By Ifham Nizam
Sri Lanka has a problem in enforcing energy efficiency standards, says a renowned energy expert.
"We need to get some kind of energy efficiency," said Energy Consultant Dr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya. He was speaking at a Symposium titled `Facing contemporary challenges of Sri Lanka: Relevance of Dr. E. F. Schumacher’s work’.
The Symposium presented by the Practical Action Sri Lanka took place at the Buddhist Cultural Centre in Colombo.
He said that despite a number of home appliances needing to have energy efficient standards, only CFLs have it. But, a majority of CFLs available in the market too were sub standard products.
Siyabalapitiya said that a strong monitoring system needs to be in place.
He also said that when it comes to renewable energy, Sri Lanka pays the highest tariff in the world.
"The prices paid in Sri Lanka for renewable-based electricity supplied to the grid are the highest in the world, whereas the resources, investments, finance costs and contractual conditions are among the best in the world," he added.
He queried how the society, to whom the renewable resources belong, would be benefited in the long term by such excessively investor-friendly policies. A portfolio approach established in 2007 remains dormant, he added.
He stressed that a serious policy failure was imminent, where renewable energy was most likely to benefit a selected few investors, for years and years, leaving the public with no benefits.
Dr. Siymabalapitiya said that the country’s energy policy should be revised to keep up with the internal environment.
He believes Sri Lanka is at a loss because subsidies discourage efficiency improvement.
"Subsidy mechanism is not properly established in the system as we have to pay in the form of taxes," he added.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=49056
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