CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1 dealt with the overview of global energy situation in general and the transport

sector in particular. The details of railway organisation, its genesis, its zones, departments,

workshops, share in passenger and freight traffic, energy consumption were described in

detail. The basic concepts and definitions related to the current study were also described.

The current chapter presents the review of existing literature both from research

perspective as well as from railway perspective in the context of present research study.

From the literature available it appears that railway workshops being state owned entities,

the research focus is yet to gain attention. The literature review has been segregated into

five segments as follows:

1. Literature dealing with research in the energy sector

2. Literature connected with research pertaining to environmental issues

3. Literature regarding research carried out in the transportation sector

4. Literature on barriers and drivers to energy efficiency

5. Literature pertaining to Indian Railways (IR)

Literature about IR contain media releases by Hon'ble Minister for Railways, Annual

Report and Accounts of Indian Railways, Indian Railways Annual budget statistics.

Chairman Railway Board, Member Mechanical and Member Electrical articles. Chief

Electrical Engineer's articles appearing in Indian Railways magazine. National Academy

of Indian Railway men (NAIR) magazine Abhivyakti, etc.

These articles mainly describe the policies adopted by the organization entities viz. the

Railway Board, Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), Indian Railway

Institute for Electrical Engineers (IRIEEN), Zonal Railways, Divisions and Workshops to

reduce their energy consumption by way of introduction of Energy Efficient Technologies

(EETs) and phasing away obsolete technologies. Initially, various options for achieving

energy efficiency are discussed and then the environmental issues are traced. The various

literature pertaining to energy consumption, efficiency and environmental aspects of

railways are discussed. Towards the end, some research gaps are also identified which

helped in framing the objectives of this study.

22

2.2 ENERGY SECTOR RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

This section delves into the various publications of global agencies like International

Energy Agency (lEA), The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), Inter-Governmental

Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) and research articles published.

Transport sector accounts for about 19% of global energy use and 23% of energy related

CO2 emissions and these shares are likely to rise in future (lEA 2013). Given the current

trends, transport energy use and CO2 emissions are projected to increase by nearly 50% by

2030 and more than 80% by 2050. This fixture appears to be not at all sustainable.

To avoid the worst impacts fi-om climate change, global CO2 emissions must be cut by at

least 50% by 2050 (IPCC, 2014). To achieve this, transport sector will have to play a

significant role. Even with deep cuts in CO2 from all energy sectors, if transport does not

reduce CO2 emissions well below current levels by 2050, it will be very difficult to meet

targets such as stabilizing the concentration of GHG emissions at a level of 450 ppm of

CO2 equivalent. Substantially changing transport trends will require both the adoption of

current best available technology, and the longer term development and deployment of a

range of new technologies. It will also require strong policies to ensure rapid uptake and

fixll utilization of these technologies, and to encourage sensible changes in travel patterns.

The benefits of strong decarburization in transport also extend to energy security.

Transport oil use can be cut by more than half in 2050 compared to today's level, vastly

increasing the likely stability and security of supplies. Energy carriers such as hydrogen

and electricity also have better energy security characteristics, since they can be produced

from a wide range of primary energy sources rather than just oil.

It projects that the World economy is to triple by 2035 and population to expand almost by

one quarter. Per capita consumption of India, China along with south East Asia is shifting

the centre of gravity of global energy system to Asia. Energy production and demand has

implications that will be felt well beyond the national territories. Developing policies to

improve efficiency and attracting investment will be vital for enhancing energy security,

affordability and sustainability. There is a need for cooperation intra regionally and with

global partners.

India to maintain the GDP growth rate of 10% in eleventh five year plan the energy

requirements of the country would increase rapidly (TERI, 2010). The study indicates that

there exists a significant scoi>e for reducing energy (@581 Million tonne oil equivalent

23

(Mtoe) in 2031) if efficiency measures are deployed on both the demand side as well as

the supply side. The total energy consumption in the transport sector is estimated to

increase by 14 times from 34 Mtoe in 2001 to 461 Mtoe in 2031. It suggests efforts to

enhance rail based movement and public transportation to reduce transport sectors

dependence on oil.

Ming Yang (2006) in his study on "Energy efficiency policy impact in India: case study of

investment in Industrial energy efficiency" has identified the effectiveness of energy

policy and capital investment in energy efficiency technologies in the industrial sector in

India. The Indian energy policies relating to industrial energy efficiency over the past 25

years are briefly reviewed, and a comparison study of these energy efficiency policies and

strategies in India and China has been carried out. Interviews were conducted with a

number of government policy-making institutions and a national industrial development

bank. This paper concludes that current energy policies and strategies in India need fiirther

improvement to promote energy efficiency investment and energy efficiency technology

development in the industrial sector.

Chakraborty (2010) in his article "Carbon footprints and the Indian Industries" mentions

that human induced activities are spreading up global warming which in turn is creating

numerous and varied negative impacts on human life and the environment. A 'Carbon

footprint" is a measure of the impact that human activities have on the environment in

terms of amoimt of GHG emitted for carrying such activities. It is measured in units of

CO2 (tons of CO2) emitted on an annual basis. Carbon audit is adopted by some industries

to find out inefficient and costiy energy practices and then necessary steps are taken to

identify opportunities for improvement of methods around the issue of climate change. He

mentions that UK Dept. of Environment, Food and rural affairs (DEFRA) along with

Carbon Institute has developed PAS 2050 - Publically Available Specification, a newly

created audit system to help companies to measure their carbon footprints. In India,

Carbonyatra.com has been launched which is India's first carbon footprint calculator

which enables Indians and public worldwide to calculate and offset their carbon emissions

by purchasing carbon credits through renewable and carbon reducing projects and fight

global warming. He mentions that many Indian companies have already installed wind

energy, solar cells and bio fuels for ensuring constant supply of energy to their plants.

