Popular Mechanics Endorses India's "Solar Canals"

They've been discussed extensively in the Indian media, but we now have a prominent US magazine discussing solar canals. The state of Gujarat is a dry and water starved state, with much of it desert. The Sun Edison engineered canals have the dual advantage of generating clean electricity while shielding the meager water resources of the state from evaporation. A simple, and yet sophisticated and effective idea.

Gujarat Looks Hard at Tidal Power

Gizmag, one of my favorite websites, has this entry about a 50 MW tidal power plant going up off the Gujarat coast in western India. The company building the plant, Atlantis resources Corp, is a British company which has been working on tidal power since 2002. As an old seafaring power, Britain has been at the forefront of tapping the energy available from the sea, both offshore wind and tidal power. Add the old relationship between India and Britain and this looks like a positive beginning for the future. As I have long said, India has an extremely long coastline all along which offshore wind and tidal power could be tapped. Gujarat is just one of the many coastal states. Hopefully, other states that are along the Indian coast will follow this example as well. There is a pressing need for India to generate power - it is perpetually at a deficit as far as power generation is concerned - and what better than to use what it has available in abundance off its own coasts?

Congratulations to the Gujarat State Government for its foresight and to Atlantis Resources Corporation for their pioneering effort in India! May they succeed way beyond their own expectations!

One Indian State Gets it - Why Can't the Rest Too?

After the huge Solar Thermal powerplant that is being supported by the Clinton Foundation, the state of Gujarat now plans to build a tidal power plant according to the London Times: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article6935567.ece
Considering India's long coastline, I have argued for a long time on my other blog, Showing Fossil Fuel the Fist, that India needs to look at tapping tidal power all along its coast. Some coastal states are highly advanced like Maharashtra, Tamilnadu and Gujarat, others like Orissa have immense resources but are underdeveloped. Instead of wasting money on fossil fuel based powerplants, the free power of the waves could be harnessed to offer clean energy to the coastal states in a big way. And, if offshore wind is harnessed (the British are world leaders in both tidal power and in offshore wind energy) I do think that a lot of the terrible pollution that affects much of India could be curbed.

There's nothing like a good example - Gujarat is setting one. Now, how about some good, friendly competition between the coastal states?