IPL Matches at Night - Who cares for ENERGY conservation?

At least for now,  I would focus all RTIs and activism and such on the "supply side" of power equation. Why are we not getting enough electricity so that such posts are not written by people at all? Why do we have to talk about the conservation (demand side) most of the time? Why does it need to be take-from-X and give-to-Y (shortage) situations?.

I want to work, I want to play, and I want to have fun. I want good quality of life, and entertainment is part of that.

On pricing though, that is an interesting and curious question. I am guessing that KSCA pays above normal rates to get uninterrupted supply from BESCOM. Or, they may have a huge captive diesel gen-set of their own.

Rigt levels of consumption, consciousness and economics etc can be argued endlessly as each will have own line of what is worth and what is not. I will leave it at that, and sign off from such discussion.

But "does BESCOM supply subsidized power to KSCA" - this question is definitely a good one to ask.

Also, I would say that "energy is a precious commodity" is not the best statement. Some sources of energy (like fossil fuel) are precious commodities, that's more like it.

....and the diesel used in those generators is probably the same one subsidized for freight traffic or public transport. Just like gen sets running in almost every building in Bangalore, and every large diesel guzzler SUV you see on our roads. Someone pls tell me I'm wrong.

This whole subsidy thing... well, let me not get carried away here.

Everytime there is a discussion on energy conservation, we get limited by absence of any data which leades to open-ended discussions on what's good to do and what's not. There need to be a scientific approach to how we approach the problem with researched data to be at the heart of solution.

I was discussing the same issue of electricity consumption in IPL matches with guys from no2co2 campaign who are measuring carbon footprinting of the IPL tournament (IPL has to do this as UNEP literally forced them as they are conducting one of world's biggest sports tournament without taking into cognizance the environmental degradation they are doing). So in our discussion, it came out that electricity consumption to be only 3% of overall footprint. The maximum damage is being caused by huge no. of flights(more than 15,0000) and the 5 star hotel stay being done in these 2 months. And this is not just for teams and Lalit Modi but all the vendors who are managing various parts of this event.

So the point I am trying to make is that we have almost saturated our open discussions on environment conservation and solutions like close your lights, water taps or use CFL. There is an urgent need to quantify carbon footprinting at individual as well organizational levels. For eg - ideal level of footprint is 2 tonnes/annum for every individual. Global average is 3.9 t/a, US's is 19.6 t/a and India's is 1.6 t/a. India's low t/a for individual is just because of 72% population living in rural areas, if you checkout urban its much more. I guess there is a need of consciousness required at indvidual level to first know your footprint then neutralize it as much as possible. At the same time look at organizations and tournaments to keep them carbon neutral events to the maximum degree possible.

+Asim

 A Bangalore based company called Selco has lit up thousands of villages using solar energy also arranging loans from nationalized banks. They manufacture solar based lighting, inverters etc. Their story has come across many international channels.

Here is the link for the company website : www.selco-india.com

@Asim - thanks for bringing in the right perspective. Leave alone managers, what about the "cheer-leaders"? Couldn't have imagined we will ever reach a stage where we will be burdening ourselves the carbon footprint of this imported lot.

@SB - the power supply side problems and solutions have been discussed at length here. The problem again (as with bus transport services) is the government monopoly in distribution.

@ Naveen - There's enough on solar power on PRAJA itself - check this for instance

Asim,

I'm referring generally to the ill-informed, uneducated poor who may never have heard about renewable energy sources & it's benefits for the country or the planet. Unfortunately, they are a sizable majority that cannot afford solar lights or wind mills, or cannot mange to individually acquire & maintain them. Such systems are available at prices driven largely by the market - as of now, only rich farmers can afford them individually.

Govt has traditionally been extending subsidized power to farmers & this power is mostly coming off power plants that are gas guzzling & therefore polluting & environmentally unfriendly. The govt needs to either divert subsidy onto collective solar or wind power plants & offer the same to these poor folks, or to reduce or cut off subsidy step by step & encourage private enterprises such as Selco to produce more & more power through renewable sources & offer it to the poor at competitive rates, but for this, it has to be done on a very large scale since the poor cannot clearly do this themselves & need some assistance.

If left to individual initiatives & expect poor farmers to commit themselves to improve things (as the situation is at present), it is doubtful if there will be any takers at all since subsidized power through thermal plants is available anyways at much lower prices, & progress on this front will be left largely on how market conditions evolve, as I had mentioned previously.

Even the educated urban folks living in cities do not presently see much point in committing themselves to renewable sources though they can afford them since thermal power is anyway available at lower prices.

I believe that the govt does have a role to play here - It is of course desirable for all individuals to think & care for the environment as a matter of course, but the economic reality will command what eventually happens on the ground.

England  has a stance that cricket should always be played under the sun and best of the best stadiums in England such as Lord's is not having flood lighting although sun light especially during winter is very poor in England.

A stance like this by all the cricket associations like the BCCI would have done the trick. Matches in the night means more spectators, more advertisement revenue, more money hence the night matches.