Lastly he has suggested various measures to government to encourage reduction of carbon

footprints viz., clear cut fiscal incentives to encourage investment in green and

24

environment friendly technologies, introduction of carbon tax, fiscal benefits like reduced

excise duty for greener fuel like Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), tax benefits for

construction of green buildings and introduction of carbon labels.

Parikh et al (2002) in their paper titled "Projecting India's energy requirements for policy

formulation" have presented an integrated energy system model which provides a unique

combination for easing the difficulties of policy formulation. Eleven alternate scenarios

are built, designed to map out extreme points of feasible action. The authors find that even

after employing all domestic energy resources to the fiiU potential, there will be a

continued rise of fossil fuel use, continued importance of coal and continued rise in import

dependence. Energy efficiency emerges as a major option with a potential to reduce

energy requirements by as much as 17%.

2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

This section probes on the environmental impacts of energy use based on reports provided

by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN

ESCAP), Environmental Performance Index (EPI), IPCC, and research articles.

EPI (2012) -The report ranks 132 nations on 22 performance indicators spanning 10

policy categories reflecting facets of both environmental public health and ecosystem

vitality. The indicators are environmental health. Water, Air Pollution, Water resources.

Biodiversity and habitat, forest, fisheries, agriculture and climate change. The objective is

to reduce environmental stress on human health, promote ecosystem vitality and sound

natural resource management. Switzerland is ranked at the top and India ranks 125 out of

132 nations. The report ranks India at a low rank which is a clear indicator for the need to

undertake strong and sustainable measures to improve the environment. Being the largest

transporter, IR needs to look into the aspect of environment and go for environmentally

benign measures and technologies to contribute towards improvement of the environment.

UN-ESCAP (1995) Asian Development Bank (ADB) in their report on Health effects of

pollutants (State of environment in Asia and the Pacific, have mentioned the various

pollutants and their harmful effects on the health which are summarized below in Table

2.1. It is evident that the pollutants have long term detrimental effects on human species as

well as the flora and fauna.

25

Table 2.1: Major Pollutants and their Effects on Health

Pollutant

Carbon Monoxide

Lead

Particulate Matter

Sulphur Dioxide

Nitrogen Oxides

Hydrocarbons

Ozone

Toxic Substances

Health Effects

Interferes with absorption of oxygen by hemoglobin (RBC): Impairs perception and thinking, slows reflexes, causes drowsiness and can cause unconsciousness and death. It affects foetal growth in pregnant women and tissue development in young children.

Affects circulatory, reproductive, nervous and kidney systems; is suspected of causing hyperactivity and lowered learning ability of children

Irritates mucous membranes and may lead to a variety of respiratory diseases; fine particles may cause lung cancer and exacerbate morbidity and mortality from respiratory dysfunctions, a strong correlation exists between suspended particulates and infant mortality in urban areas.

A harsh irritant, it exacerbates asthma, bronchitis and emphysema, causes coughing and impaired lung function

Can increase susceptibility to viral infections such as influenza; irritates lungs and causes oedema and impaired lung function

Lead to unpleasant effects such as eye irritation, coughing, and sneezing; drowsiness and symptoms akin to drunkenness.

Irritates mucous membranes of respiratory system causing coughing, choking and impaired lung function; cause eye irritation, headaches and physical discomfort, reduces resistance to colds and pneumonia, can aggravate chronic heart disease, asthma, bronchitis and emphysema

Are suspected to cause cancer, reproductive problems, and birth defects. Benzene and asbestos are known carcinogens linked to leukemia and lung cancer; aldehydes and ketones irritate the eye

Michael Burkhardt et al (2008) in their paper "Diffuse release of environmental hazards by

railways" have investigated the environmental hazards emitted by Swiss Federal Railways

(SBB) during their regular operation in 7200 km tracks. They found out that the main

substances emitted are metals, hydrocarbons and herbicides. Most of the metal emitted is

released particles emitted by friction of iron followed by other metals. The emission of

hydrocarbons may be diffusive or at point sources. The wooden sleepers seem to be the

most important source of hydrocarbons followed by lubricants fi'om track switches and

wheel flanges. The emissions reflect a spatial and temporal exposure pattern. The authors

feel that the assessment is valuable for regulatory authorities working on soil and water

26

protection as well as rail companies to determine their necessity for water and soil

protection measures. The authors recognized the sources of abrasion and arrived at the

statistics as given in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2: Sources of Abrasion and Pollutions

Sources of abrasion

Brakes

Rails

Wheels

Contact lines

Total

Emissions (t/a)

1912

550

124

38

2624

Proportion (%)

73

21

5

1

100

Most of the oil aind grease used were applied for mechanisms e.g. engines, gearings,

buffer, and bearing, and on winding tracks and tracks with significant slope. The most

significant metals emitted were iron 2176 t/a, copper 46 t/a, zinc 20 t/a, and manganese

15.5 t/a.

