Tag: Pollution

  • Go electric, via solar. Harvest the sun!

    Go electric, via solar. Harvest the sun!

    Elon Musk is making all the right noises, and for the right reasons. He first went electric with his Tesla, and now is building a Solar City that will harvest solar energy. A perfect brand ambassador for the title of this article, Go electric, via Solar. However, it is a sham to think humans are difficult to convince.

    Countries generate a significant chunk of their electricity from burning fossil fuels. The need is vital, given the consumption levels and lack of alternatives. But the need to burn fossil fuel was not!

    Put the space available to some good use, shall we?

    (This article is an extension of my post on  Pollution: What the hell are we breathing?)

    Why are we behind on Solar?

    Profiteering Industry causes disruptions.

    Think of it this way. You are hungry, but the store near you only wants to sell you oranges, as he has got a lot of it. He goes to the government, lobbies (possibly bribes) and convinces the government to provide benefits for selling oranges.

    Due to this, the country does not encourage apple farmers for example, and focuses on oranges, thereby ignoring farmers ability to increment apple’s growing and production techniques. Since apple production is less in numbers, they cost significantly more and are not easily accessible. To amplify this, you are also discouraged from buying apples with a lot of negative publicity around it.

    If you got the drift, well done. You can use this as a base to understand how Trump won the elections. If not, read on.

    I will use the example of cars here to make it easy for you. Companies and people who had invested heavily in fossil fuel and related businesses (car and oil producing companies primarily) pushed the government to ignore the idea of electric vehicles, so people continue to use petrol (gasoline). It would help them not make a new investment in technology for alternative fuel or electricity-powered cars, thus also ensuring their current business remain successful.

    Every major industry follows this approach to remain in business by not innovating. As usual, the herd mentality. In fact, those who challenged this de facto malpractice, are silenced in a way or another.

    Challengers grew!

    These manufactures for the sake of their profit and existence put the future of earth at risk. Today we are all used to a way of life, designed by the very people who were only profiteering.

    But keeping a sound idea suppressed for long is difficult. And likes of Elon Musk rise to the occasion. In this specific example, car manufacturers themselves sensed their future at risk and started investing in either the alternative fuel or electric cars. A small victory right there, but the cost is still prohibitive.

    Electricity costs a lot of carbons

    The cost I am talking about is not only financial but to the environment all the same. Government or private girds produce electricity from many forms. The hydro-dam, the solar, windmill, and nuclear reactor based electricity generation do not cause environmental pollution. They only have a small share in the entire production span across many countries.

    Hence it does not make any sense to use an electrically powered car when burning fossil fuels generate the electricity. We need to go Solar.

    Why solar?

    I do not think anyone asked this question – except to douse their curiosity. Of course, you need ample amount of sunlight. Of course, you need a lot of space to plan these giant solar panels. But this is the cleanest form of energy.

    Here is an excellent example of how a place consuming more than 18,000 Units a day saved all of them, thanks to Solar. Cochin Airport is world’s first and only fully solar powered airport.

    Solar energy is still costly for an average homemaker to buy, however larger institutions can afford it. Cochin Airport is a perfect example of this greater good.

    Sixth element: Electricity

    Going forward, the world’s reliance on electricity will only increment and hence, it will remain one of the most sought after ‘element’. The reason I call it so is because, we already have polluted our earth, water, and air – the three most fundamental needs for human life to exist on earth.

    I will write more about electricity as sixth element in a more detailed article.

    Innovation in Solar Energy Harvesting

    Innovation in solar has got a boost in the last decade. However, we have only seen a dramatic increase in installations in the previous two years. Climate change or not, the weather conditions have made a lot of organizations and governments take the right step into the future. I want to talk about a few of the innovations that will help the planet earth greatly.

    Thin Film Solar

    Most of us remember Solar panels as gigantic, like in the featured picture on this article. However, the innovations in this field have to lead us to thinner films that help make manufacturing and installing a solar panel cheaper, more accessible and practical. Thinner solar films can be pasted onto the roof and walls (not as much efficient) to generate electricity. Absorbing the sunlight means, less heat gets passed on to the roof at the same time, thus making the roofs cooler (and saving cooling costs). To be commercially launched, but future is already looking bright.

