Biogas gives India energy choice - Asia - Al Jazeera English

Biogas gives India energy choice - Asia - Al Jazeera English

In the 1970s, Biogas plants were a major thrust in India as several governments tried promoting "Gobar Gas" plants as they were called then. ("Gobar" means dung in Hindi.) Dr Mayraj Fahim, a good friend and well-wisher of this blog, sent me this link on Al Jazeera television's website of a new indigenously designed miniature bio-gas plant which connects either to a source of cow waste or human waste as a user desires. Here's wishing that this becomes a much wider trend in a country where waste disposal (and sewage disposal in particular) is as good as non-existent.

A New Hydroponic Cultivation System that could have Huge Benefits for Indian Farmers

As someone who works increasingly with Japanese companies these days, this blogger has started to take a closer look at the clean technologies being developed in that country. This blogger was also deeply interested in (and experimented with) hydroponic cultivation as a student in the days when Moses wore shorts, like many Indians do. This article from The Asahi Shimbun features an intriguing new patented hydroponic cultivation system that is a halfway-house between traditional hydroponics and conventional agriculture. The stress is on the low costs of the system, something that has kept hydroponics in India confined to the state of West Bengal where James Douglas developed the Bengal System of Hydroponics in the 1950s. Debt-ridden to the extent where 60 farmers commit suicide every day, India's farmers cannot usually afford a substantial investment in tanks, lifting equipment etc that traditional hydroponic agriculture requires.

I shall try and get more information on the Okamoto system and post it here, but, in the meantime, visitors are welcome to check this article out. At the very least, I think this would address the annual conflict between my former home state of Tamilnadu in India and the neighboring state of Karnataka. To add icing to the cake, the Chinese have found the system very effective. India needs to look at it carefully too for that precise reason.

Back After a Long Break With Some Hopefully Good News

I have not been blogging for a while - like all bloggers, I did run into a brief blogging-block. Hopefully, this is now past and I can start writing again. In any case, here is some hopefully positive news about an airline that I will never travel on: Air India. Let's hope that the purchase of the Eco Power washing system is the beginning of a chain of positive developments and improvements at Air India. Yes, I am a cynic about India's national airline for reasons that are too long for me to go into over here, but then, if something good occurrs, I am most happy to accept it.

Hope to see you around here regularly in the future!

50% suffer kidney ailments | Deccan Chronicle | 2010-04-21

50% suffer kidney ailments | Deccan Chronicle | 2010-04-21

One more extreme horror from Andhra Pradesh that has implications far beyond the farmers and their families who are suffering from kidney ailments due to an overuse of pesticides. I wonder if those who eat this rice well beyond Andhra's borders are aware of what they are consuming as well? Or, if there are studies that show how many people are infected with these dangerous pesticides as consumers in the end? Thanks to the Deccan Chronicle for highlighting this fact in India. Under normal circumstances, the first that any Indian would have heard about this would have been when some Wessetrn country decided to ban Sona Masuri or some other type of rice grown in Andhra from sale and importation.

In India, the law allows "permissible quantities" of rat shit to be included in rice that is sold for human consumption. My guess is that the Food Ministry (whose head seems more interested in furthering his daughter's political career and in running the cricket board than in ensuring that food in India is safe) simply doesn't care about this slow poisoning of the Indian population.

Shame on you, Government of India! The Indian people deserve better!

Forbes: Over the Next 7 Years, 50% of India's Coal Will come from Overseas

This is an article that offers both promise as well as some major cautions: Forbes magazine takes a close look at the fact that 50% of India's coal is going to be imported about 7 years from now. On the most basic level, this means $ 40 billion a year lost in foreign exchange because of this terrible addiction. Look a little beyond that, and it means much worse - not only is this money going up, quite literally, in smoke, this also means that the air is going to be polluted with sulfur and carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide at the very least, water drawn to cool the coal based powerplants will also be contaminated and when this water is released into the sea or into the river system, some of the contaminants will return to contaminate the soil in the country. A frightening state of affairs to say the very least.