Manorama Yearbook (2012) in the article "Environmental Efforts" states that UN General

assembly had designated year 2011 "The International year of Forests" to raise awareness

on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of

forests. "Forests for people" was the main theme of the year. According to World Bank

estimates more than 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood. The forest

product industry is a source of economic growth and employment, with global forest

products traded internationally in the order of 270 billion dollars. The UN's Food and

Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that every year 1, 30,000 km of world's forest

are lost due to deforestation. Conversion to agricultural land, unsustainable harvesting of

timber, unsound land management practices and creation of human settlements are the

most common reasons for this loss of forested areas. According to World Bank,

deforestation accounts for up to 20% of the global greenhouse gas emissions that

contribute to global warming. FAO data estimates that the world's forest and forest soil

store more than 1 trillion tons of carbon twice the amount found in atmosphere. The World

Bank estimates that forests provide habitat to about two thirds of all species on earth and

27

that deforestation of closed tropical rainforests could account for biodiversity to as many

as 100 species a day.

Transport sector needs a significant and urgent shift as the current trend of increase in

vehicle population is imposing a major and incalculable cost not only for this generation,

but for those yet to come (Pachauri R.K., 2012). There is therefore a need for major efforts

to increase public transport infrastructure and modernization of Indian Railways so that its

share of passenger and freight traffic increases over time as opposed to the trend in the

recent decades of perceptible decline. The level of ownership of personal vehicles in India

was around 70 per thousand in 2006 as compared to a little over 500 per thousand in the

developed world. A major effort in this direction is long overdue at the national, state and

local levels. Essentially, public transport would require the creation of local capability to

devise appropriate public transport system and access to financing given the fact that

public transport requires lumpy investments.

Globalization and liberalization policies of the Government in 90's has increased the

number of road vehicles nearly 93% from 1980-81 to 2003-04 (Ramachandran and

Shwetmala 2009). These road vehicles mainly consume nonrenewable fossil fiiels and are

a major contributor of GHG particularly CO2 emissions. They have calculated the country

level emissions for Railways, Shipping and Airways based on fiiel types and find that

road; rail and air are responsible for 80%, 13% and 6% emissions respectively. They

mention that as IR has an important role for long journey movement of both people and

freight and the last decade has seen a sharp increase in number of passengers and freight

movement and consequent fiael consumption. Present consumption of railways is around

5.1% of total transport energy with 77.5% met from diesel and the balance through

electricity.

2.4 TRANSPORT SECTOR

This section delves on the research publications on transport sector in general and railways

in particular.

Transport plays a very important role in the overall development of the national economy

in India and an efficient transport system is a prerequisite for sustained economic growth

(TEDDY 2008-09). The transport sector accounts for 19% of total energy consumed by

the country and is growing exponentially. Indian transport system comprises a number of

distinct modes and services. These modes include roads, railways, inland water transport,

28

coastal shipping, airports and airlines. The sector has progressed manifold in the past 50

years of planned development both in spread and capacity. While this has brought

immeasurable benefits, it has not been without deleterious benefits. India being one of the

largest consumers of fossil fiiels, the importance of energy use and emissions in the

transport sector within the energy scene has grown substantially in recent decades. India is

fifth largest crude oil consumer in the world and is likely to take the third slot in coming

years. More than 75% of country's crude oil requirement is met through imports. In India

energy requirement in transport sector grows at an average rate of 3% per annum, it is

likely to grow to 2.1 quadrillion Btu in 2015 and 3 quadrillion Btu in 2030. Petroleum

products continue to dominate energy use in transport sector. Of the total energy

consumed in transport sector only 1.5% is met through electricity and the remaining

98.5% is met through petroleum products. Use of alternate fuels in the transport sector

remains relatively modest. The total demand for petroleum products is growing at the rate

of 6% per annum. The transport sector consumes more than 40% of petroleum products as

compared to other sectors.

Energy consumption in Indian transport sector is growing at an alarming rate (Ramanathan

2000). Energy is consumed both by passenger and fi-eight traffic, and it is generally not

possible to apportion energy consumption exclusively to passenger or fi-eight traffic,

without making some assumptions on the energy consumption norms of vehicles. In this

paper, a holistic methodology, called the Data envelopment analysis (DEA), is used to

study the energy efficiencies of transport modes in India without any need for such

assiamptions. The analysis shows a gradual improvement in energy efficiency of rail

transport, while road transport in the late eighties was more efficient than in the nineties.

Road transport in 1993-94 was only 63% as efficient compared to rail transport in that

year.

Siu (2007) in his study about innovative lightweight transit technologies for sustainable

transportation has analysed that the phenomenon of building more roads to relieve traffic

congestion achieves nothing more than encouraging more vehicles to use them resulting in

more congestion which is one of the prime sources for bad air quality and inefficient use

of energy. Facing with these problems, a number of major cities are either building or

planning to build mass transit railways, as a backbone to enhance mobility and network

connectivity.

29

Past few decades in India a gradual transformation has taken place from rail dominated

transport to road dominated transport (Ramanathan and Parikh 2006). Infrastructural

problems such as lack of roads and rail network are a limiting factor. They conclude that

the passenger traffic in India is likely to grow at 5% a year and freight traffic more than

5% in the period 1990-2021 and hence energy efficiency improvements can reduce future

energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 26%. They opine that @ 45% reduction in

energy requirements and CO2 emissions are expected if the modal split is promoted in

favour of public transport modes.

Political and economic framework will have increasing importance in the coming fiiture

for improving railway energy efficiency (Gunther Ellwanger 2004). He highlights the need

for greater integrated cooperation between all stake holders to harvest potential energy

efficiency gains for the rail system. The study revealed that the average external cost of

transport per passenger (in Euros per 1000 km) was least for Rail at 18 and highest for Car

at 72. The results are as follows Car- 72, Aviation 52, Bus 32 and least is Rail -18.

