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News old(archieve)
News old(archieve)
DEC 25 Sun to power traffic signals in Ambernath
http://epaper.hindustantimes.com Solar-operated signals installed at six accident-prone spots, will save power too One of the engineers in the MIDC-appointed committee suggested the solar-energy operated signal system that has been installed in Tarapur and Taloja. Our committee visited the sites and found them satisfactory. Then we decided to install solar signal units here. PRADEEP NEVE Executive engineer, MIDC
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DEC 25 TODAY'S EDITORIAL: Greening Troubles
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com In less than a year from now, all cars on Indian roads are expected to run on ethanol-blended fuel. Ethanol, which is made from molasses, a by-product in sugar manufacturing, is seen as one of the ways to cut down on costly oil imports. It is also regarded as a green fuel. The government has set a deadline of October 2008 for oil firms to begin selling 10 per cent blended fuel, also known as E10. But are we ready for it? There are several roadblocks to meeting the government deadline. One, oil firms are unlikely to have an adequate supply of ethanol. Indeed, they have been struggling to meet the blending requirements for 5 per cent ethanol, which is now mandated in some states. Though oil firms floated tenders for 560 million litres of ethanol, so far they have managed to procure less than a third of their target. When E10 becomes mandatory in October, the situation will further worsen with demand for ethanol expected to jump to 1,130 million litres. Two, Indian car owners and the automobile industry are not yet ready for E10. Though some of the latest car models are geared for higher content of ethanol-blended fuel, a majority of the cars on Indian roads would probably have to be modified if they are to run on E10. This is likely to cause chaos. On the supply side, the situation isn't too good either. The big sugar companies say that they have the capacity to meet the increased requirement of ethanol. However, they are worried about ramping up production of ethanol since they are not sure of the government road map to introduce blended fuel. Increasing production of ethanol would require major investment by sugar companies, which cannot happen overnight. While the October deadline for E10 seems like a pipe dream, questions have been raised about the viability of ethanol-blended fuel. In America, government subsidies have ensured that nearly 30 million tonnes of maize is diverted to production of ethanol. Many American farmers are also switching to maize production from other crops. This has led to an increase in global food prices, particularly of wheat. In the Indian context, sugar-based ethanol poses some problems. Sugarcane is a water-intensive crop and increased production is going to deplete ground water, which is already dangerously low in India. There is an urgent need to look at other alternatives for producing biofuels such as jatropha and agricultural waste. These are still in a nascent stage. The government needs to dramatically speed up research in these areas if it hopes to switch to biofuels.
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DEC 25 Looking to heavens for energy
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ BALI: While great nations fretted over coal, oil and global warming, one of the smallest at the UN climate conference was looking toward the heavens for its energy. The annual meeting's corridors can be a sounding board for unlikely "solutions" to climate change - from filling the skies with soot to block the Sun, to cultivating oceans of seaweed to absorb the atmosphere's heat-trapping carbon dioxide. Unlike other ideas, however, one this year had an influential backer, the Pentagon, which is investigating whether space-based solar power - beaming energy down from satellites - will provide "affordable, clean, safe, reliable, sustainable and expandable energy for mankind." Tommy Remengesau Jr is interested, too. "We'd like to look at it," said the president of the tiny western Pacific nation of Palau. The defence department this October quietly issued a 75-page study conducted for its National Security Space Office concluding that space power - collection of energy by vast arrays of solar panels aboard mammoth satellites - offers a potential energy source for global US military operations. It could be done with today's technology, experts say. But the prohibitive cost of lifting thousands of tons of equipment into space makes it uneconomical. That's where Palau, a scattering of islands and 20,000 islanders, comes in. In September, American entrepreneur Kevin Reed proposed at the 58th International Astronautical Congress in Hyderabad, India, that Palau's uninhabited Helen Island would be an ideal spot for a small demonstration project, a 260-foot-diameter "rectifying antenna", or rectenna, to take in one megawatt of power transmitted earthward by a satellite orbiting 300 miles above Earth. That's enough electricity to power 1,000 homes, but on that empty island the project would "be intended to show its safety for everywhere else," Reed said in a telephonic interview from California.
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DEC 24 Varsity's new waste management tech.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ BANGALORE: How would you like it if the morning garbage van collected your toilet waste? And paid you for it? Scientists at the University of Agricultural Sciences here suggest the day may not be far off when this happens. A team headed by C A Srinivas Murthy and G Sridevi of the department of soil sciences is studying whether human urine can replace fertilizers. It believes this can be done. "We are confident a strong market will be created for urine and human waste. What is considered a waste now may soon have to be bought and sold,’’ Murthy said. "We started experimenting on one foodgrain and one horticulture crop 18 months ago. The yields have been encouraging. We produced nearly 83 quintals per acre of maize which is 50% more than the state average of 56 quintals per acre. Banana plants also showed robust growth. We expect the fruit yield to be as good,’’ he said. The next phase of research will be to decide on how many crops this success can be duplicated. The scientists say urine is as effective as inorganic fertilizers, but cheaper and good for the plants and the soil. Farmers who use this will have advantages of cost and production. Most importantly, urine is eco-friendly and will avoid pollution of top-soil and ground water. Application of urine is easy. It can be mixed with water and supplied through sprinklers and drip irrigation nozzles. Plants assimilate its nutrients faster. If people have a psychological barrier to urine-fed crops, we can start with non-food crops, he said. "Once this becomes an accepted practice, farmers will need mass-produced urine. And this can come from public toilets, schools and apartments." he said. Researcher Sridevi works at the experimental farm in Nagasandra, 40 km from Bangalore. "Farmers have been watching our experiments. Their first reaction was ‘Yuk’. But now, they are amazed. They come here to know more. They are willing to try it out in their farms," she said.
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DEC 24 Growth eating into city's green cover PUNE: The city is paying a heavy price for development. It is losing its green cover rapidly. While massive illegal tree cutting is rampant in the city, the Pune Tree Authority (formed to protect the green cover of the city) had given the green signal for hacking more than 7,000 trees this year. Thousands more are expected to face the axe soon as the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) speeds up its massive road widening programme ahead of the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) next year. The PTA cleared cutting of 42,000 trees in the last five years (2001-2006). Besides, the PMC has not conducted the mandatory tree census in the last five years as prescribed by the Maharashtra Tree Act of 1975. The civic body allowed transplantation of 7,000 trees, but it has no figures to prove how many actually survived. The green activists are planning to approach the high court over the formation and functioning of the PTA. "The time has come to question the functioning of PTA which shoulders the responsibility of protecting trees, but is doing exactly the opposite. The speed with which they are permitting tree cutting defies basic intention behind its formation," said activist Vinod Jain. Appointment of members other than corporators to PTA was illegal as many of them were not associated with any environmental organisations, Jain said. Politicians obtained certificates from social organisations to become members of the PTA, he added.  |
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