envirolibrium

Solar Cemeteries

2005-12-02T07:52:00.000-08:00

The cremation of dead bodies is a part of the hindu ritual. Though this is important but still it consumes loads of firewood leading to both pollution and destruction of forests. Techniques like Electric crematorium have been for long around but they have been not used much due to long lasting beliefs. Solar Cremation is one such technique which may be useful.

One such technique was developed few years back by Homi B. Dhalla. But due to religious implications he faced opposition while using it. Instead this innovation paved the way for another problem which belonged to his own community.This posting is based on the documentary I saw based on innovations on Discovery Channel may be sometime last year.

As the Hindus burn their dead bodies or the muslim bury them Parsis believe in the natural process of decomposition of which the vultures are an essential part of. The vultures along with the sun play a major role in dehydrating and hence the decompostion of dead bodies.In recent years the vulture population has been dwindling mostly due to use of antibiotics given to cattle on whose dead bodies they mostly feed. Also another reason is urban developement.In parsi community as death rate is quite high so the dead bodies keep piling up in the Minar of Sielence in order to get decomposed. But it takes a hell lot of time.

What Mr.Homi B. Dhalla did was he used his simple Solar Concentration technolgy in producing temperature of around 250 degree Celsius. This was done using parabolic reflector panels.This helped in dehydrating the bodies.These mirrors use an array of flat, moveable mirrors to focus the sun's rays upon a the target. The high energy at this point of concentrated sunlight is transferred to a substance that can store the heat for later use. A enhanced version of this technology using much stronger installations of parabolic reflectors can be used to burn the dead bodies hence keeping a check on the pollution and forests.The mechanism is much better than firewood for obvious reasons of saving forests and checking pollution.

Quite a bizarre way to innovate though....

Habitat JAM

2005-11-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

Want to discuss on burning issues concerning rapid urbanisation and its consequences? Go here:
http://www.habitatjam.com/content.php?id=17&sid=4&language=en

This is a three-day online discussion where people from across the globe can voice their opinions.

Clean Machine - EnvBike

2005-11-23T16:36:00.000-08:00

Inventor: Intelligent Energy
Availability: In early 2007, for less than $10,000
To Learn More: envbike.com

The ENV bike looks like a muscular motorcycle but runs more like a moped. Weighing in at 200 lbs., the aluminum bike travels at speeds of up to 50 m.p.h. on its hydrogen-powered fuel-cell engine. Project director Andy Eggleston says that proprietary technology allows the fuel cell to produce more energy than is typical. The ENV runs silently on a 5-oz. canister of hydrogen that costs about $4 and can power the bike for 100 miles. The drawback? California is the only state with hydrogen fueling stations, so filling up outside the Golden State could be tough.

[via Time Asia]

Diwali Dhamaka

2005-11-05T02:15:00.000-08:00

Now, we all Indians love Diwali and wait for it all year, don't we? It is a festival of lights and celebration, but the changing faces of Diwali down the ages have costed us a lot. From a modest celebration and brotherhood and festivities, it is a symbol of noise and fire today. Infact some people even feel that normal people who store their frustration all year let it out that one day called Diwali bursting crackers, envisaging all their venomic feelings in the crackers.

Fun or frustration, crackers every Diwali have had their toll. Read below for details:

http://www.indiatogether.org/environment/articles/diwali.htm

http://www.nlsenlaw.org/forum/msg_1100005994/view

Gujarat and Sustainable Development

2005-10-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

The Gujarat government plans to encourage cleaner production in industries in Gujarat and it awards Gujarat State Cleaner Production Award for the same.

It also undertakes projects Edible Oil and Rice Milling sectors and also conducts training programmes for Cleaner Production Awareness.

It also runs campaigns for water harvesting and other household production and maintenance activities and advocates Sustainable Development as the key for development of the city and its neatness.

More info at:
http://gujenvfor.gswan.gov.in

www.gcpcgujarat.org

Fighting Pollution. With Shrubs!