Sharma and Manimala (2008), in 'Sustainability of The Indian Railways Turnaround: A

Stage Theory Perspective', says turnarounds are like exciting thrillers which describe

dramatic recovery of declining organizations. Since such recoveries have great relevance

for the economic development particularly of developing countries facing resource

scarcity, researchers with increasing interest have enriched the turnaround literature,

especially in the last four decades. Research has highlighted many facets of tumaroimd.

These include turnaround actions, strategies, types, elements, stages etc. Though the

research covers largely the private sector entities, but effort, though little, is not

nonexistent for the public sector. The paper examines a large complex departmental

commercial organization of the Government of India and it's much-talked about

turnaround in the theoretical perspective of stage theory. The paper not only fills up the

gap of research in public sector but also uses the established stage theory model to answer

the question of sustainability of the Indian Railways turnaround. The analysis goes back to

the theoretical propositions which are by and large supported by the analysis of the

turnaround of the Indian Railways.

Rachna Gangwar (2009), "Indian Railways in the Past Twenty Years: Issues, Performance

and Challenges" attempts to understand the development process of Indian Railways over

the past twenty years, the study covers issues and strategies related to financial and

30

physical aspects of revenue generating freight and passenger traffic from 1987-2007.

Study also covers the developments in the parcel, catering and advertising sector.

The share of rail transport in hidia has continued to fall year on year from 2001-2008 from

24%) to 20%) as per study carried out and published in South Asian Association for

Regional Cooperation (SAARC) journal of Transport (Ghai, 2011). The major pollutants

are CO2, CO, NOx, NMVOC, SOx and total suspended particles. CO2: CO2 emissions

attributed to freight traffic on railways is invariably less as compared to road fransport. In

case of passenger traffic, CO2 emissions are less in diesel fraction compared to electric

fraction. This is because of polluting effects of coal used in thermal power plants. CO:

There are insignificant emissions in case of rail transport, both for passenger and freight

traffic both for electric and diesel fraction. In case of road fransport, emissions from diesel

buses are far less, compared to passenger cars. NOxi NOx emissions are lower on rail

compared to road for passenger and freight fraffic. NMVOC- NMVOC emissions are

negligible in case of rail fransport compared to roads both for passenger and freight fraffic.

In case of road, fransport emissions are lower in diesel bus compared to passenger cars.

TSP: emissions are lower on rail with diesel traction than on road. The environmental

advantage of rail, as per study by Asian Institute of Transport Development is that rail

consumes 75 to 90% less energy for freight and 5 to 21% less for passenger as compared

to road. Rail fransport uses only one fifth of the efforts required by road fransport to move

a specific amount of material due to various reasons be in longer frains, low friction

between wheel and rail, less stoppages etc. Now a day's railway has infroduced

regenerative braking so that during braking the energy is pumped back to the system and

not lost in the form of fiictional heat.

2.5 DRIVERS AND BARRIERS TO ENERGY CONSERVATION

Various researchers have undertaken extensive work in the industrial sector and their

research publications pertaining to the various drivers and barriers to energy efficiency are

cited below.

Nagesha and Balachandra (2006) had studied the Barriers to Energy Efficiency in Small

Scale Industry Clusters; by using the Multicriteria based prioritization method duly using

Analytical Hierarchy Process. Somashekar and Nagesha (2010) have arrived at ten vital

factors influencing domestic household energy consumption using Factor Analysis (FA)

and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method of factor extractiouT

31

Dias et al (2004), in their study on "Energy education: breaking up the rational energy

use" have revealed that education is one of the best ways to transform the human behavior

for the rational use of energy. They conclude that for sustainable balance between nature

and energy availability require more responsibility in treatment of energy questions mainly

through education, which represents long term investments.

Patrik Thollander et al (2013), in " Beyond barriers- A case study of driving forces for

improved energy efficiency in the foundry industries in Finland, France, Germany, Italy,

Poland, Spain and Sweden" have focused on studying the drivers for energy efficiency and

found that economical considerations is the top drivers in foundries.

AVH Sola and AAP Xavier (2007) in their paper titled "Organizational human factors as

barriers to energy efficiency in electrical motors systems in industry' have studied the

correlation between organizational human factors (OHF) and the level of energy losses in

organizations. They carried out research in ten industries of the following sectors: pulp

and paper; food; wood ^ d chemical products. The losses of electric energy were

determined in motor systems with the aid of a mathematical model and the evaluation of

27 OHF identified in the literature review was made with the supervisors in the industries

by means of a structurized questiormaire. Seven OHF had presented significant correlation

with energy losses and sij^tf them are inversely proportional to the losses, in accordance

with linear regression analysis. The inversely proportional factors to the losses also with

significant correlation are considered determinative OHF and constitute barriers for energy

efficiency in organizations. These barriers are linked with the following organizational

areas: management system; education of employees; strategically vision. The purpose is to

subsidize the formularization of institutional policies in organizations to improve the

energy efficiency in the productive sector. The study recommends the implementation of

the determinative OHF in organizations as a way to transpose the human barriers for

energy efficiency.

The core aim of Human Resource Management is to attain the organization effectiveness.

Transport is one of the service sSctors in India. Indian Railways is the life line of India

(Kasinath Sopan, 2011). The real assets of Indian Railways are the Human Resource^ The

Indian Railways organization structure depicts the superior subordinate relationship in

vivid manner. The density of human resource in Indian Railways is at 22 Human Resource

per kilometer .The electrification network is at 29 percent to the total route kilometers

.However, the electrifications network should fiirther increased to 50 percent in order to

32

render the best services to the commuters. The socio-economic development is linked with

the number of railways stations; hence the railway stations should further increase. The

electric engines are eco - friendly, fastest and cheapest hence. The number of electric

engines should further increase in number in order to render best services to the goods and

commuters in Indian Railways. The Human Resource cost to the Total cost in Indian

Railways is at 55 percent due to the implementation of the VI pay commission. The

market share of Indian Railways is at 30 percent during the year 2008-09 hence, the

Railway Board ought to take decisions in tapping the small consignments also to boost up

the productivity and net revenue. However, the Indian Railways should focus on the core

activities and the non core activities should be given to the BPO.

