Sleeping Computer: Energy Aware User - II

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: If you dont know what you are doing don't edit the registry. Also Urjas does not make any safety claims about any links and/or software listed here or otherwise. Please ensure compliance with your company's IT policies before proceeding

Last time we saw how activating the sleep mode can save up to 70% of computer's wasted power consumption in non IT companies. 

However, when it comes to the real deal the best option is to shutdown the systems overnight. This method is mostly not neglected to save the boot-up time or lack of knowledge rather the most common reason to avoid shutdown is losing the workspace session. The open files ... the half edited excel sheets ... the open browser tabs with the tips etc. Its exactly for this requirement that the "hibernate mode" exists. In terms of power saving the hibernate mode is as good as shutdown. All the data is written to the harddisk and the computer is turned off. But the entire session is saved as a temporary file and loaded back so that you find the computer exactly as you left it ... No loss of productivity nor energy ... win - win for all.

And if you  find that the hibernate mode is not active for you ... here is a link that can help. But as stated earlier it is best to ask the IT Team to take on from here to ensure compliance with your company's policy

Stand by consumption of monitors and desktops can also add up to a formidable amount if a large number of computers are available. As per numbers from Berkeley National Laboratory, a single desktop consumes on an average 2.84W even when turned off. One of the good practices in India is to use have switches next to sockets which allow to completely switch off appliances removing any standby consumption. It would be a good idea to continue with it and not adapt to the western practice of using switch free sockets.

The last and the most interesting part of computer shutdown EMO is that you not only save the computer's energy ... but by turning them off, the temperature rise is avoided and we save on the AC energy consumption as well. Now that you have risen to become an Energy Management Warrior, next time make sure that the computer sleeps.

Sleeping Computer: Energy Aware User - I

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: If you dont know what you are doing don't edit the registry. Also Urjas does not make any safety claims about any links and/or software listed here or otherwise. Please ensure compliance with your company's IT policies before proceeding

It is an established fact that energy management is the most effective method to save energy with minimal investments if any.

Putting computers to sleep is a very commonly unused energy management opportunity (EMO). Still  more useful & unused EMO is switching off computers overnight. While these facts have been around for quite some time now we will look into some of the common issues faced while implementing these EMO and their solutions.

First, most people dont know how to activate power management features. It is recommended to put the computer to sleep after an inactivity period of 10 mins and this Energy Star website beautifully list down the steps for different types of OS users.

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=power_mgt.pr_power_mgt_users

It is quite inspirational to know that by putting laptops to sleep state, the consumption can fall down to just 3% from 60W to 2W. In businesses audited by Urjas, that could have saved up to 70% of the companies computer energy consumption (non IT Segment) and would definitely be worth an effort saving the environment if not lots of money.

However, another common issue faced is that the sleep mode is disabled/greyed out in older XP systems. This happens mostly due to conflicting video or other hardware drivers. The best solution is to ask your IT support to fix the driver. The second best thing is to edit registry setting to enable sleep mode and if you find that daunting enough ... this method on the forum shows a shortcut. 

Make sure you activate the your computer's power management options and unrelash the Energy Management Warrior inside you.

Railways forms company to handle green power biz

According to reports, the Indian Railways has formed a new entity — Renewable Energy Management Company — to handle its renewable energy portfolio.

The Railways has an installed capacity of 5 MW of solar and 10.5 MW of wind power. Plans are afoot to install another 8 MW of solar power, according to Anil Kumar Saxena, Additional Director-General, Indian Railways.

Given its size and presence across the country, the Railways has been asked by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to evaluate the potential of solar power generation, sources said. This, according to the Ministry, will help save on power consumption and help it get the electricity at stable rates over the next 25 years.

The Indian Railways spent Rs 24,130 crore on fuel in FY12. This includes over Rs 3 crore for coal, Rs 10,628 crore for diesel (2.71 million Kilo litres) and about Rs 13,500 crore on power bills for locos, suburban locals and other needs.

Locos and EMU services alone consume 12,762 million units. The Railways still burn 1,000 tonnes of coal a year to run steam locomotives on some sections in the Southern and the Northeast Frontier Railway.