I am not sure what can be done - motivated "experts" like the stupid N N Sachitanand whom I have talked about here, have been touting nonsense about some renewable energy technologies which are being successfully used elsewhere. India has a huge coastline which makes offshore wind a very real and viable possibility. The country is bathed in sunlight and this is, fortunately, an area where the government is doing something - the 13th Plan is looking hard at addressing the deficiency in installed solar capacity. As the country grows to be more prosperous, it is going to require more power. Hopefully, India will wean itself from its coal addiction asap. This is a direction that is not going to end in a comfortable journey, wherever it takes the country.

Let's ROB Video

The video explains the motivation that brings youngsters out every weekend in Chennai to clean the beaches up. Yes, this is the same group about whom I can't write enough: Let's ROB.

If you're in Chennai, please try and volunteer when you can. If you're not, then please let your friends in Chennai know about this group.
Thanks!

Let's ROB on NDTV HIndu News

YouTube - ndtvhindu's Channel

The other group that I follow, Let's ROB, has also found itself in the news in India with one of their young volunteers interviewed along with other young people who have been working as environmental activists in Chennai. I think this is a wonderful acknowledgment of the hard work being put in by people with both their hearts and minds in the right place. Now, if only this spirit could be conveyed to the powers that be, this very blog may not have a reason to criticize some of what goes wrong in India. Perhaps, the older folk (this blogger included among them) need to look at the younger people with more trust and confidence.

Coastal Protection Group on NDTV Hindu

YouTube - ndtvhindu's Channel

There's some news about the protests against the proposed elevated expressway along the Chennai beaches in this segment from NDTV Hindu's Youtube channel. This blog was inspired by the group that does this work in India and this post is meant as a big thanks to them. That said, the hard work that they have put in, is at a critical stage and the risks of the expressway being built are great indeed. Hopefully, friends of this blog would try and help in whatever way they can to convince the political and bureaucratic authorities that their expressway plan is ill conceived, bound to be unnecessarily expensive and not really likely to help any of the groups representing people living along the proposed route. Do we want to replace some of the loveliest public spaces in Chennai with a concrete monstrosity, noise and perpetual exhaust smoke?

The Hindu : Cities / Chennai : College students do their bit for nature

The Hindu : Cities / Chennai : College students do their bit for nature

Some more positive news about the Let's ROB group and their enthusiastic volunteers in Chennai. I do think that this group's work deserves to be supported by everyone who can spare some time. Before anyone forgets, Wa'angari Mathaai won a Nobel Prize for peace for planting green belts in Africa. This group is doing work that is as important an significant. I hope that they get more and more recognition in the future and, to repeat myself, they draw more members to their fantastic cause!

Thanks and all the very best!

Kuwaiti study: Conventional oil to peak in 2014 — Autoblog Green

Kuwaiti study: Conventional oil to peak in 2014 — Autoblog Green

For the first time, an Arab country has admitted that the world's oil supplies are close to peaking. I seriously wonder if ANY of India's politicians / planners have the foresight to consider the implications of this admission by one of the world's leading oil producers? In the short term, this will mean that oil prices will skyrocket. In the long term, it will mean that the future will belong to countries that are prepared for a mainly post oil era. Yes, some morons will talk about converting coal to gasoline or of gasifying coal and using it in conventional engines. The smart brains will be working to wean themselves off oil and coal altogether and work on wind, solar or other sources of energy.

It will be interesting to watch this develop - I am going to wait and see if any Indian media outlet even takes cognizance of this Kuwaiti admission.