2.6 LITERATURE PERTAINING TO INDIAN RAIL\\ AYS

This section deals with publications from various Hon'ble Minister of Railways, IR

Aimual Accounts statements, Expert Group on Modernisation Report, Chairman Railway

Board, Member Electrical, Member Mechanical, Chief Electrical Engineers press releases

IR is a vital organisation for national integration having 14 lakh dedicated committed and

determined Rail pariwar (Minister of Railways, 2013). IR must remain financially

sustainable so that the resources generated can be ploughed back for efficient upkeep,

operation and maintenance of the system. Steep increase in input costs has led to loss of

Rs 24,600 Crores in 2012-13 due to 12,335 passenger train operation. Mounting scarcity

of the resources continues to stare us at the face and thin spreads of funds has only

compounded the problem. During XI plan IR could not meet the target of doubling and

guage conversion. Considering the vastness of the nation, taking into account the large

areas still aspiring for rail connectivity the target needs to be much higher and the rail

network has to be expanded at a much faster rate than has been possible till now. Planning

commission has pegged the railways XII plan at Rs 5.19 lakh crore with gross budgetary

support of Rs 1.94 lakh crore, internal resources at 1.05 lakh Crores, market borrowings at

1.2 lakh crore and Rs 1 lakh crore expected through PPP route. Raising 1.05 lakh crore i.e.

Rs 20,000 Crores per annum for next 5 years is onerous task for IR.

IR remains committed to protecting the environment and promoting use of BET.

> IR has set up railway Energy Management Company to harness potential of solar

and wind energy.

33

> IR is setting up 75 MW wind mill plants and energizing 1000 level crossings with

solar power.

> Deployment of new generation EE electric locomotives and EMU saving Rs 60

Croresin2011-12.

> Encourage more usage of agro based and recycled paper and ban plastic in

catering.

IR won the national EC awards for its contribution in EC. IR is motivating students to

study and undertake research on IR related issues at M.Phil and PhD levels. Fellowships

with stipend are being instituted at national universities. A chair at TERI to promote

railway related research is being instituted to reduce the carbon footprint of IR.

Recession period has affected developed countries of Europe and America adversely and

the whole world is looking towards India which has maintained an 8% economic growth

(Dinesh Trivedi, 2011). He said that India has emerged as an engine for growth for the

whole world and Indian Railways (IR) in turn is undoubtedly engine of growth for India as

its nation's lifeline and the mainstay of coimtry's transport infrastructure. He urged all

railway men and women to join hands for substantial expansion and modernisation of IR

which includes improvement in productivity and efficiency, safety, security, comfort and

other amenities of passengers. Emphasizing on the need to modernize railway operations

in all respects, Minister announced that an expert committee has recently been constituted

under the chairmanship of Shri Sam Pitroda to reconamend ways and means to modernize

IR to meet the challenges of economic growth, the aspirations of common man, the needs

of changing technology and the expanding market.

IR has started manufacturing of new generation 6000 hp electric locomotives with

regenerative braking in CLW (Muniyappa K.H., 2011). 10.5 MW wind mill plant has been

commissioned in Chennai and two more wind mill power plants of 10.5 MW capacities

each have been sanctioned one in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan and the other in Southern

Railway. IR fiirther proposes to set up wind mill plants of 72 MW capacities in the states

of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Kamataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. IR is also

harnessing solar power by providing solar photo voltaic modules of varying capacities at

Railway stations, office buildings, training institutes and level crossing gates.

IR are one of the least polluting modes of transport and efforts are steadily being made to

make railway operations environment friendly (IR Annual Report and Accounts 2012).

34

Some of the steps taken in this direction are as follows. Eliminating the use of wooden

sleepers by development of composite sleepers made of a polymer matrix, typically

polyethylene with reinforcing fibers. IR has undertaken afforestation on its vacant land on

a large scale and brought 0.48 lakh hectares under green cover. The year 2011-12 was

declared as "The year of Green Energy" and to commemorate the same activities like

creating awareness for green energy initiatives, tapping non conventional energy sources,

energy conservation measures were undertaken by the zonal railways. So far IR has

harnessed 10.5 MW of wind energy and about 4.5 MW of solar energy at level crossing

gates, wayside railway stations, street lights, solar water heaters at training

institutes/running rooms/hospitals/rest houses/canteens/base kitchen etc. During 2011-12,

capacity addition of about 326 kWp in solar energy was made which included

provisioning of solar lighting systems at 134 railway stations, 734 level crossings, 10

office buildings, 306 street lights and 111 number solar based water heaters. Besides solar

projects for capacity addition of 4.69 MWp are being initiated. Wind plants of about 93

MW are also planned in wind rich states. As EC initiative, IR has started use of energy

efficient electric locomotives and EMUs with 3 phase regenerative braking system, head

on generation for eliminating use of DG sets in trains. EC initiatives including

replacement of T8 FTL by energy efficient T5 and CFL fittings, provision of LED lights,

energy efficient ceiling fans, occupancy sensors, use of star rated equipments etc has

reduced energy consumption thus saving 1.03% of electricity (2458 million units during

2011-12 as against 2484 million units during 2010-11) for non traction apphcation despite

about 5% increase in connected load. Diesel locomotives have been steadily upgraded

with various innovative measures like microprocessor control, roller suspension bearing,

conmion rail direct injection etc which has resulted in steady improvement in specific fiiel

consumption rates resulting in saving of fiiel consumption of Rs 4500 Crores per annum.

