Saving 50 lakh with solar power, PAU wins State Energy Conservation Award, V-C back Green Engineering

The commercial buildings in the sector of educational institutions included government as well as private buildings.

The award was given for the efforts made in the field of energy conservation during the years 2020-21 and 2021-22. The event was held on February 2 at CII, Chandigarh. The award carries a plaque, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 50000.

Citing the details of the PAU initiatives in energy conservation, engineer Gurneet Singh informed that PAU has been striving constantly to be energy-efficient and it managed to save about Rs 50 lakh through solar energy annually. The overall saving is approximately Rs 70 lakh per annum which includes other environmentally-conscious efforts.

He enumerated several green-collar measures like 1 MW rooftop solar plant, sensor-based lighting system, auto power factor control panels, energy-efficient appliances and other solar installations which have drastically reduced PAU’s dependence on non-renewable resources.

Congratulating the PAU fraternity for the feat, Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, pointed out that no organization, whatever its size, can afford to overlook the improvement in profit and competitive position which can be achieved from the careful and thorough application of energy-saving initiatives. Using efficient technologies and avoiding energy wastages form the crux of judicious energy consumption, he added.

He said that green engineering practices should be followed to improve the lifecycle of the components of machines which convert energy from one form to another. The more we rely on renewable energy sources, the longer fossil fuels will last, and the rate at which their prices will rise will be slowed, he explained.

PAU had also secured the first position in ‘Green and Clean Campus Awards’ for the year 2020-21 sponsored by National Agricultural Higher Education Project, ICAR. It carried a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh.