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?

Courtesy Autoblog Green: An excellent Infographic on electric Vehicle Usage Costs

I seriously wish that someone in New Delhi, especially in the Energy Ministry and in the Planning Commission would read this. The fact is that electric vehicles do not have the range that gasoline vehicles do because they are slow to charge. But, for more than 90% of daily commuting, they are more than adequate. The fact also is that they are very cheap to run. Even mains supplied electricity costs vastly less than filling the tank up daily, and, if you use solar power to charge your car, you don't even pay for electricity.

Now, wait a minute - I hear skeptics like energy policcy specialist and all round idiot N N Sachitanand in India blabber about how inefficient solar PVs are. I've got news for these bozos and I've posted this on my other blog. A North Carolina solar panel manufacturing company has exceeded the efficiency of even the most advanced diesel engines. I also have information that Japan's Sharp Corporation (a division of Panasonic now) are planning to introduce their own very high efficiency solar panels in 2013 with efficiency levels competing with internal combustion engines. And, the "fuel" used in these solar systems, I must remind the anti solar bozos, is free.

Courtesy Autoblog Green: An excellent Infographic on electric Vehicle Usage Costs

I seriously wish that someone in New Delhi, especially in the Energy Ministry and in the Planning Commission would read this. The fact is that electric vehicles do not have the range that gasoline vehicles do because they are slow to charge. But, for more than 90% of daily commuting, they are more than adequate. The fact also is that they are very cheap to run. Even mains supplied electricity costs vastly less than filling the tank up daily, and, if you use solar power to charge your car, you don't even pay for electricity.

Now, wait a minute - I hear skeptics like energy policcy specialist and all round idiot N N Sachitanand in India blabber about how inefficient solar PVs are. I've got news for these bozos and I've posted this on my other blog. A North Carolina solar panel manufacturing company has exceeded the efficiency of even the most advanced diesel engines. I also have information that Japan's Sharp Corporation (a division of Panasonic now) are planning to introduce their own very high efficiency solar panels in 2013 with efficiency levels competing with internal combustion engines. And, the "fuel" used in these solar systems, I must remind the anti solar bozos, is free.

India Plans to Allow Jet Fuel Imports When there is Abundant Raw Material Available to Manufacture it Locally

Trust New Delhi to do things bass-ackwards, to modify a term not normally used in polite company. The UAE based newspaper Khaleej Times has this piece about India allowing airlines to import Jet Fuel. If the Government of India had looked, it would have found that the US Air Force recently contracted to buy Jet Fuel from this Texas company, Terrabon Inc, which produces it from food waste and sewage. The Terrabon process has been under development at Texas A and M University for a long time and the company now have viable products both for cars and for jet aircraft. Their process converts sewage and food waste into a Synthetic Crude which can be refined into the final product. And, the prices are slightly higher than those for gasoline or jet fuel made from crude, but, in the case of a country like India with 1.1 billion people, there is always going to be enough sewage to offer an economy of scale to make this vastly more viable than in the USA. Indians live in vastly more crowded circumstances as well, making the collection of the sewage for processing far easier than in a huge country like the USA where distances are far greater and concentrations of people much smaller.

I wish New Delhi - or even a state government - takes the initiative to invite Terrabon to use their technology to turn the completely useless sewage into usable fuel. If the richest country in the world uses this technology to try and save money, there's no reason why the world's poorest country shouldn't do this as well.

Excellent Discussion on Solar Thermal Energy

An excellent post on the always excellent Low Tech Magazine website discusses the uses of Solar Thermal energy. Speaking in an Indian context, I have written about how some Indian states are doing a good job offering incentives for apartment buildings that use solar water heaters. I have also written about how religious bodies in India including the Shirdi Sai Baba complex and some others have begun using solar power to cook food for devotees. The potential to do much more than this exists. Please click on the link to learn how.

And, follow the Low Tech Magazine website. It is well worth checking out from time to time.

Back Blogging After a Long Hiatus

I have been off this blog for a long time - not because I tired of it or anything like that, but because I was simply overwhelmed with work. It was difficult managing my academic pursuits with earning money and blogging. As I have temporarily put university work aside and persuaded my school to put me on probation so that I might rejoin later, I am back. Hopefully, I shall have something of value to contribute and be able to interact with more people interested in the same issues that interest me.

Processing Sewage Water With Soil Alone to Cultivate Vegetables in Mumbai

My friends who know me are aware that I am obsessed with sewage treatment as this is a major issue in India. The city that was my home for more than three decades, Chennai, has turned two lovely water outlets to the sea into stinking sewage-bearing canals. And what could be a very valuable industrial resource, is now being entirely wasted. Poor countries like India lack the resources to process waste and reuse it - enter Mr Keshav Tavre, recognized for his efforts by the Smart Planet blog. MIT has taken note of Mr Tavre's work and has mentioned it on their radio station. Perhaps, it is time for more people in India to look at Mr Tavre's efforts now that the USA most recognizable university has endorsed it?