent interview. He also added that the energy efficiency bureau is talking to State Bank of India, the nation’s biggest lender, HSBC Holdings Plc and PTC India Ltd. to provide loans for energy efficiency projects.
Thursday 14th January 2010
