NEW DELHI: The Parliament on Monday passed the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2022, empowering the government to mandate use of non-fossil fuels by industries, set efficiency standards for vehicles, ships and equipment as well as create a domestic carbon trading market to hasten the green transition.
The Bill was cleared by a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. It was passed by the Lok Sabha in August.
“For government, the environment is precious and will take all steps for that…. India has now become a leader in the energy transition,” power minister R K Singh said in his reply to the debate in the Upper House.
“We are also expanding the concept of green building. We are making it more sustainable. Earlier, it was energy efficiency and we are also adding the concept of renewable energy in this,” he said.
The Centre can now order ‘designated consumers’ to meet a prescribed proportion of their energy consumption from non-fossil sources, including ethanol and green hydrogen.
The consumption thresholds will depend upon the non-fossil sources and consumer categories — industries such as mining, steel, cement, textile, chemicals and petrochemicals; transport sector including railways and specified commercial buildings.
The Bill expands the scope of energy consumption standards to include vehicles ships and boats. Failure to comply with standards will be punishable with a penalty of up to Rs 10 lakh.
Non-compliance in case of vessels will attract an additional penalty of up to twice the price of oil equivalent of energy consumed above the prescribed norm. Vehicle manufacturers in violation of fuel consumption norms will be liable to pay a penalty of up to Rs 50,000 per unit of vehicle sold.
For carbon trading, the Centre or any authorised agency may issue carbon credit certificates to eligible entities registered for the scheme. Such entities will be entitled to purchase or sell the certificates. Any other person may also purchase a carbon credit certificate on a voluntary basis.
The Bill changes the energy consumption standards for buildings to provide for an ‘energy conservation and sustainable building code’. The new code will provide norms for energy efficiency and conservation, use of renewable energy, and other requirements for green buildings.
The code will also apply to the office and residential buildings with connection of 100 kw or contract load of 120 kva, as earlier, but allows states to empower state governments to lower the load thresholds.
The new provisions empower the state electricity regulatory commissions to adjudge penalties under the Act and make regulations for discharging their functions.
The Bill was cleared by a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. It was passed by the Lok Sabha in August.
“For government, the environment is precious and will take all steps for that…. India has now become a leader in the energy transition,” power minister R K Singh said in his reply to the debate in the Upper House.
“We are also expanding the concept of green building. We are making it more sustainable. Earlier, it was energy efficiency and we are also adding the concept of renewable energy in this,” he said.
The Centre can now order ‘designated consumers’ to meet a prescribed proportion of their energy consumption from non-fossil sources, including ethanol and green hydrogen.
The consumption thresholds will depend upon the non-fossil sources and consumer categories — industries such as mining, steel, cement, textile, chemicals and petrochemicals; transport sector including railways and specified commercial buildings.
The Bill expands the scope of energy consumption standards to include vehicles ships and boats. Failure to comply with standards will be punishable with a penalty of up to Rs 10 lakh.
Non-compliance in case of vessels will attract an additional penalty of up to twice the price of oil equivalent of energy consumed above the prescribed norm. Vehicle manufacturers in violation of fuel consumption norms will be liable to pay a penalty of up to Rs 50,000 per unit of vehicle sold.
For carbon trading, the Centre or any authorised agency may issue carbon credit certificates to eligible entities registered for the scheme. Such entities will be entitled to purchase or sell the certificates. Any other person may also purchase a carbon credit certificate on a voluntary basis.
The Bill changes the energy consumption standards for buildings to provide for an ‘energy conservation and sustainable building code’. The new code will provide norms for energy efficiency and conservation, use of renewable energy, and other requirements for green buildings.
The code will also apply to the office and residential buildings with connection of 100 kw or contract load of 120 kva, as earlier, but allows states to empower state governments to lower the load thresholds.
The new provisions empower the state electricity regulatory commissions to adjudge penalties under the Act and make regulations for discharging their functions.