Reduction in the Carbon Footprint of Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plants by Promoting Compact Fluorescent Lamps and Light-Emitting Diodes in Households, Offices, and Commercial Centers

Abstract

The electricity consumption of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light-emitting diode (LED) lamps is low, making them a useful tool for minimizing the rapidly increasing demand for electrical energy in India and elsewhere. This chapter aims to project the likely electrical energy conservation in a scenario of complete replacement of existing fluorescent tubes (FTs) by CFLs or LEDs at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), including the financial repercussions and indirect reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases (e.g. CO₂, N₂O, CH₄) and carbon footprint, as well as a few important air pollutants (e.g. SO₂, NO, black carbon, suspended particulate matter (SPM), mercury) in a coal-fired thermal power plant. The calculations show that the institute could save around 129,870 and 164,970 kW h of electricity per annum by replacing FTs with CFLs and LEDs, respectively, thereby saving approximately INR 1357,142 (US$21,935.37) and INR 1723,937 (US$27,863.85) in electricity costs per year for CFLs and LEDs, respectively. The use of CFLs and LEDs would be able to minimize approximately 47,127.14 and 59,863.94 kg of CO₂–C equivalent emissions over a 100-year time horizon, respectively. Moreover, reductions of approximately 961, 1,039, 10, 390, 19, and 0.55 kg of SO₂, NO, BC, SPM, PM₁₀ and Hg emissions per year, respectively, could be achieved in electricity conservation by replacing FTs with CFLs at CSIR-NEERI. Reductions of approximately 1,221, 1,320, 13, 495, 25 and 0.7 kg of SO₂, NO, BC, SPM, PM₁₀ and Hg emissions per year, respectively, could be achieved by replacing FTs with LEDs at CSIR-NEERI.