By Manka Behl
Thanks to corona lockdown that brought most economic activities to a grinding halt, power consumption in the country has fallen by 18.72% (as on April 4). The emissions of particulate matter during this period have seen a nearly 7% decline.
This was revealed in the data tracker developed by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC). The tracker shows the impact of Covid-19 on electricity consumption and particulate pollution in countries like India, China, and the United States.
The researchers compared the decline with the average gross electricity consumption in the country in 2018-2019 which was about 1181 kilowatt hour (kwh) per capita. The particulate emissions were compared to the levels of December 2019.
The tracker shows that on the first day of the lockdown (March 25), electricity consumption in the country saw a decline of nearly 21%. It further fell nearly 24% the next day and 25% on the third day. Till April 6, the fall kept on swaying between 18-22%. “Historically, electricity consumption has proven to be a reliable, early indicator of broader economic trends. With the restrictions, roads and airports are nearly empty, shops and restaurants closed, and industrial activities are largely at a halt leading to reduction in usage of power,” stated a press release by EPIC.
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