Table of Contents
CURRENT AFFAIR
- An annual one-month long people centric fuel conservation campaign of the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) named Saksham, was launched on 16th January, 2020.
Topics covered
- Science and Technology – developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
OBJECTIVES
- To create focused attention on fuel conservation through people centric activities and
- To sensitize the masses about the conservation and efficient use of petroleum products leading to better health and environment.
INITIATIVES
- PCRA has developed energy efficient burners for gas
- It will provide messages on “Pollution ka Solution”.
- In collaboration with NCERT, PCRA has prepared a comic book on the theme, “Fuel Conservation”. The books are to be distributed at the campaigns. The books are also available in E-Pathshala.
Petroleum Conservation Research Association
- PCRA is a registered society set up under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
- Its head office is located in New Delhi.
- As a non-profit organization, PCRA is a national government agency engaged in promoting energy efficiency in various sectors of economy.
- It helps the government in proposing policies and strategies for petroleum conservation, aimed at reducing excessive dependence of the country on oil
Other Initiatives Taken by the PCRA
- PCRA in association with the Institute of Petroleum- Dehradun has developed high energy efficient Piped Natural Gas (PNG) burner/Gas stove for household where piped gas is supplied which will save gas as compared to modified LPG stove for PNG.
- The annual Saksham National Competition which generally is launched in the month of July, has seen participation of 1.48 crore students.
- An awareness Campaign on 100 busiest intersections of Delhi through the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) on encouraging the behaviour of switching-off engine at red light was recently carried out by PCRA.
- The campaign led to approximately 22% reduction in idling fuel losses for petrol.
- Similarly, approximately 14%, 12% and 19% reduction in Diesel, CNG and LPG respectively was observed due to awareness campaign.
Previous Achievements of PCRA campaigns
- The most successful Saksha campaign of PCRA was recently conducted on switching off of engines at red light in traffic signals.
- This helped to reduce fuel losses by 22% before and after the campaign.
Energy Conservation
- Energy Conservation as the name specifies it is to conserve energy.
- We have limited amount of energy at our disposal. The primary energy comes from coal or fossil fuels.
- Almost 85 to 90% of primary energy comes from fossil
- Some come from water resources, nuclear sources and other renewable sources.
Government Measures
- As per Energy Consumption Act of 2001, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) was established which has made policies and implemented throughout various energy systems.
- There are emission norms like Euro norms and BS norms which help in environment purification.
Methods to Conserve Energy
- Alternate sources of energy.
- Enhance the production efficiency.
- Taxation incentives to promote energy conservation.