OIL PRICES soar and there seems no hope of abatement. Meanwhile, the Government, afterdithering and debate, raised the price but only of diesel and petrol.

Inevitably all the parties not running the government protested and called for strikes. State governments ignored simple economics in favour of electoral politics and decided to increase the subsidies to Electricity Boards and Transport Corporations without affecting the consumer directly.

Economists, including the RBI Governor, believe that a good measure of the price rise of crude should be passed on to the consumers so that they start tightening the belt. But they are a minority.

The same political parties that call for work stoppage, seem never to address the power station managers, auto manufacturers, railway men, road transport operators and other major oil guzzlers to improve their energy efficiency.

Kerosene may be the only fuel for cooking and lighting for the people in the countryside whose numbers may run into several millions. But their consumption of energy is far less than what the urban elite consumes.. Apart from things political, there may be a reason. The urban dwellers, rich or poor, face the worst of the sweltering heat and their plight is confounded by long and unscheduled load-shedding.

In the US, under the Energy Conservation legislation passed during Jimmy Carter's years, people were encouraged, with financial incentives, to replace their household appliances such as refrigerators and light bulbs by energy-efficient ones.

In India too giving away free CFL bulbs to households can be demonstrated to be based on sound economics. A simple calculation, shows how the economics works. The retail price of energy-saving fluorescent lamps are Rs 140 for a 11W bulb, which gives the light equivalent of an ordinary incandescent bulb of 60W. It saves 50 watts in terms of replacement and 20 bulbs, costing Rs 2,800, will save 1 kW of generation. Instead of putting up additional capacity of 1kW, which would cost Rs 28,000, it would be better to give away 200 bulbs free to consumers. To that extent fuel in the form of coal, gas or oil will also be saved. In times such as this when the governments are not able to cater to the growing demands of infrastructure, the least that the power supply company can do is provide free energy-saving bulbs.

R. Sundaram

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