New Wind Turbine design from France Also Harvests Moisture from the Air

I learned about the Eole Water wind turbine and water harvesting system from Ecogeek, a blog that I subscribe and link to over here. The idea of a wind turbine that can generate electricity and an attached system that can harvest and purify water from moisture in the air with no need for any external power source suggests tremendous potential in parts of South India that I know extremely well. Two places that spring to mind are the North Arcot District in my former home state of Tamil Nadu and the Anantapur / Tadipatri region in Andhra Pradesh, both of which suffer from severe water shortages and have electricity supply failures for several hours every day. Let's hope that my friends in India pick up from this point on - there's potential here that could easily be exploited. Both these areas are solidly middle class and well educated with fine educational institutions, medical facilities and industries located nearby. There should be room to offer an advanced technical solution that promises to address the severe problems that these areas face.

Ecogeek: Japanese Solar Panel Owners earned $ 1.2 Billion Last Year

There's a lesson in this for India, a country that is bathed in sunshine for well over 300 days a year in most cities - the Ecogeek website shows how profitable solar panels have been for Japanese adopters. There was a time when these panels were expensive and they would have been out of the budget of the average Indian home or even business, but prices have been falling as companies across the world build more of these and engineers devise clever ways to produce them more cheaply from month to month. India used to offer some of the world's best subsidies for installing solar panels, solar water heaters and other solar powered equipment. I have no idea what the laws are like now. However, the simple thing to consider is that every new mall, every new apartment block, every new hotel and every government building has vast areas on the roof which could be covered with solar panels. I also feel that if India becomes serious about going solar, more companies will compete for Indian business and bring prices down even more. With much of India facing severe electric supply shortages on a daily basis, this may be one way to address the generation and distribution issues across the country. If there is surplus power, it could be fed back into the grid as happens in Japan, and that would mean surplus cash every year for those who invest in these panels. Win-win and there's no catch - what's not to like in this?