Shunting loco WDS 6 use in place of WDM 2 has potential of saving Rs 32 lakh per loco

per annum on present day fuel price.

IR is in urgent need for modernization and generational charge to assure safety, improve

productivity, take advantage of advanced technology, respond to ever increasing demand

and meet exclusive growth aspirations of the country (Expert group for modernization of

IR 2012). Focus has been on five pronged strategy related to core assets, new revenue

modes, projects, enablers and resource mobilization to key areas related to tracks,

signaling, stations & terminals, PPP, land, dedicated freight corridors (DFL), information

35

and communication technology (ICT), indigenous development, safety, funding, human

resource and organization have been focused upon. Modernization of IR will not only

make it efficient and productive but also safe. The modernization plan proposed by the

expert group requires funding of 5, 60,000 Crores in next 5 years. The 4 main sources of

funds viz., budgetary support, internal generation by Railway, monetization of blocked

assets coupled with resort to PPP and funds rising fi-om financial institutions and markets

should be harnessed concurrently in a timely manner to ensure timely implementation. The

country presently suffers from a severe and chronic under investment in railway

infrastructure. The resultant disproportionate diversion of fi-eight and passenger traffic to

roads while causing substantial loss in revenue to IR also imposes a heavy burden on the

country which is measurable in terms of much larger freight cost to GDP ratio and higher

environmental cost per route less of freight and passenger traffic than in other countries.

There is an urgent need for modernization and capacity enhancement of IR to meet

Country's social and economic aspiration in the 21*' century. The recommendations

include

> PPP Initiatives (including renewable energy projects (solar, wind etc) 1000 Crores,

energy saving project -1000 Crores, Captive power generation - 4000 Crores)

> Human resources - launch a series of in-service training programme immediately.

Offering graduate programme in railway tech at IIT and rly. Mgt. at IIM

The committee strongly recommends that next Railway Budget should focus on the

modernization plan with a vision for generational charge to take IR to new heights with

commitment to safety & growth for all.

Indian Railway the third largest network in the world under single management carried 6.7

billion passengers and 794 million tonnes of cargo in the year 2007-08 (Khurana, 2009).

The fi-eight and passengers traffic has grown at 9% and 7% per annum on consistent basis.

XI five year plan set a target of 1100 million tonnes of originating traffic (702 billion Net

Tonne Km) and 840 Crore originating passengers (942 billion Passenger KMs ) therefore

capacity enhancement is the only key to this and in this process the various measures

being undertaken are as follows .

> Running of double stack container train on both diesel and Electric trains using

light weight wagons which can improve the carrying capacity of a train.

Increase in axle loads of wagons and reduction is wagon turnaround time

36

> Dedicated freight corridor for high density network to carry the bulk of railway

fi"eight

> Augmentation of locomotives and coach manufacturing activities, port

connectivity work and terminal capacity improvement

> Use of modem technology to upgrade equipments in Railway workshops to

meet the challenges.

He underscores the importance of reassessing the HR practices to weld our employees

together and equip them to assimilate, interpret and employee need to be empowered at all

levels to think innovatively and so that we can as an organization respond djoiamically to

the expectation of the customer and changes is our envirormient. Comprehensive training

program has been devised to depute officers and supervisors to expose then to the best of

institution outside and inside the country. This clearly implies the importance attached to

the human resources for the efficient functioning of the organization as a whole.

Improved locomotive, wagons and coaches are needed to support the strategy to run

heavier longer and faster trains over IR (Praveen Kumar 2010). He suggests the following

measures in this direction. Light weight fi'eight stocks that are lighter in weight for better

pay to tare ratio's which enable higher carrying capacity. Stainless steel (SS) 29 tormes an

axle load open wagon has been designed by Research Designs and Standards Organisation

(RDSO) and production has commenced since September 2008. These wagons have to pay

tare ratio of 3.45 instead of earlier 2.5 of BOX N. The body and under fi-ame is made of

stainless steel. Similarly SS covered wagons with 22.9 axle load being introduced fi"om

Dec 08 which have pay to tare ratio of 3.4 versus 2.3 of earlier wagons. By reducing the

tare weight these wagons turn out to be more energy efficient and also reduce the fiiel

costs involved in transportation.

POH periodicity of ICF design Mail/Express coaches has been enhanced fi-om 12 to 18

months, which will subsequently enhance the availability of coaches for traffic use. This

has been possible by upgrading the vital safety and passengers amenity items which is

being carried out by all the concerned Railway Workshops. New generation light weight

SS coaches design has been finalized to combat the problem of corrosion. There are now

being manufactured in our production units. Diesel locomotives have been upgraded to

give higher horse power, better reliability and extended periodicity between successive

maintenance schedules. Up rated fuel efficient engine, microprocessor controls AC-DC

transmission, roller bearings in TM suspension unit and seated axle bearing are some of

37

the features which have resulted in vastly improved performance reducing both

maintenance and operational cost.

Indian Railway organization for alternative fuels (IROA) in collaboration with M/s

Cummins is promoting use of CNG (Dual fuel mode) along with Diesel in Diesel

Electrical Multiple Units (DEMU).