2005-10-19T01:31:00.000-07:00

Toyota's non-automotive division has developed a shrub related to the Cherry Sage that absorbs air pollution more effectively than related plant varieties. Creators say that the Kirsch Pink shrub is 1.3 times more effective at both absorbing harmful pollutants and reducing the urban "heat island effect," which causes increased temperatures in cities due to infrastructure that deflects sunlight and heat.

via Inhabitat

Reasons For Hope .....Orangi Pilot Project

2005-10-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

On my way to home this time round i picked up a book for journey as i always do n this time it was book titled

"Reasons For Hope : Instructive Experiences in Rural Developement"

Its just not another book about those community developement stuff but this ones deals with some experiences by the persons who really were incharge of these missions. A collection of those experiences compressed in a volume which includes not only cases related to environemnt and population but also tackling the issues of sustainable developement. May be i discuss the Orangi thng this time round.....
For info on Orangi these links are good,

Karachi Urban Developement
UN on Orangi
Orangi Project on yespakistan

Orangi Pilot Project hmmmm...now this thng came into the mind of Akther Hamid Khan....a 66 yr old guy returning back from Michigan State University after a long stint there as a prof.
Orangi somewhat similar to Dharavi of mumbai for karachi pakistan at tht time atleast....
Now this guy came n transformed this thng by providing for innovation in these areas and encouraging community participation for better sustainable developement...
the key to this thng was dealing with the question of slum and fighting for a space between government and the project's own definition....

Orangi struck me bcoz of its novelty of putting into foreground developement of simple technologies concerning areas of no concern in terms of innovation like sanitation....and then making it work besides various roadblocks hindering its way.....in a way it its almost brilliant tht we get the best innovations in the so called slums but thr is this need to bring them to light and let people know. The need really is develope networks models for getting these innovations across everywhere so tht everyone can learn..

this stuff is not meant to discuss evry detail bout th thngs whch u can lookup on the above mentioned websites...what i feel thr is a need to identify these situations across the globe and help people gather the knowledge and determination to work up for it.....and if our neighbours can make it work we can do it too...no big deal....but its th initiative tht matters and tht lacks...
may b we can gather it some day...

Rustle the Leaf : Environmental Comic

2005-10-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

Rustle the Leaf is an endeavour to sensitize the citizens of the world about the environment where Rustle and his friends communicate the essential environment themes and truths through a comic strip. The objective of this environmental comic is to "encourage environmentalists, to facilitate the sharing of environmental views in an engaging, nonconfrontational manner, and to introduce and reinforce environmental education with people ages 6 to 106."

Visit:
Rustle the leaf
Rustlemania Blog Site

An informative link!

2005-10-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

An informative page on Environmental issues, problems and situation in India:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/indiaenv.html

We have lost!

2005-10-05T00:41:00.000-07:00

Stephen M. Meyer, a professor of political science at MIT and the director of the MIT Project on Environmental Politics and Policy, explains here why we have lost as it now becomes too late to preserve our planet's biodiversity.

Over the next 100 years or so as many as half of the Earth's species, representing a quarter of the planet's genetic stock, will either completely or functionally disappear. The land and the oceans will continue to teem with life, but it will be a peculiarly homogenized assemblage of organisms naturally and unnaturally selected for their compatibility with one fundamental force: us. Nothing—not national or international laws, global bioreserves, local sustainability schemes, nor even "wildlands" fantasies—can change the current course. The path for biological evolution is now set for the next million years. And in this sense "the extinction crisis"—the race to save the composition, structure, and organization of biodiversity as it exists today—is over, and we have lost.

His verdict: We have lost the wild. Perhaps in 5 to 10 million years it will return.

Read : End of the Wild

Recycle Water !!

2005-10-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

A new NASA water purification system has been under testing and use that collects astronaut sweat, moisture from respiration, drain water, and urine - and turns it all into drinking water.

Unbelievable as it may sound but if implemented, such a system could wash away India's worries in terms of Water purification. Talk of Yamuna being one of the purest rivers - sounds surprisingly strange but yes, this can be true.. only that the scale of such a project could be an issue now.

You may be doubtful about the system but the technology was originally tested on an open sewage ditch in Jakarta and it produced water that met Environmental Protection Agency standards.

Read more about this system here.

CNG in Gujarat

2005-09-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), due to its inherent features of being environment friendly, economical and more efficient fuel is fast replacing the other conventional auto fuels world over. In India also the acceptance of CNG as an auto fuel is growing rapidly. Several Indian States have initiated the drive of shifting their vehicular consumers towards CNG as a main auto fuel in a phased manner. Gujarat is one of the states that are the frontrunners for the cause.

The Government of Gujarat has initiated a similar drive and is taking several initiatives to make available the Natural Gas across the State for transportation needs of the people of Gujarat. The impetus for such initiatives is due to the availability of abundant natural gas in various locations of the State, development of gas transmission infrastructure and setting up of two LNG terminals in the State.

Government of Gujarat intends to develop a wide network of CNG filling stations across the State through private participation in a phased manner. The State Government has already issued “No Objection Certificate” (NOC) to various private players to establish City Gas Distribution Network in major cities of the State.

All these CNG filling stations will directly source their gas from GSPC’s gas transmission pipeline. This will ensure reliable availability of gas at all stations. The gas transmission pipeline infrastructure of approx. 400 kms is currently operational between cities of Hazira and Kalol in the State.

Due to lower emissions there are no cancers causing particulates, less carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions. Carbon monoxide emissions are reduced by 70% to 90%, hydrocarbon emissions are reduced by 40% to 60% and carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by approximately 10% as compared to vehicles running on petrol/gasoline. Supreme Court has identified about 24 cities with high level of pollution and this includes Ahmedabad and Surat. Judiciary intervention has made use of natural gas as an alternative auto fuel in Delhi and Mumbai and soon other cities would follow suit. Environmental benefits if CNG are the highest where the traffic density is high and for a city like Ahmedabad reeling under the threat of excessive pollution, this is a welcome news!

Source: www.vibrantgujarat.com

Environmental Friendly Lighting

2005-09-25T20:26:00.001-07:00

London Bus Stops will now be powered with solar lighting system that will keep them lit throughout the night. These solar batteries would be charged during the day, even in the UK's gloomiest weather conditions. and will illuminate both timetables and the stops.

[ via BBC News ]

Week One : Water Wisdom

2005-09-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

Water availability in present day India , both in terms of quality and quantity, has deteriorated rapidly and has reached enormous proportions. Many parts of India, rural and urban, today face a drought-like situation and with problems relating to water and sanitation in our country claiming as many as six thousand lives daily, it paints an absolutely gloomy picture.

But then, mankind has always confronted problems, and more often than not, has emerged successful in overcoming them. Problems always have solutions, only one needs to stand up and be counted. And thus beginning week one, we discuss water scenario in our country, how people are tackling the crisis and what could be the solutions?

Rain Water Harvesting: Indore MP

2005-09-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

The city of Indore in Madhya Pradesh faces enormous water scarcity. A wide gap between demand and supply of water has resulted in overextraction of ground water resources. With every passing year, the rainfall is decreasing and the depth of tubewells is increasing. The problem is augmented by the growth of population in the region. But of late, citizens of Indore have realized the importance of Rain Water Harvesting and are thus involved in various ground water recharging initiatives at different levels.

The efforts of citizens are being encouraged by support from administration, local municipal corporation and the results are already quite positive. People like the mayor and Dr. Deepak Khare, professor of civil engineering and applied mechanics at the Shri Govindram Sekseria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS) ,under whose guidance I worked on a project during my high school on ground water recharging, are some of the eminent people involved in raising awareness and implementing rainwater harvesting.

Dr. Khare undertook a study of around 200 tubewells in Indore along with his students. A questionnaire was prepared and a door-to-door survey was conducted to collect information on the year of tubewell construction, the depth of the well, the level at which water was encountered, the daily pumping hours and the usage throughout the year. The figures that came out were astonishing. In 1988 only 0.5 per cent of the population experienced pumping problems. Ten years later, in 1998, about 40 per cent of the population experienced problems in pumping, indicating intermittent supply.

In Indore, many examples of rooftop rainwater harvesting can be seen. Rooftop rainwater harvesting has also been implemented at the SGSITS campus. The institute has 10 tubewells and three openwells. Water from the Electronic Instrumentation and Computer building and staff quarters are harvested through rooftop and diverted to the openwells. Many other institutions, both private and government have adopted Rainwater Harvesting methods. Also, Rainwater harvesting is being implemented in residential colonies, institutes, clubs, gardens and ashrams. Also efforts like pad yatras for generating awareness were planned.

The effect is also felt in adjoining areas of Indore. Dewas, for instance, an industrial area, suffers from acute water scarcity. However with people adopting rain water harvesting methods, the problem has been contained to an extent. Community level participation is also helping to make rainwater harvesting economically and socially viable. The principle followed is simple: Catch water where it falls, and so far the efforts have yielded astonishing results.

