“Spare a watt. Save a Lot. It takes energy to produce Energy”
Post industrial revolution, energy is one of the quintessential need for
human existence. The demand for energy has risen into many folds to
meet the requirement of the present population of 130 billion in the
world. Its usage spreads across various sectors like industry,
commercial & public service, residential, transport, etc., which are
among the top consumers of the generated electricity. As per the latest
statistics provided by IEA, the total power generated in the world is
approximately 25,500 TWh in which the contribution of fossil fuels is
approximately 65% of the total generation while the generation
through renewable sources is 30%. With raising population and
urbanisation, the demand for energy also increases. This causes
alarming rise in global warming challenges and carbon emission into
the atmosphere. Increasing construction activities and cooling
requirements have led to the development of modern low energy
efficient strategies to provide thermal comfort in dwelling units.
Some
technologies like evaporative cooling, solar air conditioning, radiant
cooling, ground-source heat pumps, tri-generation systems, adiabatic
cooling systems, etc. have proved to reduce energy consumption
substantially. In order to reduce adverse effects globally (ozone
depletion, increasing carbon emission and climate change issues) due
to usage of refrigerants (CFC, HFC, HCFC), Ozone Depleting
Substances (ODS), fossil fuels & non-renewable energy, international
communities have joined together (attributed as the successful
movement) to emphasise (a) power generation through renewable
sources (b) phasing out of ozone depletion substances (c) alternative
thermal comfort systems (c) green building and low embodied energy
materials for construction. Other factors attributed to power
transmission, distribution & storage losses have also been minimised
substantially in the recent years enhancing the range of application.
These transformations have potential to meet goals of sustainable
development and meet future energy generation and consumption
demand. This brings up urban energy transformation.
India’s population is approximately 130 crore and is the 3rd largest
producer of electricity after China and USA. India mainly relies on
thermal power plants for its energy generation. Presently, out of 1,400
TWh generated, approximately 78% of the total power generated is
from fossil fuels and the contribution of Renewable Energy Sources
(RES) is approximately 16%.
Out of various service sectors,
commercial service, public service and residential sector consume the
most electricity generated in the country, which is about 35-40% of
the total generation. In this sector, the major demand is for providing
human thermal comfort (HTC) (40-45%) and visual comfort &
lighting (30-35%). It is estimated that by 2050, 60% of the total land
will be constructed adding approximately 60 billion square meters of
Built Up Area (BUA). This will raise the demand for power by 400%.
Until 2022 it is estimated that, the need for energy will raise annually
by 7.5% (CAGR). So the need for low energy and passive cooling
technique should be prioritised.
India has 5 different climatic zones as classified under Indian
Meteorological Department (IMD) and these conditions demand
different HTC strategies. In India, it is found that, the procurement of
AC’s is estimated to be at 8% of the total houses through organized
sectors.
The estimation of sales of coolers (direct evaporative cooler
(DEC)) from the organised sector which is about 60% of the total
market is approximately the same. The trend in consumption also has
been surveyed. The DEC run during peak summer period (April-mid
June) and during off summer (mid-June – Aug) AC’s run the most.
This trend in usage pattern apart from scientific study (climatology
and psychrometrics) about different strategy to provide HTC, also
provides an insight and potential for alternative low energy cooling
strategy. The most efficient air conditioning units in the markets
possess 0.28 kW/kW and low energy comfort systems possess atleast
0.23kW/kW. The additional savings in energy can be catered to
deficient sectors for improving per capita energy consumption (PEC).
This growth in PEC will lead to growth in economy and the
decreasing trend in energy intensity can be maintained.
Refrigerants used in the air-conditioning industry are among the
contributors for increase in green-house gases (GHG’s) in the
atmosphere and certain refrigerants have also been classified under
Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS). Commonly used refrigerant
based on the Vapour Compression Refrigeration (VCR) cycle are
either of Chloroflouro carbon’s (CFC’s), Hydroflouro carbons’s
(HFC’s) or Hydroflourochloro carbon’s (HCFC’s). Montreal protocol,
is one such agreement that has brought many countries together to
protect ozone layer by phasing out the production of substance, that
are responsible for depletion of ozone layer. So in the near future, an
alternative refrigerant has to be resourced for running our existing air
conditioning systems.And in parallel, the global warming potential of
the refrigerant has to be reduced. OR low energy comfort strategy
integrated with state of the art electronics & communication and
computer coding should be brought in to play a pivotal role in
mitigating usage of higher and low cost global warming potential
substances.
At Integrative Design Solutions Pvt Ltd, we engineers and architects
work in synergy to bring about the quintessential changes focussing
on the requirements for the future. The Low Energy Thermal Comfort
strategy (LETs) is one such area, where we provide HTC solution
with minimal/nil interference of refrigerant. The heart lies in heat
transfer and the intelligent technology integration we have carried out
in our systems. It regulates the operations for all climatic conditions
throughout the year to provide HTC. We have made representations at
national level competitions with our system and have created
milestones setting new targets for betterment of the system. Modern
technology, design and simulation tools are utilised to analyse the
optimal performance of the product which indeed promises to reduce
energy consumption and also provide adequate thermal comfort.
Comments (0)
Oops! No Comments Found 😔