ITIs embark on energy efficiency education through energy clubs

The year-long education module has led to ITIs allocating resource rooms where such models are kept as reference for further teaching,according to G N Parekh,Regional Deputy Director of ITIs in the Ahmedabad region.

“ITIs have also begun buying CFL lights whenever purchases are made,and we will make conscious choices like these with the grants we receive,” he said on sidelines of an exhibition held at the campus of the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) here.

Many of the exhibited models concentrated on the use of solar and wind energy for equipment of daily use such as water-pumps,while others demonstrated through watt-meters that CFL bulbs consume far less than incandescent lamps.

Others showed just how much energy an insulated house could save by way of electricity bills and potential CO2 emissions.

USAID representative Shreerupa Mitra said the project is unique among all the others they fund.

CEE director Kartikeya Sarabhai said the programme will be more effective in the short-term than mainstream environment education as this would have direct results. “When an ITI graduate goes to a household to fit the electrical wirings or build water tanks,he or she would be able to tell those people that CFLs are better or that water tanks mounted on rooftops would not need pumps while tanks on the ground level would require one. These small insights would go a long way in extending sustainable practices,” he added.

He added that efforts are on to gradually extend these energy clubs in all the 200 ITIs in Gujarat.