Solar energy to light up 191 remote JK villages: Rediff.com Business

Solar energy to light up 191 remote JK villages: Rediff.com Business

I have received this particularly good piece of news from a young internet friend from India, Avadhut Joshi. Avadhut is an engineer and he has plans of doing his Masters and beginning his career as a Renewable Energy entrepreneur in the future - an encouraging piece of news especially for older people with an interest in this area like me. What is particularly positive about this piece of news is the fact that one more state - until recently known both for its breathtaking scenery and its long and painful insurgency - there is a positive way forward. The Kashmir government has taken a very good step in my opinion. A beautiful state like Kashmir needs to find clean energy to power itself without marring the environment in any way. And, with tried and tested systems being manufactured in India for export to regions with similar climatic conditions like Afghanistan, the solution is available indeed for implementation in Kashmir itself. I hope that this beginning would also see solar powered traffic lights in Kashmir in addition to more wind power installed as well. This is a development that I shall be watching.

And, Himachal Pradesh - what are you planning? Aren't you interested in competing with Kashmir on a friendly basis? With similar conditions, you are an equally good candidate for solar power . . .

Forbes Comes Away Impressed with Clean Tech Startups in India

Some positive news here: when a hard nosed business publication like Forbes comes away impressed with clean tech startups in India as this article suggests, you know that progress is being made and in a viable manner. Personally, I think it is important to have environmentally sound solutions but that it is also possible to make these profitable. No, I am not a socialist and I am not interested in the stupidity of throwing good money at "solutions" that may or may not work. it is especially encouraging to me to see that one of the toughest business journals in the most firmly capitalist country in the world is impressed with Indian clean tech companies. This means that these companies will succeed - and that means not just that they will make a profit, but that they will do this while keeping the environment cleaner.

This is a great start, India! Please don't fall back after beginning well!

PS There's one more related article that is equally worth reading if you enjoy this post.

Cheers!

RAND Corp Study Links Air Quality to Hospital Costs

The US think tank RAND Corp have released a study directly correlating hospitalization costs with air pollution based on data gathered in California from 2005 to 2007. The report can be downloaded from this link. I do wish that someone would take up a similar study in India and inform the Central government and State Governments how much potential damage could take place because of the mindless attempt at pushing forward with the current methods of "development." All of the money in India will not be enough to do anything positive if huge numbers of people begin to fall severely sick from exposure to pollution. And pollution is something that is democratic in nature - it affects millionaire and pauper alike, political leader and the average Indian alike.

Now, would someone please get this message out to the luminaries who occupy the seats of power? Good health is something that has a direct effect on prosperity. Medical expenses have brought even wealthy nations like the USA and Britain to the verge of ruin. Just imagine what they could do to a poor nation like India . . .

Geneva 2010: Tata debuts Nano EV concept

Geneva 2010: Tata debuts Nano EV concept

Chalk one more hurrah up for the Tatas and their electric Nano. With Indian streets stinking of the smell of untreated exhausts from many millions of old vehicles and with the ever increasing prices of fuel in India whenever some silly sheikh decides to build himself a new palace or acquire a new harem, this car could address two very important needs: use less imported fuel and pollute less. Unfortunately, there are problems and these are not related to the car itself: India's power sector is pathetic and many places including the capital suffer from power shortages for several hours a day. Unless this is addressed, the Nano Enectric will only work well in cities like Mumbai and Pune which have decent electric utilities. Hopefully, though, India will address the power issue - I have friends who work in the infrastructure sector talk about possibly as much as Rs 50,000 crores in new investments in powerplants. Hopefully, these will not be coal-burning plants which need imported coal.

In any case, a leading private sector company in India is doing a great job. Cheers for the Tatas for producing an electric car that is suited to the Indian marketplace. I doubt that any of the foreign companies which have set up shop in India would invest the time and the money to come up with something like this. India will have to look for Indian solutions to Indian problems, eventually. This is as good a beginning as is possible.

Since India Seems Committed to Jatropha Cultivation, This May be of Interest

An interesting Forbes perspective on Jatropha which has been regarded as a miracle crop of sorts in India: Link. On the one hand, traditional Jatropha may not be the miracle crop that it is cracked up to be. On the other hand, with hybridization, it may be possible to tailor Jatropha varieties for the various different soils and environments that it is grown in.