Is Privatisation of Water Resources its the only way to modernize them.....

2005-09-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

Well there has been lots of debate going on about pivatisation of water resources in Delhi with the episode somehow closing as the Chief Minister denying it as only a study to modernize the water resources and not to privatize them. As I have read at most of the places read his for instance,

"Voluminous reports by World Bank-funded consultants Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) and GKW Consult GmbH have stated that privatisation of water supply does indeed hold the key to Delhi ’s water problems. But only if foreign companies are awarded the contract, as local players lack experience on the subject. The Delhi Water and Wastewater Reforms Bill 2004 was enacted to make room for foreign companies to make their final bids. They include Manila Water, Vivendi, Sour and Degremont....."

As whenever privatisation takes place it is never the company which is the loser. Its always the consumer or in this case the community ....the loser. Well no way we can deny some of its benifit but where will the private company come in if there is no water to deliver. I may sound like one coming from the school of communist thinking bu on these matters we must better revert back to our socialist ideals.....of what was it ...yes the welfare state.

India is still questioning the relevance of privatisation of companies which for sure should have been cleared off many years back some "shor" is expected when it gets to public issues like this. But this time may be veryone is right in doing so.

What will happen is just rising prices every year and no emphasis on the overall problems of watsan add to that a dash of corruption by the government officials and we have a solid reciepe for Water and Sanitation...

Privatisation is an old concept, i.e. the sense of private ownership is old, perhaps primitive but even older is the concept of us...ie mutual ownership.

Few cooperative movements have worked in India and few have not. I hink is the right time for another of hem to start in the field of water and sanitation.

For modernization one has to look back. Even the modern art originated with few of the ideas borrowed from the day of rennaisance art. Coperative and community movements clicks as it drops the onus of both prodcuing and consuming on a single person. So be ready another Mr.Kurien may be waiting in the ranks to kick one off. We expect this time there is not just one kurien but thousands of them.

Useful Links

2005-09-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

WATER-WIKI
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water

Organizations concerned with WatSan:

UNICEF - Water, environment and sanitation
http://www.unicef.org/wes/

Water and Sanitation Program
www.wsp.org

Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)
http://www.wsscc.org/home.cfm

Water Supply & Sanitation-World Bank
http://www.worldbank.org/watsan

Some Indian Organizations concerning Environment Issues:

Centre for Environment Education
http://www.ceeindia.org

Centre for Science and Environment
http://www.cseindia.org

Ministry for Environment and Forestry
http://envfor.nic.in

Traditional water Harvesting Methods

2005-09-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

Stepwells

Stepwells played a very crucial role in water harvesting in areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat . Primarily built by the nobility for strategic or philanthropical reasons, they were secular structures from which everyone could draw water. Ususally, a step well was located in aor around a village where people could withdraw water from them or as a cool place for social gatherings. On major trade routes, Stepwells were used as resting places for travellers.

Stepwells such as the one at Adalaj shown in this picture were very importnat from water conservation point of view. Construction of these wells during those days encouraged percolation of rainwater into it. Plus the apex down structure of these wells ensured that the loss of water due to evaporation was minimum and could last longer. Thus the adjoining areas neer really had to worry about water problems.

Bamboo Drip Irrigation

Indian states of Meghalaya and Andaman Nicobar Islands have an ingenious system of tapping of stream and springwater by using bamboo pipes to irrigate plantations. About 18-20 litres of water entering the bamboo pipe system per minute gets transported over several hundred metres and finally gets reduced to 20-80 drops per minute at the site of the plant.

Perennial spring water can be diverted using bamboo pipes on the hilltops to the lower reaches by gravity. The channel sections, made of bamboo, divert and convey water to the plot site where it is distributed without leakage into branches, again made and laid out with different forms of bamboo pipes. Bamboos of varying diameters are used for laying the channels. About four to five stages of distribution are involved from the point of the water diversion to the application point.

References:
Dying Wisdom,Publication CSE India
Water management: Historical maritime, riverine tradition of Bharat

Envirolibrium

2005-09-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

The objective of this blog remains simple: "To make people aware of the various environment related issues confronting humanity today." Every week, an issue concerning our interaction with environment is raised on this blog for people to introspect.