Prince learns energy secrets

The last stop for Prince Charles in Delhi was an oasis, 35 km from the city. In this 36-hectare campus, the dream for self-sufficiency in en...

The last stop for Prince Charles in Delhi was an oasis, 35 km from the city. In this 36-hectare campus, the dream for self-sufficiency in energy had been translated into brick and mortar. TERI (The Energy Resources Institute) Retreat uses both traditional and modern principles to conserve and generate energy. Prince Charles, for whom conservation is a subject close to his heart, looked visibly impressed. In fact, his entire itinerary, from Delhi to Jaipur and Jodhpur, reflects his interest in conservation and energy issues.

‘‘I have been most encouraged by my visit to Retreat, by the way in which substantial energy savings are delivered with no apparent sacrifice of living standards. More impressively, this is achieved without heavy dependence on elaborate and expensive technologies. And the extra outlay of the building is recouped in just a few years,’’ the Prince said.

Located in the dry belt of Aravalli, the level of self-sufficiency is such that the campus is not even connected to the grid. The Prince was taken round the campus to show how this was made possible.

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He was shown photovoltaic panels at the entrance, which capture the sun’s energy and recharge its batteries during the day to meet the power requirements at night. The most unique in-house technology was the earth-air tunnels. These circulate cool air through the residential block and keep temperatures around 20 degree centigrade in winter and 28 degree centigrade in summer. This works on the principle that air 4 metre below the earth’s surface is cooler or hotter, depending on the season. The air is pushed into the building to lower the load on air-conditioning.

Next, Prince Charles visited the gasifier where firewood, leaves and twigs left in the field after the crop is harvested, is burnt to create energy to run the generators.

Also located on the campus is the recycling plant where a bed of reeds clarifies 5 cubic metres of waste water from the toilets and kitchens every day for irrigation purposes.

The Prince was also told about several small measures like planting of the right kind of trees around the building, use of energy-efficient light fixtures, proper windows and insulation, which cut energy requirement by nearly 50 pc.

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The Prince who had heard of TERI’s work in the UK had expressed his willingness to visit the campus. He said that ‘‘energy efficiency in buildings is a prime example of how problems shared can be problems halved’’. Before leaving for Karnal, he promised that he would make use of the expertise developed at TERI in his own country.