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.

Excellent News from India - A Big Thumbs Up for these Barefoot Solar Engineers

I am grateful to Dr Mayraj Fahim for http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/11/09/indias-barefoot-solar-engineers-are-building-a-brighter-future/#this link from Inhabitat, a blog that I love following.# Orissa is among one of India's poorest states and Kalahandi used to be among its poorest regions some time ago. The thrust to provide solar powered lighting to this beautiful but impoverished state is especially welcome. The dedication of the "barefoot engineers" who have chosen to go into the villages and train people in using solar lighting is also something to be commended. This is an example of Indian progress in one region of the country that needs to be made available to other states that may contemplate similar, or, as is often the case in India, conventional (and destructive and expensive) solutions instead.

Let's hope for the best and look for more good news like this in the future!

The Sad State of Farmers in Bundelkhand

I am grateful to Dr Mayraj Fahim for sending me the following link from ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/International/drought-poverty-force-indian-farmers-sell-wives/story?id=8599840 I know that some would find this story sensationalist in a sense, but tragedy is not something new as far as India is concerned. Yes, there is a lot that is breathtakingly beautiful and adorable in the country of my birth, but despite all attempts by some of the most resourceful people in the world to try and improve their lives, environmental disasters of the kind that have struck Bundelkhand cannot be addressed by common folk by themselves. Wells are being drained at an alarming pace across the country and as concrete covers the land without any provision being made for rainwater to seep underground, the water table keeps falling year after year. Pesticides that are banned everywhere else are used both to kill insects and by severely indebted farmers to commit suicide.

I have only one question - when will the government wake up and work on a comprehensive agricultural policy to try and support the 70% of the population that is dependent upon the land for its livelihood? The more this gets delayed, the more tragedies of this kind will continue to occur.

Uranium Pollution from Coal Fired Powerplants in India Deforms Children

I have received this utterly frightening link from Dr Mayraj Fahim, a local government expert who has very kindly been sending me a lot of very useful material that I have utilized on my Renewable Energy Blog in the past: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/30/india-punjab-children-uranium-pollutionNow, I have a second place to use this information and it worries me that this is what I have to do. As India buys up huge amounts of coal from foreign countries (and this includes Coal India Ltd buying up mines in several other countries including the USA) and there is a steadfast refusal by the Government of India to co-operate with other countries in reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions citing lifestyle reasons, our children are ending up sick, and weak. The children in Punjab whom this article talks about, had 60 times the safe uranium limit in their bodies as observed by German experts.

While I understand that India is a country that is starved of power because of generation shortages, I wonder if this whole business of coal fired powerplants is the way to go? If anyone else has more information about similar issues near other powerplants in India, I would appreciate the information.