IIT-B hostels compete to save energy

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay students have come up with an effective way to conserve energy as well as spread awareness on the subject.

Techfest 2010, the 13th edition of IIT Bombay’s annual international science and technology festival, has launched a new initiative, where all the 13 hostels of the institute will compete with each other in conserving the maximum amount of energy.

The Energy General Championship started this month in collaboration with the technical club of IIT Bombay. The competition will be on till November-end. The current bills for the month of August will be used as the benchmark.

The results will be declared on a monthly basis and will carry a certain number of points. The conservation will be calculated on per capita basis. The hostel which records the highest change in the amount of electricity used will win the competition.

“Conservation of energy and encouraging the use of alternate energy sources have always been the major focus areas for Techfest.  This time we’ve taken a step forward in this direction. We felt we should do something for the institute and hence we introduced this competition,” said Nikhil Kashid, media manager, Techfest 2009-10.

“Besides switching off all the electrical appliances when they leave their hostel rooms, the students are expected to come up with unique ideas to conserve energy in daily life as well,” said Kashid.