    Solar Windows

    Another innovation that has great potential is Solar Windows. A company by the same name has successfully created prototypes of glass that has the potential to converting sun’s energy into electricity. Solar Windows can change how the city sky scrappers draw current from the grid, powering themselves with Solar Windows placed on their building exteriors.

    Nanowires based panel

    Also called the Hairy Solar Panel, these use carbon-nanotube fabric laced with light-absorbing nanowires, which can absorb more energy from the sun. They are better than the silicon-based panels and can be more efficient in solar harvesting.

    Efficiency

    How many of you know about the efficiency of gasoline combustion? They burn at average 28% to a max of 55% efficiency in rare cases, wasting the remaining fuel in heat. Likewise, Photovoltaic cells have their limits on how much electricity they produce as well, vis-a-vis the total solar power available.

    Other Innovations in Solar energy

    Apart from improving the panel technology, other areas saw a lot of action as well. These include solar plant set up, distribution and innovative ideas on how to spread the usage of solar. Having your solor plant will help you make money in future, so what are you waiting for?

    Microinverters

    Solar panels produce power in Direct Current or DC (invented by Thomas Edison) for effortless storage. Our homes are wired to work on Alternative Current or AC (invented by Nikola Tesla). The old set up of inverters used to be inefficient and cost intensive. However, the advent of microinverters has helped make setting up a solar power plant affordable and efficient.

    The current average is 23% globally. However, efforts are on by many companies achieve much more than that.

    Improved Storage

    Batteries play a crucial role in solar-power generation. If the solar panels connect to the grid, you do not need to store the electricity. In all other cases, there is a need to save excess power that produced, so that it is available for use during night time or when limited sunlight is available.

    Batteries did not improve at the same pace as other technologies, as efforts were made to get better at converting the heat/light into energy. That is changing, and pretty fast as now, we race to store ever more power in the smallest possible package. Tesla leads in that today, offering better battery packs at less than half the cost.

    Solar Tethering

    We all have used data from our phones, connecting it via WiFi to our laptops where there is no LAN or local WiFi connectivity available. Solar tethering works somewhat in a similar fashion.

    Solar plants require an expense commitment before you can start getting returns on your investment. At times, these can be expensive for average homeowners. Hence, to those who have managed to generate more than what he can consume, the private or public city grid can buy the excess power.

    In turn, the excess energy can be purchased over by a buyer who wants to use solar but does not have money to invest in a plant. He can pay for the solar unit based on fixed price, thus making income for the harvester.

    Portable Solar Lights and Fan

    A large part of the world still has little to no access to electricity. Mini Solar plants, attached to portable lights and fans help get then access to basics during night time. These compact lamps also help charge mobile phones, run other local business tasks, etc.

    There are many such projects in Africa and Asia, which have met with tremendous success. Such small solar power plants help make life easier for the populace in remote regions.

    Water desalination and purification

    Another exciting innovation is in the area of desalination of water. A team of scientists from MIT and Jain Irrigation Systems have come up with a method to desalinate seawater, disinfecting with UV and make it available for people who lack access to drinkable water.

    As again with the previous point, electricity and water are scarce resources for many living in remote areas. Drinking clean water helps reduce water-borne diseases, but most of the villagers do not have access to them.

    Conclusion

    Harvesting Sun may still be expensive to install, and return on investment is not quick enough, but the advancing technology is making it easier and much cheaper. We can fix Solar panels in all those areas that receive maximum sunshine throughout the year for best effect. However all those areas where we do not have enough sunshine, we will need to export electricity from where we can generate.

    There are various teams of experts; some are making floating solar panels in the sea, some others are testing balloons in the air, while another group is trying to capture the non-visible light spectrum (like infra-red). Sure, there is future in it.

    I hope that we limit carbon production, lest we may face a carbon-cloud future, where solar may not help.

  • Pollution: What the hell are you breathing?

    Pollution: What the hell are you breathing?