I do wish that the Indian government would pay more attention to this than to inflicting third rate junk like Bt Brinjal on the nation!

PS SG Biofuels's website is: Link. Hopefully, some company in India ties up with them soon!

What Dedicated Effort Over Just One Day Can Achieve

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a planned beach clean-up by the Let's ROB group and the picture above shows positive results from just one cleanup. Now, just imagine what the results would be if the cleanup attracted more members and the mangroves were restored right across the beaches! I can imagine my childhood years from four decades ago when we would go to a clean beach and pick shells up to bring back home. Have you asked any child these days what a cowrie is? Yeah, some of them might know from pictures that they have seen in some magazine or in some sequence from The National Geographic Channel. Hopefully, this group will see ever greater success and bring back the missing pristine beauty that used to be a part and parcel of Chennai's beaches not all that long ago.

If you haven't joined "Let's ROB," (that's Reclaim Our Beaches for the uninitiated) please do at once. My thanks to everyone involved for their hard work in organizing and promoting this excellent cause!

Cheers for Minister for the Environment, Jairam Ramesh

Minister for the Environment Jairam Ramesh has thrown in his support for the concerns of the Indian people over Bt Brinjal and imposed a moratorium over its seeds being sold in India by Monsanto. This is a positive step. At the same time the Minister has said that he would like to look at Bt Tomato and other GM vegetables from Monsanto on a case by case basis without a blanket ban on GM foods. There is some concern among activists in India, especially Greenpeace that this leaves the door open to other GM foods coming in in the future. I am personally not all that worried about this for several reasons:

1. Mr Ramesh and other Indian politicians have judged the public mood on GM crops quite astutely. India does elect its politicians and with eight states - including several that were run by the Congress Party - banning Bt Brinjal before the Central Government took a decision on the crop, permitting it would have meant electoral suicide. Granted Mr Ramesh is a Rajya Sabha member and does not have to contest elections, the clear fact is that the career of every politician who opposes a popular view is going to be on the line

2. Considering other GM food crops on a case by case basis is the logical way forward. India cannot afford to block all GM products at one go because of international trade obligations. Singling Monsanto products out for a ban could cause problems if Monsanto get their paid politicians in Washington to raise Cain over this supposedly "Discriminatory treatment" meted out to them. There are no better whiners than paid lobbyists and the politicians who receive their commission. The discrimination door cannot be left for Monsanto to open

3. I have faith in a market response against GM food. every major US store chain offers "Organic Crops" on its shelves. Once the exclusive preserve of upmarket chains like Whole Foods, even mass-market chains like Walmart now offer organic food because the buying public is willing to pay better prices for it. Simply put, organic food tastes better. GM food in the USA has now been mostly diverted to the packaged food sector and to restaurant chains, though there are several popular chains including Chipotle, Panda Buffet etc who only use organic ingredients. My guess is that it is a question of time before more of the chain restaurants jump on this bandwagon. Taste is an important matter and if a big chain like McDonalds were to start offering organic food, they could bring the costs down with their large purchases. The future looks good!

The sensible and measured approach taken by Mr Ramesh needs to be appreciated. While some of the protesters (especially politically motivated farmers) became obstreperous, it could be considered the heat of the issue involved. Monsanto does not, quite, lend its name to calm and peaceful discussion even in the USA. I am sure there is time to breathe a sigh of relief and settle down now, to cheer the very sensible decision that has been arrived at. I do have a regret though - Greenpeace came up with a plan to make the world's biggest Baingan Bharta in protest against Bt Brinjal. I would have loved to eat it had I been able to. Of all things Indian that we expats miss, nothing hurts more than Indian food.

