Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Dec 20: Orissa government should start using energy-efficient light emitting diode (LED) bulbs to cut down the staggering expenditure on electricity, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the Union ministry of power has suggested.
Ministry officials lauded the state for implementing the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) in Orissa for energy efficiency and called for consolidation of efforts to save energy.
Orissa should emulate the Andhra Pradesh model to save energy and cut its expenditure by replacing conventional bulbs with LED, BEE secretary Bhaskar Jyoti Sarma said Saturday at a a national level event on energy, environment and climate change.
“By replacing around 91,000 streetlights’ sodium bulbs with LEDs, the Vishakhapatnam civic body is saving nearly Rs 27 crore annually. Before installing LEDs, the Vizag municipal corporation was spending Rs 38 crore per annum on electricity bills and maintenance,” Sarma said.
Sarma claimed that if 4.15 million households of Orissa that have electricity connection start using LEDs, the Orissa government can save at least 660 mega watts of electricity annually.
The Puducherry civic body, which has also replaced more than 20,000 conventional streetlight bulbs with LED ones, is saving Rs 7.4 crore annually.
Sarma complimented the Rajasthan government for providing three LED bulbs of 7 watts each, costing around Rs 400, to poor people at Rs 10 with the remaining amount to be charged in a phased manner.
Former director of international civil aviation organisation (ICAO) Vivek Patnaik said green airports are the need of the hour to address environmental concerns. “Taxiway and runway lights have already been replaced with LEDs,” Biju Patnaik International Airport director Sharad Kumar said.