IR has made rapid progress in the field of electric traction and on date 33% of network is

electrified which enables carrying of 65% freight and 50% of passenger traffic (Kul

Bhushan 2013). IR plans to electrify6500 kms of track in 12* five year plan. IR has

envisaged four pronged strategy manufacturing of state of art locomotives with higher

haulage capacity - 6000 hp loco Introduction of greener energy solutions to meet rising

power demands. IR has introduced modem technology in signaling system to improve

sectional capacity and safety Modernisation of existing infrastructure. A 10 MW wind mill

has been set up in Tamil Nadu (March 2009) to meet power requirements of ICF Chennai.

This project is registered with UNFCCC and expected to earn 20,000 CER's per annum

and similarly two more wind mills of 10.5 MW capacities one each in Tamil Nadu and

Rajasthan are on the anvil.

Jain R.K (2013) in "Indian Railway Energy and Sustainable Development" observes EC

measures in non- traction use being implemented by IR are as follows:

Benchmarking of electricity usage, Use of energy efficient luminaries ,Installing Energy

Management System at stations to reduce energy consumption. Use of CFL in service

buildings, production units and residential colonies, Use of LED at A and Al class

stations. Use of 3 star and above rated products. Use of renewable energy sources, Use of

grid connected solar panel in offices workshops, station buildings. Renewable energy

source for stations, Use of solar street lights and solar water heaters. Use of wind energy in

IR, Enabling IT in power systems. IT enabled solution for power network of IR. All new

construction undertaken by IR will be as per Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC)

and will be green buildings. Energy audit of work centers will be undertaken in phased

manner.

IR is the lifeline of India and is the cheapest, fastest and safest means of transport in India

compared to any mode of transport. The operating ratio (OR) depicts vividly the efficacy

of the management in IR. It is the ratio of the total working expenses to the gross receipts

or in plain terms the amount spent to earn a hundred rupees. During 2010-11 the OR of IR

38

was 94.59 in contrast to 81 during 1950-51 (Kasinath Sopan 2013). The OR is very high

due to implementation of 6 pay commission recommendations. During 2010-11 the

human resource cost was Rs 53706 Crores which is about 62% of the total costs thus

representing a lion's share. IR should reduce the OR to 75% by increasing the freight rates

and commuter fares to ensure funds for development. Hence Railway Board needs to draw

strategies for growth and development of IR through sophisticated technology in

accordance with the changing scenario in the globe. The output of IR is measured through

traffic output which stood at 978 billion passenger kms and 625 billion torme km of freight

kilometers.IR should focus on core activities and non core activities should be given to

Business Process Outsourcing and Knowledge Process Outsourcing for efficacy on one

hand and cost control on the other. Electrification should be enhanced to render best

services and improve productivity. The contribution of IR to Indian GDP is 1%.

South Western Railway is annually spending Rs. 20 Crores towards electrical energy

charges and small efforts on energy conservation can yield substantial results (Tempe,

2010). He highlights the \'arious measures being taken in this direction viz. replacing

incandescent lamps in all quarters by CFL or FL, use of solar water heater in place of

electrical geysers in retiring rooms, running rooms, use of solar PV lighting systems and

signaling systems etc.

As not much of the data pertaining to Railway workshops is available in print form or on

the internet it is felt that interacting with responsible officials of the concerned wings is

more beneficial to gather data. In this context the civil engineering department official has

been interacted with to understand the water recycling plant being built up. Similarly both

the Safety officers have been contacted to get information on the current issues pertaining

to the Workshops

The review of literature available pertaining to railways and its energy issues reveals that

energy and envirormient are interconnected subjects receiving global attention in research

the world over in the present era. Further,

1. For development of a nation the transport sector plays a vital role in the economy and

railways being more energ}' efficient than road transport does need more focused study to

improve its energy intensive units such as workshops.

2. The study of energy issues on railway workshops has not been covered in a holistic

manner covering the two major inputs viz., thermal energy and electric energy.

39

3. Major issues such as internal factors, human element influencing energy and

environmental aspects have not been considered in the studies.

4. The comparative study of energy and environment issues between major workshops

located at different geographical areas is currently not available.

In IR, the energy consumption by the workshops is quite substantial but still this aspect

has not been able to attract researches due to various constraints. There is an urgent need

to study the efficiency and environmental performance of these workshops both from

economic and environment perspectives as IR being a government organization should

lead by example and should shoulder higher corporate social responsibility.

The study of the proposed two major workshops situated in southern part of this nation has

never been carried out and an attempt is being made to study the same selecting the major

thermal and electrical issues pertaining to these workshops. Energy efficiency, economic

and environmental performance, internal and external factors affecting the energy

efficiency and environmental pollution and the prioritization of drivers and barriers shall

be undertaken with the help of experts in the field both from within and outside the

Railways

2.7 ENERGY ANALYSIS IN WORKSHOPS

Workshops over IR are basically service industries wherein maintenance is undertaken in

addition to manufacturing activity too. The basic purpose of an industrial process is to

convert raw material into the desired end products. In such a process requiring use of

energy, a set of given quantities of input changes its form to approach the final form of

output and as a result the energy content per unit of material keeps on changing. "Energy

analysis" aims at quantifying the energy contents of the final output. Given the system

boundary and level of analysis, energy analysis requires adequate data regarding quantity

of final output produced and corresponding energy input from different energy carriers.

One of the approaches to industrial energy analysis is to conduct an "energy audit".

2.7.1 Energy Audit

A systematic approach, to monitor industrial energy consumption and to pin-point sources

of wastage, is known as an "energy-audit" (GEDA, 2005). An energy-audit study helps an

organization to understand and analyze its energy utilization and identify areas where

energy use can be reduced, decide on how to budget energy use, plan and practice feasible

energy conservation methods that enhances energy efficiency, curtail energy wastage and

40

substantially reduce energy costs. Thus, energy-audit assists in energy cost optimization,

pollution control, safety aspects and suggests the methods to improve the operating &

maintenance practices of the system (PCRA, 2005).

