Why India's commercial building electricity use is a concern

摘要

India continues to face significant challenges in having a reliable electricity supply. This was manifested in the country's worst blackout due to the failure of power grids, affecting states where 50% of India's 1.2 billion people live. Of all the primary energy sources in India, electricity consumption has been increasing exponentially over the past few decades. According to an Indian Central Electrical Authority (CEA) report, the projected deficit India in 2013 is 10.6%. According to the Indian Ministry of Power, India's electricity demand is projected to reach 1,900 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2021-2022 and its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from coal combustion are projected to reach 3.3 Giga-tonnes (Gt) in 2030-8% of the world total (based on a reference scenario in 2005). Commercial, residential, and industrial sectors account for 10%, 39%, and 24% respectively of the total 694,392 GWh of electricity consumption in the country. While commercial building sector's electricity use is a smaller slice of the pie today, this sector posted the third highest Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the past four decades (8.29% as of 2010-11).