Cement, Energy and Environment

-- ago through dramatic investments in technology, institutions, and infrastructure. In 1952/53, the total food production was 59.2 Mt while 102.9 million hectares was used for food grain production, the yield was only 580 kg per hectare (Figure 1). By 2007/08, 122.4 million hectares were covered and food production increased to 230.7 Mt with a productivity of 1854kg/ha. India is well-placed in meeting the challenge of food security. It is one of the largest producers of food grains in the world, feeding 17% of the world population on only world's 3% of arable land. It is the second largest producer of wheat and rice in the world, growing 12% - 22% of the world's total wheat and rice crop, respectively. Courtesy: Renewable Energy Akshay Urja, April 2010, Vol.3, Pp33-39. DON'T FALL FOR JATROPHA PLANTS, WARNS UN BODY In a significant implication for the country's biofuel policy, a specialized arm of the UN has warned that the developing countries should not buy blindly into the 'jatropha for bio-diesel' argument. Warning against the hype and half-truths around jatropha curcas, an oil seed plant touted as a major potential source of biofuels, the UN FAO has warned, in a special report, that yields need to improve significantly for the crop to give an adequate return. The report comes two weeks after two researchers at Belgium's University of Leuven said that the crop requires more water than had been thought, and was best suited for small-scale farming in remote areas, where alternative fuel supplies are erratic and expensive. The Table 3 Total crop residue production and their availability for ethanol production in India r. -.:· '·7.· -~crop ,, 7:· · iotai ·re~i~'ul:~~~~. :t:Jon~fP9~~(~~~fFJSid~~~ r, .. · . ·· . p~odu~~i~~; _. -:... ~Mt§.!~:d ~y;~we:ight> ,- ;;I ~ • . (~t air dry·we;tghn':. ' ; . '-~;-·~·-.·: "!''' ·,, . . ' ~ . '... ' .~ .· 199~/97 ' 2~~Q . ' 199_~f9? "' '. . 2010 'j Rice 146.5 213.9 26.7 41.0 Wheat 110.6 157.6 8.8 21.4 Jowar 22.3 12.2 Bajra 15.8 13.6 0.0 1.4 Maize 26.3 32.5 5.3 Other cereals 9.4 2.8 Red gram 13.5 11.2 13.5 11.2 Gram 9.3 13.5 9.3 13.5 Other pulses 17.1 17.1 17.1 16.5 Ground nut 20.7 28.1 20.7 28.1 Rapeseed and 13.8 24.1 13.8 24.1 mustard Other oilseeds 18.2 27.1 18.2 27.1 Cotton 50.0 55.7 50.0 55.7 Jute 15.7 10.5 15.7 5.9 Sugarcane 110.8 185.4 99.7 163.5 Coconut and 20.0 28.2 20.0 28.2 Arecanut Mulberry 3.0 3.3 3.0 3.3 Coffee 3.42 3.9 3.4 3.9 Total 626.5 840.6 325.30 450.7 cautioning report is also a pointer to several giant corporate houses worldwide such as GM that have invested in the crop. US automobile giant GM was one of the companies that invested in jatropha, following a surge of interest five years ago in the potential for biofuels. A good chunk of India's biofuel programme rests on the success of jatropha as a green diesel alternative, but the FAO report has said that it is unrealistic to expect jatropha to substitute oil imports significantly in the developing countries where it is grown. The FAO has also punctured the argument that growing jatropha utilizes marginal lands effectively. The level of economic returns needed to secure private sector investment "may not be attainable on degraded land", FAO said, noting considerably better gross margins, which can be gained on sugar cane and oil palm plantations. The UN organization, however, does not rule out the oilseed completely, but has flagged an urgent need to multiply the yields. Courtesy: TERI(The Energy and Resources Institute) Newswire, 16-31 July 2010, P15. Solar SOLAR POWER GAINS GROUND India's ambitious solar lighting programme the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission - has spurred the interest of alternative energy researchers on the best ways to reach cost-effective solar electrification to rural India. In much of rural India, where the number of households without electricity outnumbers the ones on grid electricity, there are 75