Great news from New Delhi

I haven't posted here in a while, but when something like this comes up, I have to make sure to offer kudos: The move to put 2.1 MW of solar PVs over the roof of the Delhi airport is a fantastic one. It is often a fact that governments are slow to capitalize upon technological developments, while the private sector is fast. In India, in this case, at least, the reverse seems to be true. I cannot think of a single software technology park, a single mall or large apartment development that has used solar PVs even to light up common areas at night, for example. That said, it would be good to see this example replicated across India. There are many more airports in the country, many railway stations, and many government offices that would benefit. Go for it, India! And, congratulations!

Smart Planet: The Cost of Pollution in India? $ 80 Billion a Year . . .

Smart Planet is a great website / blog that I often link to, and it is one that I read regularly. This is one of the reasons why - the site quotes a World Bank report that evaluates the cost of pollution in India. Many of the costs of pollution are not easily counted, but it is not difficult to see where they would affect people directly. For example, increased health issues due to exposure to pollutants can put severe strain on societies as they have to deal with sharply higher medical bills. Secondly, when water, soil and the air are dirty, it affects agricultural output, making food more expensive. And the list goes on . . . Do check both the Smart Planet piece and the World Bank report out at this link.

Something that Chennai Could Look At

There is an example here that Chennai, with its two stinking eyesores - the Adayar and the Cooum - could emulate: Kansas City uses human waste to grow crops for the biofuel sector. While India is working hard to cultivate large acreages of waste land with jatropha for its fledgling biofuels sector, large cities like Chennai keep sending tens of thousands of tons of sewerage into the sea every single day, sometimes even clogging up the two rivers into which this sewerage is let and stinking the city up. Every attempt at "beautifying" these rivers has so far concentrated on dredging the sewage and clearing a channel for it to flow into the sea. Some years ago, I had suggested to the then Deputy Chief Minister that he consider an experimental plant to convert the sewage into Synthetic Gasoline using the technology developed by a certain US company. Not much came of it as he was subsequently voted out in the elections. Perhaps, a simpler use for the sewage as in Kansas City might be the answer. Use it to grow more jatropha, convert the jatropha into biodiesel, and reduce the amount of money that hard working Indians send to the Middle East for fuel day after day, year after year.

A Blog to Follow

I came across this blog by the owners of two electric BMWs just a few minutes ago, and would recommend it to anyone interested in the potential that electric cars with solar charging have. Once again, I'll repeat that this would be ideal for a country like India where every inch of the soil is bathed in sunshine for more than 300 days a year for an average of 8 hours a day. With this, I hope to restart this blog. It has lain dormant for a long time because I was busy changing universities and switching to a completely different program of study. Now, I think I have something with which to charge forward.

Growing Crops With No Water - Scientific American Article

The Scientific american has a very timely article about growing crops without using irrigation or rain water. These methods used by humans for thousands of years, are now being reintroduced in the USA because of a long drought in several parts of the country. I would think that this would be an ideal solution for many parts of India as well, as much of the country is perennially short of water, and, in other cases, the facilities to trap and use monsoon rains are non existent. Please check out this article and let me know what you think. Acknowledgement: I am grateful to Dr. Mayraj Fahim for this article.

The First All Electric Taxi Service in the USA - When Will India Follow?T

he first all electric taxi service in the USA has begun operating in the state of Oregon. Personally, I think that this would be an even more fantastic idea for India and the rest of South Asia. There are several reasons for this: 1. Distances covered in most Indian cities are shorter than those that American commuters have to travel. Electric vehicles work best at running shorter distances 2. In heavy traffic, gasoline vehicles are at their least efficient. In the stop and go traffic that is typical of Indian cities especially during working hours, electric vehicles would be a fantastically efficient option 3. I know that this is a drum that I have been beating for a while, but Indian cities are usually bathed in sunlight for more than 350 days a year. From my conversation with some Japanese solar power entrepreneurs, I understand that solar powerplants of 250 kW and larger can be profitable in less than 3 years if they get sunlight for at least 3 hours a day. The option for India would be well over that time. I would assume an average of around 7 hours a day and that includes the dark skies when there is little light during the monsoons. What better way to partially / fully charge these electric taxis than to use the abundant (and free) sunlight that falls on India instead of using imported coal or crude? 4. While I have not been to India in a long time, from what I see on the news, the trend in the country is for people to entertain themselves at malls. These days, Indian malls are also doing badly during the current economic downturn. Mall owners in India are required by law to allocate a certain number of parking spots for taxis and autorickshaws. If they were to put solar panels up on their roofs and offer a paid charging option to electric taxis, this could be an additional source of income for them. Yes, this is speculation, but they would have the experience of several projects at locations around the world like the Pecan / Mueller development in Austin TX, dozens of projects in Germany and Japan and other parts of the world to draw upon 5. India already has electric cars which are even exported as quadricycles to other parts of the world. General Motors planned to build electric cars in India some time ago on one if its miniature Chevrolet hatchback platforms. It should be fairly simple to use these already available vehicles to offer electric taxi services in India Over to the planners in Delhi. Let's see what they come up with, and, more that they are watching what is happening in the rest of the world.

Austin TX - a transportation Model for India to Look At

The city of Austin TX has been able to manage explosive population growth by implementing a highly efficient private - public transportation model. This is the kind of model that, hopefully, India will look at as Indian cities see the same sort of explosive growth these days. I seriously hope that someone in India is watching this beautiful city and taking cues from it.