Estimates indicate that there is potential to harness 193 MW of solar power alone through rooftop application on rail land and buildings.

The Ministry also wants the Railways to participate in the bidding of 750 MW grid-connected projects under the National Solar Mission, slated to come up shortly.

The sources said tenders for installation of solar units at 200 stations and 21 office-buildings are in progress. The Railways will also float bids for setting up solar units at 1,000 level-crossings. It will identify about 10 locations to install off-grid solar thermal systems for use in cooking and laundry.

A detailed project report for this will be sought from consultants in a couple of months. Going forward, workshops, manufacturing facilities and training centres may also be equipped with solar and solar thermal plants.

Bengal says no to nuclear energy, yes to solar power

According to reports, the West Bengal government isn't interested in nuclear plants and it is instead all set to introduce rooftop solar power schemes to increase its renewable energy supply, a minister said Friday.

“The state government has opposed to setting up nuclear energy plants. Many other countries, like Germany, are phasing out nuclear plants. Nuclear energy is not risk-free and it has not been opted for by the state government,” said state Power and Non-Conventional Energy Sources Minister Manish Gupta.

He was speaking at the ‘Energy Sustainability Conclave 2013 : Energy Security – Empowering the Energy Future’, organised here by the Bengal Chamber.

“We need to make bold moves in renewable energy. We are trying to launch very large solar rooftop schemes in all the cities and going for more regulations to bring a solar power in new buildings, commercial buildings, complexes and industries. In that way we hope that once it catches on we can provide subsidies,” said Gupta.

Downplaying the lag in the growth in renewable energy production in the state as compared to states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Gupta said “renewable energy is an essential solution but a high cost solution”.

“The share of renewable energy will be four to six percent from the total energy mix in 2020 in India. This is not a very encouraging forecast that has been done by the Planning Commission,” he said.

PowerGrid ups 12th Plan capex by 10-15%; to sell 15% via OFS

According to reports, PowerGrid Corporation has decided to revise upwards its capital expenditure for the 12th Plan period (2012-17) by 10-12 percent to meet expansion plans, a top official said.

“We are constantly expanding our reach and undertaking new projects. We had earlier estimated a capex of Rs 1 trillion during the 12th Plan (2012-17). But with the kind of projects that we are pursuing, we think we will need more funds,” PowerGrid Chairman and Managing Director R N Nayak told reporters here today.

He said the company plans to increase its capex plans by 10-12 percent.

“Earlier, we had planned a capex of Rs 20,000 crore per annum for five years, which would cater to the needs of projects or schemes to the tune of Rs 1 trillion over the five -year period. However, we are anticipating projects to the tune of Rs 1.1 trillion now. To meet the capital expenditure for projects of this volume, we will need more funds.”

Accordingly, it has anticipated a capex of Rs 20,037 crore for FY13, Rs 22,150 crore for FY14, Rs 22,450 crore for FY15, Rs 22,500 crore for FY16 and Rs 22,550 crore in FY17.

“The additional capex will be required for various tariff-based bidding projects that we plan to undertake. Besides, it will be required for undertaking projects assigned by the Government, green energy corridors, intra-state projects and transnational interconnections,” Nayak said.

The PSU will sell 15 percent stake through follow-on public offer (FPO). “This FPO will help us meet additional capex requirement,” its Finance Director R T Agarwal said.

Asked whether the company is looking at raising funds from overseas, Agarwal said, “that is always an option. We will evaluate the opportunities. If we feel the domestic option is cheaper, we will go for it.”

The company’s debt-equity ratio stands at 73:27. “We want to reduce the debt component. This was also one of the reasons for coming out with the FPO,” another official said.

PowerGrid posted nearly 20 percent jump in net profit at Rs 1,040.34 crore in the June quarter.

Grid connected solar capacity in India crosses 1.7 GW

Under the National Solar mission, 11 projects of 50.50 MW capacity (48 MW PV+ 2.5 MW ST) under migration scheme, 26 projects of 130 MW capacity under Batch-I and 69 projects totalling 88.80 MW of small capacity power projects (RPSSGP Programme) have been commissioned.