Cancel Bt brinjal, AP tells Centre | Deccan Chronicle

Cancel Bt brinjal, AP tells Centre | Deccan Chronicle

As one more state asks the Centre to ban Bt Brinjal, the opposition to this GM vegetable in India does seem to be heating up. Hopefully, the voices of Jairam Ramesh's party colleagues in AP will be heard and respected. I am keeping my fingers crossed. We should see some result very soon . . .

Uttarakhand Bans Bt Brinjal

Good news is not entirely dead and nor is it totally scarce these days as this very brief announcement in today's The Hindu shows: Link The beautiful and picturesque state of Uttarakhand in India has banned Genetically Modified Brinjals from Monsanto even before the Central Government could take a decision on the issue. With the immense anger over the issue (and I have heard that Minister for the Environment Jairam Ramesh is becoming sympathetic to those who would like to see GMO food kept out of India) a state has taken prompt action and closed the door on a crop of questionable merit.

My congratulations to the good people of Uttarakhand and to the state government and to the many good people who have opposed this crop. I shall look forward to congratulating Mr Jairam Ramesh when he, too, follows Uttarakhand's lead and takes a similar, right decision nationally.

CTBUH 2010 Conference in India

I have had some correspondence with a young Indian engineering student, Avadhut Joshi, on some forums and he has sent me details of a conference on "Remaking Sustainable Cities in the Vertical Age" conducted by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. India is a large country but with an enormous population, it has no choice but to build skywards. People need homes and as the country becomes steadily more affluent,

In recent weeks there has been some very good news coming out of India and I think this is really good stuff. The website does not talk about who the exhibitors will be at the conference, but, whoever exhibits now, there is going to be a buzz about new technology in this field and that can only be a good thing. With interested young people in India looking at these very interesting areas, the future should be good.

My thanks to Avadhut for this information. I have requested him to write a report if he attends the conference. I shall feature it here with credit to him if he does find time to write it.

A Group That Everyone Who Cares About the Environment Should Join

As someone who grew up in Chennai (then known as "Madras," a name that I still prefer) my fondest memories are of the beautiful Marina Beach and of my family's Sunday evening trip there. Over the years, the beach has suffered tremendously. The shells that we would collect as children are no longer to be found because sewage that is let into the sea kills off virtually all of the marine life. And the daily encroachments of "civilization" and its runoffs, continue to inflict harm on one of the most beautiful things about a lovely city.

There is now a great group working to preserve the Marina and Besant Nagar and other beaches, and trying to influence other cities to do the same to beaches that they have messed up as much as Chennai has messed the Marina up. With the controversial name Let's Rob, this group plans to "Reclaim Our Beaches" as a beautiful environment for the Indian people to enjoy again. This is a group of highly dedicated people working hard to do something that will benefit millions. I would request everyone who can to please volunteer or spread the word about them. These are good people. They deserve all the support that they can get and I hope that they succeed beyond their own wildest expectations. For India's sake, they deserve to.

Good News from India - "Solar Valleys"

I often click onto the URLs of Indian newspapers with a sense of trepidation - news of some idiotic coal fired powerplant coming up somewhere or of some similarly wasteful enterprise is what I have come to expect - call that the cynic in me, but when you have been looking at how things move in India for as long as I have, it is difficult not to be skeptical, if not entirely cynical. However, The Hindu has this excellent piece on a new "Solar Valleys" proposal that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hass embarked upon: Link The proposal for a 20,000 MW target for harnessing solar energy by the end of the 13th Five Year Plan is something that India sorely needs to achieve. It is a matter of survival for India as a nation - the country simply cannot afford to buy horrendously expensive oil, gas and coal anymore with the hard-earned money of the Indian people. The costs in terms of environmental pollution, foreign exchange outflows and of money going to countries that have arrogant and condescending attitudes to Indians is something that India needs to halt asap.

I am no fan of Indian politicians or politics but I hope that this plan succeeds way beyond what the Prime Minister desires. There are only positive results to be expected no matter what degree of success is achieved.