A three-year project designed to increase energy efficiency in India and China by adopting copper-intensive technologies is to be implemented shortly.
The $2.5 million CIMDI (The China/India Market Development Initiative) project was initialled by the United Nations Common Fund for Commodities, the International Copper Association, Copper Development Centre of India and the International Institute for Energy Conservation, (IIEC), the American company that has promoted global adoption of energy efficiency policies for sustainable ecological development.
Russell Sturm, president of IIEC, said that the potential economic and environmental benefits to India of increasing the use of high-efficiency motors and transformers the focus of the CIMDI project are tremendous.
And by stimulating the commercialisation of these technologies, CIMDI will provide a vehicle for technology cooperation and for accessing the capital necessary for real investment in these technologies by Indian industry, he said.
The project targets the markets in India and China because they are experiencing explosive growth in demand for energy and therefore need to make the best use of the energy they have. They also represent two most significant emerging markets in the world, said Chuck Tobler of the IIEC.
To meet their demand for energy at the least cost to society and the end-user, China and India need access to better, more cost-effective energy-efficient technologies such as transformers and motors that capitalise on high conductive properties of copper. The IIEC project will increase the availability and affordability of these products, Tobler said.
Sturm announced that the IIEC will open its office in Mumbai next month. CIMDI project manager will be Denise Knight who was formerly marketing manager for Allied Signal, where she specialised in transformers and the Asian market, he added.
An energy-efficient system provides the same level of service like motive drivepower or illumination as a standard efficiency system while consuming less energy. The result is equal services at a lower cost.
The more energy-efficient an economy is, the more capital it has available to invest in other needs including health, education and infrastructure, Tobler said. Besides, energy efficiency enables emerging economies to compete more effectively in the global marketplace, he added.
The CIMDI project has four key steps. Each of these is expected to contribute to the overall goal of transforming the markets of India and China to more energy-efficient technologies, he said.
First it will undertake a study of the existing market conditions for copper-intensive energy efficient technologies in the two countries. These studies will help identify market leaders, market drivers and the current state of technology development.
Second, it will foster the development or transfer of appropriate, copper-based technologies for these markets. Third, the project will conduct a market-support campaign to accelerate the penetration of the technology. This campaign will include communications efforts, technical training, demonstration projects and the establishment of consumer finance mechanisms.
Finally, the project will disseminate the results and lessons learned in workshops proposed to be held in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe.
Tobler said once the appropriate technologies have been identified, IIEC will develop a database of companies that are interested in manufacturing or distributing copper-based products in India and China.
This database will be used to foster business partnerships for the in-country manufacture or distribution of at least one copper-intensive, energy-efficient product in each target country.