In all, a total capacity of over 1759.43 MW Grid connected Solar Power Projects have been commissioned in the country as on 31.05.2013. A total capacity of 252.50 MW off-grid Solar Power Projects have been sanctioned and 60 MW have been commissioned.

About 70.01 lakh sq. meter of collector area of solar thermal systems have been installed against a target of 70 lakh sq. meter of collector area.

ITC powers itself with wind farms

According to reports, FMCG major ITC Ltd is powering itself up with wind farm clusters. As it expands its wind power generation capacity, ITC gradually reduces its dependence on fossil fuels. Renewable energy contributes to over 41 per cent of the company’s total power consumption. This is poised to go up to over 50 per cent as it sets up more projects.

The company has installed wind farms with over 70 MW at sites close to its facilities and is in the process of setting up 63 MW more. Significantly, last financial year, it also brought down overall power consumption across all its business divisions. This is part of the corporate wide sustainability drive.

The new capacity includes a 46 MW farm at its Paper unit at Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh. The company has recently awarded the supply contract to Gamesa India, part of the Spanish wind energy equipment supplier.

The setting up renewable energy sources also addresses the objective of reducing dependence on external source for power generation. Most States in South have demand supply gap. “The contribution from renewable energy to the overall energy consumption of ITC is about 41 per cent. We plan to take this to over 50 per cent within three years,” he said.

The 32-acre Infotech Park in Bangalore is fully powered by renewable energy, some of the hospitality projects, including ITC Grand Chola, and paper units in Coimbatore, Kovai and printing and packaging unit at Chennai are all supported, some fully powered by wind farms. It is investing in wind farms to fully power the new plant at Mysore.

The company has invested over Rs 400 crore and expects to commit similar amount in setting up more renewable energy projects in the country, sources indicated.

India slips in renewable energy attractiveness index

According to reports, high entry-barriers for foreign investors and the rising cost of financing have led to the country slipping to a low eighth position on the renewable energy country attractive index in the first quarter of 2013, says an Ernst & Young survey.

According to the report ‘Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index’, India’s ranking slipped from fourth position to eighth this period, due to several challenges, including high cost of finance, entry-barriers for external investors, among others.

“While the country’s rating may have slipped, there are significant positives. India is only behind Belgium in the priority the renewable sector receives,” he said.

The ranking is made based on increased focus on the role renewable energy plays in country’s energy mix, energy supply and demand, the cost competitiveness of renewable energy, the importance of de-carbonisation and an increased emphasis on the economic and political stability of each particular market.

Kanpur gets introduced with Solar Street Lights

According to reports, residents of Krishnapuram GT Road are a happy lot as their area remains illuminated even during power cuts.

People have no fear while going for a stroll in their locality or park even during late evening or night hours, courtesy, the Kanpur Nagar Nigam, which has installed solar lights on an experimental basis in the locality.

The residents had asked for the installation of solar lights instead of street lights powered by electricity as area used to witness frequent power-cuts and rostering. Mr. Rajeev Sharma, deputy commissioner of Kanpur division had asked the road light department to install solar lights as an experiment and had passed an order to monitor them. Now these light are proving to be a boon for the local residents.

A K Tandon, Reserve Bank employee and a resident of the area, said, use of generator has minimised in his lane as roads remained illuminated by solar lights. Minimum use of gen-sets has led to better environment in the locality. Not only the residents of Krishnapuram GT Road but people from the nearby localities also come here for walk in evening when there is a power cut in their area.

Nagar Nigam has also installed solar lights in few other parks like Rajeev Vatika where people enjoy in late evening hours irrespective of power cuts.

25,000 Kerala homes to get rooftop solar in 2013-14

According to reports, Electricity Minister Aryadan Muhammad said load-shedding would be lifted once the rains begin in June and from then on 2013-14 fiscal would be generally free of any power curbs. The minister said that he could turn around KSEB in just two years.

During UDF’s second anniversary interaction with media on Wednesday, Muhammad also said the basis for his optimism was the 233 MW the state was expected to receive this year from Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant, step up in solar power production and the first-ever Case-I Bidding for the next three years entered into by the KSEB with private traders for 400 MW. .

