Bharata Mata College in Kochi, India Goes 100% Solar

I just saw this piece of delightful weekend news and had to post to this blog, after ignoring it for a long time: A College called Bharata Mata College in the city of Kochi (Cochin) India has gone 100% solar for it's own power needs. As India is a countyry that receives sunlight across it's length and breadth for more than 12 hours a day for 325+ days a year, this is an example that every single educational institution in the country could emulate. Not only would it help reduce power costs in a country with extremely expensive electricity, it would also help reduce pollution in one of the most polluted nations in the world. Well done, Bharata Mata College! Thank you for setting a fantastic example!

An Excellent Article from Eurasia Review on India's Efforts With Renewable Energy by Dr Shebonti Ray Dadwal

I like this article for it's matter of fact analysis of both the potential and the challenges facing India's efforts with renewable Energy. In many ways, I think India is at a very strong position to extract the maximum out of the abundant sunlight that falls on the country, and on the winds that blow from the sea across it's long coastline. The current Prime Minister is also a strong supporter of Renewable Energy, and that is a good thing in a country that is top-heavy as far as political and administrative power are concerned. Dr Dadwal gives a deep insight into a complex situation in a short article, and she must be lauded for her effort in writing a most excellent article. Thank you, Ma'am! Please subscribe to the Eurasia Review online.

Well Done, Bandra Reclamation Residents!

India's "Mid-Day" newspaper has this feature about a group of residents at Mumbai's Bandra Reclamation, who have decided to compost all of their food waste, and convert it into organic fertilizer for plants and grass in their common areas. Seeing this initiative, residents at a neighboring community have decided to do the same thing. May their tribe increase! Hopefully, every community / colony / quarters / barracks etc in India will do something similar. Well done! Here's wishing you much success!

A Great Start, And Keep Encouraging Rooftop Solar, India

Excellent piece on NDTV. Good to see Indian entrepreneurs take a practical challenge up. The big plus, of course, is the fact that India receives much more sunlight a day for 325 plus days a year, than many Western countries do. This, of coursse, translates into cost savings, and better efficiencies in the long term. What is happening in Delhi needs to happen in all four Indian metros. India's malls, train stations, bus terminii, and large apartment complexes are all superb locations to harness the power of the sun from. Keep going, India. No, please charge ahead!

As The World's Pre-Eminent Rail Operator, India Needs to Rush Ahead on the Hyperloop

Business Insider has this piece on the competition between two companies rushing to build Hyperloop trains in the UAE. It is certainly good to see several countries work on building these high-speed trains to ferry large numbers of passengers at near aircraft speeds on the ground, and at about 50% of the cost of airline tickets. India was a little late to the game, but it is now firmly in. Time to use all of the IITs and RITs, India - you have great technical capabilities. You are also the world's number 1 rail operating country, with 11 million passengers on trains at any given time. Come on! Build your Hyperloops asap!

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!