An 'energy-audit' study provides the vital information base for overall energy

conservation program covering essentially energy utilization analysis and evaluation of

energy conservation measures and it aims at the following (PCRA, 2005):

> Identifying the quality and cost of various energy inputs.

> Assessing present pattern of energy consumption in different cost centers of

operations.

> Relating energy inputs and production output.

> Identifying potential areas of thermal and electrical energy saving.

> Highlighting wastages in major areas.

> Fixing of energy saving potential targets for individual cost centers.

> Implementation of measures for energy conservation &. realization of savings

Methodology of an energy-audit usually involves two phases (GEDA, 2005; PCRA,

2005). In the first phase, comprehensive collection of data on operational parameters,

energy consumption, plant capacities, etc., are made through a questionnaire. This

facilitates the study of specific energy consumption (both electrical and thermal), power

sources, distribution systems and drive controls, load factor, efficiency of motors, lighting,

etc. Further, the conservation potential in each area is estimated along with techno-

economic feasibility for recommended measures. The second phase involves follow-up

action with the industry on periodic basis to ascertain the level of implementation of

recommendations and assisting them, if required, in implementing any of the

recommended measure to achieve energy efficiency.

2.8 ENERGY USE, CONSERVATION AND EFFICIENCY IN IR WORKSHOPS

The workshops, which contribute significantly to IR in several ways, consume significant

amount of energy and are making progress in energy utilization efficiency and

environmental aspects like pollution control. However, if the available literature is any

indication, it appears that the energy related aspects of workshops have not attracted the

researchers and policy makers in the past to the desired extent. It is only in the recent

times that energy and its associated issues are getting due attention in the research and

policy making circles and as such Ministry of Railways is instituting a Chair at TERI (The

41

Energy and R isearch Institute) University and is tying up with the Indian Institutes of

Technologies (IITs). Most of the energy related studies undertaken so far in the context of

workshops oyer IR are reviewed.

Based on the available literature it may be concluded that to improve energy and

environnicntal performance of workshops in India, it is essential to have energy-led

initiatives with a scope to encompass the other related issues as well. It must have a

flexible framework to include organizational and attitudinal problems. The focus must be

on energy-intensive sub-sectors with bottom-up approach (Dasgupta, 1999), which have

to:

> Involve owners to identify constraints

> Prioritize and address these constraints

> Encourage self help

> Make iterative changes to existing technology and develop a working partnership

> Demonstrate environmental and economic benefits that could accrue to industry

> Prepare ground for teclinological change, and

> Disseminate information to encourage uptake.

2.9 ENERGY RELATED STUDIES IN IR WORKSHOPS - RESEARCH GAPS

Although some micro-level energy related studies of Workshops are reported in literature

fi"om certain zones of IR, there is scope for fUrther study. In a vast organization like IR

with varied resource base and socio-economic conditions, micro-level studies of each

region arc necessary for understanding the problems and prospects of workshops in

different regions of the nation. Experts in the energy field observe that micro-level

empirical studies are more useful than macro-level studies for guiding policies and

demonstrating the link between resource productivities and performance of enterprises.

A detailed review of available literature on energy related studies in the context of

railways has revealed the following:

> Most of the studies based on railways as only a mode of transport. The approach of

studying two major workshops is justifiable in view of the fact that more than 41

workshops exist in India, contributing significantly to employment generation.

Thus, even if energy consumed and environmental pollution is insignificant at the

individual workshop level, they become noteworthy at the national level.

42

> These studies are not comprehensive in nature as they did not cover all the

dimensions of energy efficiency like causes, constraints and consequences of

present state of affairs, for suggesting the way forward. Further, there is hardly any

study of energy-intensive workshops from different regions of the country.

> It is said that energy consumption belongs to the realm of technology but energy

conservation, including energy efficiency, to the realm of society. As energy

consumption is the last part of a long chain of decisions and actions, it is

appropriate to discuss energy consumption within its social context (Weber, 1997).

The University of Kiel (UoK, 1998), Baranzi and Giovannini (1996), and Dasgupta

(1999) have substantiated this. Yet, the energy studies in IR in the past appear to

have ignored the influence of socio-economic context and the behavioural &

organizational aspects of workshops.

> Barrier models face physics of energy consumption and the social character of

obstacles to energy efficiency. They bring them together by focusing on technical

processes and at the same time emphasizing the social context of energy

consumption, taking human behaviour, firms, markets and institutions into

consideration (Weber, 1997). Hence, study of barriers to energy efficiency is a

usefiil step towards achieving higher levels of efficiency. However, there is a lack

of studies substantially dealing with barriers to energy efficiency in IR workshops.

> The consequence of energy inefficiency is reflected in environmental and

economic performance of workshops though energy use and its associated

environmental impact are direcfly linked, the relationship of energy use with

economic performance is not so obvious. In the context of IR Workshops, there is

dearth of literature probing these aspects.

It is with these research gaps in mind that this empirical research study of two energy-

intensive IR workshops in South India is undertaken. This study looks at energy efficiency

fi-om multiple perspectives such as energy consumption, environmental pollution, and

energy cost. Apart firom establishing the current levels of efficiency, it also estimates the

energy conservation potential in the workshops. The relevant drivers and barriers are

identified and ranked in order to fine-tune the policy initiatives for enhancing energy

efficiency in workshops over IR.

43