The Kochi Corporation will consider setting up a permanent exhibition-cum-information desk on energy savings and efficiency as part of the Solar City project.
Addressing a stakeholders’ meeting here on Thursday, Mayor Soumini Jain said the Corporation planned to provide space for the facility. It would be a single-window facility to spread awareness and provide guidance. The Corporation would also take the lead in spreading awareness in schools and colleges about energy efficiency as part of the Solar City programme.
The meeting by representatives of residents’ associations, the Indian Navy, chambers of commerce, Inland Waterways Authority of India, Kochi metro rail authority, energy engineers and auditors.
Energy profile
The theme of the meeting was introduced by Ashis Verma of ICLEI, which is partnering the Solar City programme. He said the energy profile of Kochi city was being revised as the original profile was prepared for the year 2012-13.
Household saving of energy came under sharp focus with energy engineers pointing out that household consumption accounted for a large chunk of the total energy consumption. Residents’ associations could play a major role in spreading awareness, it was pointed out.
Even a walk-through audit of industrial units could provide a breatkthrough in energy efficiency in industrial units, said one of the energy auditors, who also pointed out that not only electricity, but production from sources like biomass should be considered and taken up seriously.
Home energy audits
The need for home energy audits was important and changing the behavioural patterns of people could help in achieving the objective of reducing energy consumption and saving power. The need for bicycle paths with the introduction of the Kochi metro system was also highlighted during the meeting.
The Mayor, responding to a suggestion, said that the Corporation would have practical difficulty in centrally procuring equipment needed for solar energy production. It was suggested that central procurement would reduce the price of solar panels as one of the participants pointed out that household solar panel installations had turned out to be too costly.