    If you have taken a recent trip outside of India, I am sure one thing that you would resonate is how difficult is to breathe once outside of the airport anywhere in India, due to higher pollution levels. I faced a similar situation way back in 2011 after my US trip for business. It felt like I wanted to get back into the Airport instead. Last time I was worried about the climate, I ended up buying an air cooler.

    Of course, I am sure you have also read a lot about the new ban on crackers by Supreme Court of India. The court had to enforce it because of the deteriorating breathable air for the common man. Let us look at what causes the pollution, shall we?

    Air Pollution in India

    Air pollution is a severe issue in India, however, has not seen enough action across the board. Last year, it was the odd-even number plate scheme in New Delhi that clogged the news, while it was Diwali and Crackers this year.

    If it does not ring a bell, you can read about it on Wikipedia. Yes, there is a dedicated page for Air Pollution in India on the Wiki. It has been a controversial topic to be discussed, given that the United States of America also has been showing withdrawal sings from the global accord at the Climate Change Summit. Donald Trump and his policies deserve a separate blog post in itself.

    Fossil Fuel and Biomass

    I am sure you know what fossil fuels are. Exactly, the liquid stuff that powers our cars and bikes, trucks and heavy equipment. While these are a necessary expenditure that you have to make to go from a place to another before electric vehicles are popular, Fossil fuels are also used to produce electricity.

    With ever increasing vehicles on the road, and increase in numbers of cars on the way these days only accentuates the problem we have at our hand. These vehicles emit the harmful gases and particles in the air that we breathe and makes us sick, slowly but surely.

    Pollution - what are we breathing
    Pollution – what are we breathing

    Fuel Adulteration

    An extension of the above topic, in India it is hard to find a fuel station that sells the pure form of fuel. Adulterated fuel causes vehicles to emit excess pollutants in the air…

    Fuel adulteration is so rampant in India that every other car emits far more toxic fumes than it should. India recently decided to skip BSV standard and jump directly from BS4 to BS VI (BS 6) so that it can catch up to the US and European standards.

    The Pothole and Traffic story

    If you are living in Metros, then you know the traffic. And you also know, the conditions of roads in India. I am not talking about the highways though. My recent trip to Kerala makes it abundantly clear that highways are laid using much better quality of tar and rocks than their city counterparts. One word on the cause is corruption.

    The more the potholes, more the traffic. With ever increasing vehicles on the road, traffic situation just amplifies the amount of bad stuff in the air that you and I breathe.

    Factory and other pollutants

    Fumes coming out of factory has even contributed to Taj Mahal losing its sheen. Burning ‘gobar’ (cow dung) and setting fields on fire after harvest is another cause.

    With so many of the contributing factors, it is difficult or near impossible to contain the pollution. Here is a possible view into the future, where Oxygen kits will be treated the same way as drugs, and you will pay through your nose (pun intended) to breathe fresh oxygen.

    Acted ably by Jackky Bhagnani and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Carbon is a short film by Royal Stag Large Short Films should be an eye-opener!

    Pollution - what are we breathing
    Pollution – what are we breathing

    So what can we do?

    Nothing and everything! If you are lazy, you cannot do anything. If not, you can stop it. By reducing our carbon footprint, one by one. Everyone can do their bit. Here is a list of things that you can do to help save the planet.

    1. Go electric, but via Solar

    Elon Musk is making all the right noises, and for the right reasons. However, it is a sham to think humans are difficult to convince. Put the space available to some good use, shall we? Countries generate a significant chunk of their electricity from burning fossil fuels. The need is vital, given the consumption levels and lack of alternatives. But the need to burn fossil fuel was not!

    Solar Panels in rain
    Solar Panels in rain

    There is so much to speak about, hence a dedicated post for Go Electric, but via Solar

    2. If you can’t, then conserve use of electricity

    Going solar or clean electricity may not be everyone’s cup of tea. That does not mean you cannot do anything at all to help save the amount of burning carbon. The world is full of ideas; however, we often ignore the small things you can do sub-consciously.

    Efficient light bulbs

    To start with, use energy efficient light bulbs and appliances. The government has been promoting the purchase of CFL and LED (more of the later) instead of ordinary incandescent bulbs that most of the rural India still uses.

