Haryana embraces CFL

An interestin article on Infochange India:

Under a concerted power-conservation drive by the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) (Southern Haryana Power Distribution Board) that offered one CFL free with every CFL sold, in a tie-up with the manufacturer, village after village in the state is switching to CFL.

In May this year, the village of Binola in Gurgaon on the Delhi-Jaipur highway became India's first village to be lit entirely by CFL... A few months later, Sirsa earned the distinction of becoming India?s first and only 100% CFL-electrified district. The result: consumers now enjoy major savings on their monthly bills, and once-harried electricity board officials are smiling. What's more, the switchover has attracted droves of 'CFL tourists' to the village!

Apart from consumers saving on their bills there has been a remarkable 'macro effect'. In the two transformers, the peak load has come down from 115 amperes to 70 amperes. And there is a straight reduction in load of nearly 50%. Earlier the transoformers would crash every second day. Now, no such problems.

If Haryana could do it, why not other Electricity Boards? And why doesn't a political party come forward and embrace the cause??

On a related note, HSBC is offering its customers who opt for e-statements an unusual gift: 'a free CFL bulb'

Says HSBC: When you use less energy at home, you reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and help protect our environment from the risks of global climate change. In an effort to help you save energy which in turn will save money on your electricity bill, we are gifting you with a CFL bulb. So, go on, build a healthier environment while you save some precious money!

As they say, neki aur poocch poocch? You would also save Rs 325 over the life of your CFL bulb, which is 5 times that of an ordinary bulb.

Carbon credits: beyond industry

Much is being written about carbon credits being traded by industry. But what about individuals? An interesting idea was put forth by UK's Environment minister some time ago.

The Guardian reports: Every citizen would be issued with a carbon "credit card" - to be swiped every time they bought petrol, paid an energy utility bill or booked an airline ticket - under a nationwide carbon rationing scheme that could come into operation within five years, according to a feasibility study commissioned by the environment secretary, David Miliband.

Mr Miliband said the idea of individual carbon allowances had "a simplicity and beauty that would reward carbon thrift". He acknowledged the proposal faced technical difficulties, but said ministers needed to seek ways of overcoming them.

... Under the scheme, everybody would be given an annual allowance of the carbon they could expend on a range of products, probably food, energy and travel. If they wanted to use more carbon, they would be able to buy it from somebody else. And they could sell any surplus.

The New Scientist environment blog asked readers to respond to the idea and several of them pointed out that it would not solve the problem.

An anonymous commenter noted: This is a good idea on the surface, but presumes that somebody will be using less than their carbon limit, and will therefore have credits to sell. Most people in the first world at least, have huge carbon footprints, and so will all be over the neutral limit.

Even if the first world bother to buy the credits from the third world, what will the third world do with their new found wealth? Probably start buying the same stuff that makes the first-world's carbon footprint so large in the first place, cars and the like. Ultimately the problem needs to be resolved by smarter green technology rather than shuffled somewhere else.

OK. So we are back to square zero. Any ideas?