The roof-top solar project will be installed in 25,000 houses more during 2013-14, he said. However, he said the state’s demand had crossed 61-63 million units a day. “The water level in our reservoirs is good enough only to generate some 650 MW. However, the state’s annual requirement hovered between 3400-3500 MW. Of this, less than 2000 MW were being generated internally,” the minister said. Nonetheless, Kerala had imposed the lightest of power curbs in all of South India.

Telugu cinestar Nagarjuna opts for solar power

According to reports, Telugu Superstar, Nagarjuna with his wife Amala have opted for solar power for domestic energy requirements. The couple has installed a 6-KW roof top off grid solar power system. The duo opted for this move after the Andhra Pradesh Government urged to tap renewable energy, especially solar energy.

Nagarjuna and Amala have got solar panels installed on the roof top. The couple said that they were to implement the move long back, but due to technical issues and non-availability of solar panels, the implementation got delayed.

They also maintained that they do not use electricity supplied by the Government for domestic needs.

12th Five Year Plan : India targets 1900 MW capacity addition from biomass

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is promoting generation of power from biomass such as agricultural and agro-industrial residues and wastes. A target of 1900 MW power which includes 1400 MW from bagasse co-generation and 500 MW from other biomass has been fixed for the 12th Five Year Plan.

The cost of generation of energy depends on various factors such as price of coal and biomass, capacity of the plant and its plant load factor (PLF) etc. Generally, the cost of generation of energy varies from 4.00 to 5.00 per kilowatt hour from biomass and about 2.00 to 5.00 per kilowatt hour in case of coal.

Biomass power generation scene smoky in India

According to reports, for a country where almost 70% population is dependent on agriculture, it is safe to assume that biomass power generation should be promoted religiously by the policy makers. But, speakers at the ongoing two-day workshop on biomass power generation, here, on Wednesday struck a discordant note while talking about biomass promotion.

Experts and entrepreneurs at the workshop ‘to promote biomass power technologies and identification of pipeline projects’ organized by the Ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), UNDP and Global Environment Facility (GEF), cautioned that most of the 10 MW biomass power plants set up in the country in the past few years are on the verge of closing down due to unavailability of a steady supply of feed stock.

“The country produces an approximate of 150 million tonnes of biomass every year from which 16,000 MW of energy can be produced, besides the 5,000 MW energy can be generated through bagasse, (the residue of sugarcane after extraction of juice). So far, we have installed capacity of only 4300 MW, which means this sector has immense, untapped potential,” Jain revealed.

Hutti Gold Mines sets up bio-diesel plant

According to reports, Hutti Gold Mines is making its own contribution for ‘green earth’ through harnessing renewable energies.

Shri A.K. Monappa

A 1,000-litre capacity bio-diesel plant has been set up at the production centre to blend bio-diesel with diesel.

HGML managing director A.K. Monnappa, who is also the Managing Director of Karnataka Bio-fuel Development Board, said HGML uses nearly 50,000 litres of diesel a month for its production needs. The bio-diesel produced is blended with the fossil fuel to save energy, he added.

MNRE Sets Target of 30,000 MW Capacity addition during 12th Plan

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is implementing a number of renewable energy measures such as wind, small hydro, biomass and solar throughout the country, to enhance power generation from renewable energy sources.

The Government is also giving various fiscal and financial incentives to promote power generation from new and renewable energy sources. The Government has formulated an Integrated Energy Policy (IEP) covering all sources of energy including renewable energy sources. The IEP document gives a road map to develop energy supply options and increased exploitation of renewable energy sources. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is targeting a capacity addition of 30,000 MW during the 12th Plan period (2012-17) from various renewable energy sources.

About 27,000 MW renewable power generation capacity has been installed in the country from various renewable energy sources. A Capacity of 12,437 MW from renewable energy projects have been added during the last 3 years (2009-10 to 2011-12) and current year (as on 31.01.2013).