    LED bulbs and lamps help in reduction of consumption while improving the brightness at the same time. Though a tad expensive, the cost benefit over the period is excellent!

    Buy 5-star BEE rated products

    In India, the government has enforced regulations that help understand how much a product consumes, thanks to Bureau of Energy Efficiency or BEE.

    Among the mandatory product types to carry the BEE Energy Star ratings are Television, Air Conditioners, Tube Lamps, Refrigerators, and Geysers. Other’s are optional. So what should you do? Yes, buy the product that offers a 5-star rating. No less!

    I firmly believe that all electronic products should mandatory carry the BEE Energy Star ratings. And 5-star rated products should cost less, which they do not. Lack of demand for costly product leads to companies not putting much effort into making them or making as much of them. We Indian’s prefer to go for the cheapest at the time of purchase, not considering the recurring cost (both financial and environmental) that we will be paying at the end of product’s life-cycle.

    Switch off plugs when not in use

    One of the things that we are often doing today is charging our mobile phones overnight. You can try and charge it before you go to sleep, or after you have got up. While doing so, do not forget to put the switch off.

    A lot of offices work 24/5, and most of the times employees do not shut down the computer since they do not want to go through the pain of system booting up. It takes a few minutes to shut down your PC and start up the next day. But the energy it consumes in the meanwhile is a complete waste. Any equipment not in-use should be put off, including your WiFi connection.

    3. Limit crackers/fireworks, avoid if possible

    After the recently proposed ban on crackers during Diwali, we heard a massive uproar among aam aadmi, who immediately linked the ban to directly hitting their religious belief. Connecting the prohibition to religion was ridiculous; moreover, people went overboard with buying and bursting crackers just to oppose the move. Massive stupidity.

    City night explosion firework
    City night explosion firework

    Crackers cause pollution at production, transportation and execution level. Not only it releases harmful toxins into the breathable air, but it also creates massive noise pollution, causing more breath-related diseases.

    The solution is perhaps not banning crackers, but to limit it. Moreover, a government limit will only be symbolic at best. People will need to start realizing that everyone needs to control polluting the shared breathable air.

    4. Carpooling, public transportation, biking and walking.

    Carpool

    One of the new trends across cities is car-pooling. It is supposed to be cool, and trendy, which it is. However, the reason we all carpool is to save on the fuel and not to reduce pollution or traffic congestions. While in a way, this makes sense, it would make you feel better if you remind yourself about saving the environment while you do so.

    Transportation is as good as this at the best!
    Transportation is as good as this at the best!

    Public Transportation

    I am sure we both agree, in India, public transportation is not up to the mark. It does not become a prominent choice because of the state of transportation and infrastructure. That part, our government needs to do. But once it has improved significantly, would you switch? Let me know in the comment section below if you would happily pledge to change!

    Cycling and Walking

    Most of us do not live nearby our workplaces. Hence, cycling or biking and walking are not viable options. But for those who do, switching to either helps in reducing congestion, pollution and improves the health of the individual.

    India is far away from having its dedicated cycling lane. I hope it is sooner than later.

    5. Regular maintenance of all machinery

    Keep your automobile, be it a car or motorbike, well tuned and maintained. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on routine maintenance, such as changing the oil and filters, and checking tire pressure and wheel alignment. A well-maintained vehicle emits fewer toxins in the air.

    In fact, you should maintain just about any machinery you use that consumes electricity or pollutant fuel. For your own and other’s sake, at least. Avoid excessive idling of your automobile. Shut the engine at signals and do not accelerate profoundly.

    Maintenance of Vehicles is of paramount importance
    Maintenance of Vehicles is of paramount importance

    6. Advocate for emission reductions

    We are quick enough to protest the ban on crackers, but not as much when it matters to breathing polluted air. Thankfully, the government decided to skip the BSV or Bharat Stage Five level norms. It means by the year 2020, our standards at emission levels for new automobiles sold will be level with some of the European nations.

    However, what people are not much aware of is the emission/pollution norms for factories and other establishments. Here is a link to the complete set of pollution control norms provided by the Central Pollution Control Board.

    The problem? Who is following it right?