British Companies Design Very Interesting Low Priced Trains and Trams

No country knows India's railways better than Britain - the origins of India's magnificent railways in the years of the British Raj, are known to everyone. As India modernizes after decades of socialist stagnation, it has been working hard to come up with different people mover systems for it's cities. A huge population needs to be moved from home to work and back every day, and crowded roads, horrendous pollution from fossil fuels, and price and safety issues with individual transportation, stress the need for faster action on mass transportation systems. Of course, one of the challenges facing India is likely to be the source of power for any advanced transportation system. The country is building coal fired powerplants by the day, with more than a little support by stevedoring agencies and the Catholic church for anti nuclear groups whose bills are paid by these stevedores. If, however, clean power could be used to power these systems, it could be a substantial plus for India. Until recently, Canadian, Brazilian, Malaysian, and other companies have been awarded tenders in different parts of India. Curiously, one country has been absent - Britain, itself. We now find a British company TDI International developing a low priced no-frills light rail system to work on 19th century British rail lines that have not been used since the 1960s. These 19th century lines would match perfectly with India's 5ft 11 1/2" "Broad Gauge" and smaller "Metre Gauge" trains. TDI also builds modern tram lines that run on old tracks - Kolkata could do with an upgrade to it's crumbling transportation infrastructure. TDI aren't the only game in town for light transportation, though. There is a much older company that builds everything from fairground trains to modern people movers in the UK too, i.e. Severn Lamb Engineering. Once again, with a British company, India would have the right partner to modernize older suburban train lines in it's cities. I do think it is high time the Integral Coach Factory etc start signing up collaborations / joint ventures with these companies. India's people deserve much better infrastructure than they have available at the moment.

Excellent Article in The Deccan Chronicle - Come On, India, Take This Challenge Up!

India is a country where most parts get well over 6 hours of sunshine a day for 300 plus days a year. There is huge potential in the country to not only generate electricity using the light of the sun, but also to cut down sharply on hydrocarbon fuel imports, of which India is one of the biggest in the world. The positive thing about this is that current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is a huge supporter of solar power. He is also someone who loves a challenge. Hopefully, this will ensure that he takes the challenge of doing what Chile is doing wholeheartedly, and brings India to the very top among nations generating electricity from the light of the sun!

Solar Power Would Make So Much More Sense in Countries like India . . .

COurtesy Newsy. I am not sure how Newsy calculates the payoff time for solar PVs, but my guess is that they are taking a 3 hours a day, 250 days a year calculation. Countries like India and it's neighbors that are bathed in sunshine, could easily generate solar power for 325 days a year, and 6 hours a day. At prices now around $0.55 a watt for PVs, and battery prices constantly coming down, it should be possible for sunnier climes to have Energy Payback Times (the time taken for the price of electricity in the market to completely pay off the cost of the solar infrastructure) of less than 24 months, in fact. Train stations and platforms, malls and large office buildings, large apartment complexes etc would be the best places to put PVs up, especially to substitute grid generated power during the daytime. If a 20 to 30% reduction in grid supplied electricity is achieved at heavy use locations, that would reduce the stress on the mainly coal fired powerplants that supply daytime electricity, and bring overall costs down sharply. Someone just needs to do the job.

A Very Ambitious Plan, But Go For It, India!

Courtesy Greentech Solar. The setting of annual targets for a 100 GW solar mission for the future, is a superb way to go. If the target is matched, it would be something to be proud of. if it is exceeded, then it would be even better. And, if installed capacities fall short of the targets, they will offer insights into how to overcome whatever deficiencies there are. Go for it, India. Keep Indians' money in the country instead of sending it to the Gulf for crude and gas, or to Indonesia for coal.

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.

Energy Positive House Developed in wales Has Strong Potential for India

Gizmag has this article about a Welsh University's design for a home that generates more electricity than it uses. A series of row houses to this design feeding surplus electricity into Tesla batteries or into the grid for common area use in a community, would be a superb idea for countries like India. I am assuming that the energy surplus capabilities of this house are achieved with 3 hours of sunlight a day, for 300 days a year, a standard for countries in the North. Move southwards to warmer climes like in India, and you can think of much more sunlight to convert, for approximately 6 hours a day, 325 plus days a year. This means that the concept would be much more viable there. I hope some entrepreneur is seriously looking at this. A lot of Indian engineering students go to the UK to study - there might even be some students in Cardiff. Hopefully, this strikes someone's eye. Or, perhaps, tesla could consider getting into this business.

An Ancient Indian Rainwater Collection System That Could be Revived

No Tech Magazine has this excellent article that should be of immense value as India struggles to cope with alternating dry spells and occasional very heavy rain on its coasts. Water Johads were the method of water storage before colonial rule, and they might be considered along with other rainwater harvesting methods being introduced these days. If they worked for thousands of years before the British came to India, there is no reason why they should not work now. Do follow No Tech Magazine and its associated Low Tech Magazine from the link above. There are amazing ideas to be gained from reading these fantastic publications.