As per the report published by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), 36947 million units, 41150 million units and 51226 million units were generated during 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively from renewable energy sources. During 2012-13, about 23557 million units (April-August) have been generated from renewable energy sources in the country.

Download Integrated Energy Policy 2013.

High-rise apartments in Kochi to set up biogas plants

According to reports, now it’s the turn of apartment complexes in the city to set up bio-gas plants. In apartments, bio-gas plants are being set up primarily for treating waste from kitchen.

Though there are different mechanisms for treating waste in apartments, many of them have been finding it difficult to address the issue completely. While some of the apartments treat bio-degradable waste using bio-pots and bio-bins, the corporation collects from others.

According to firms which provide service and technology for setting up bio-gas plants, apartments in the city have been increasingly approaching them to set up plants. The cost of the plants varies between Rs. 3 lakh and Rs.10 lakh, depending on their capacity. “We set up a bio-gas plant in our apartment a year ago after the corporation failed to collect waste regularly. Now we are able to process bio-waste generated in 24 flats in the apartment complex,” said Panampilly Nagar Infra Hamlin Owners’ Association treasurer Bino Charley. However, she said as bio-gas produced was not sufficient enough for apartment dwellers it was used by security staff of the apartment for cooking.

Johny Joseph, a scientist with the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT),feels that bio-gas plants are best suited for treating degradable waste in apartments.

New technique to convert biomass into crude oil substitute

According to reports, a revolutionary new technique converts all kinds of biomass into high grade crude bio-oil, which has a potential to replace fossil fuel, by the virtue of being similar to natural crude. Developed by two Danish researchers, hydro-thermal liquefaction (HTL) accepts sewage sludge, manure, wood, compost and plant material, and wastes from household, meat factories and dairy production for oil conversion.

It can help existing refinery technology, with a simple thermal upgrade, to subsequently obtain all the liquid fuels we know today, developed by the partnership of Aarhus and Aalborg universities in Denmark.

Besides HTL consumes only 10-15% of the energy in the feed stock biomass, yielding an energy efficiency Aarhus and Aalborg statement.It is by far the most feed stock flexible of any liquid fuel producing process in existence.

The water emanating from the HTL process has low carbon contents and can either be recycled into the process or ultimately be purified to attain drinking water quality, which is the long-term goal. As such, HTL replaces the burden of disposal with the benefit of recycling.The bio-oil from HTL can be used as-produced in heavy engines or it can be hydrogenated or thermally upgraded to obtain diesel-, gasoline- or jet-fuels by existing refinery technology.

Nitin Gadkari for uniform policy on ethanol-blending with petrol

BJP President Nitin Gadkari today asked the government to implement the policy of mandatory 5 per cent blending of ethanol with petrol in all states to help farmers as also reduce India’s oil import bill. Gadkari made this appeal during a meeting with the officials of ministries of petroleum, consumer affairs and new and renewable energy here today.

The government has already made it mandatory for doping of petrol with at least five per cent of ethanol across the country to save around 100 crore litres of fuel annually. But the programme is not being implemented in all states as suppliers of ethanol, a by-product of sugarcane, are unable to meet the supply requirements.

States such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are the largest producers and can be developed as major suppliers of it.

National Biomass Mission on the cards

According to reports, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy seems to be impressed by the perceived success of the National Solar Mission, which has certainly helped to create solar awareness across the country. Now, the Ministry is working on a National Biomass Mission, and has asked the industry to prepare a mission document. This need not be anything more than an archive of informative documents. To recount, India produces 620 million tonnes of bio resources, and after allowing for fuel and fodder, the surplus comes out to be 150 million tonnes. This can support 18,000 MW of power, not counting another 5,000 MW of co-generation, against which the existing biomass power capacity is only 2,665 MW.

Biomass is ‘base load’, and firm power and needs to be encouraged over other forms of renewable energy. It is also the least expensive. To set up 1 MW of capacity, it takes Rs 5.5 crore, against Rs 6.5 crore for wind and Rs 9 crore for solar. Each MW capacity of biomass produces 8.5 million units of electricity a year, against 2.4 m u for wind and 1.7 m u for solar, under good conditions.