Cement, Energy and Environment July-Sep 2002

Rs 12. 50 and Rs 15 per 1i I rc. capacity is: other aromatic hydrocarbons. Biodiesel is prod uced fr om Wind Power - 2000 MW In the art ic le Lovely expla ins crushing oil seeds. filtering the oil Small Hyd ro Power - 800 MW how hi s team used wate r and to remove all impurities and gu111 and then heating it to 60 degrees cen ti grade with a lcohol. using caus tic soda as catalyst. This process, known as tran s– esterification , removes triglyce ride molecules from vegetable oil in the rorm of glycerine - a premimum indust rial chemical - leaving behind biodiesel. The residue cake is also used as cattlcfeed. As the country's sugar industry produc es surplus ethyl alcoho l, it can be used in place of methyl alcohol commonly used abroad. the Minister said. ( ·ourtesy: l'eri /lie li'SWire, I f>-3{} June 2()()2, P- I 0 , Fax: 91 II -16821././121-15 F.-mail: outreach(c!J,teri. res. in Web: 11'11'11'. teriin.org NATIONAL POLICY ON RENE\VAIJLE ENERGY The objec ti ves of the ·Draft Renewable Energy Policy Statement are: to enhance the contribution of renewables, viz. so lar, wind, biomass and small-hydro for meeting the minimum rural energy needs, providing decentralized/ off– grid supply for agriculture, industry. commercial and household sectors in rural and urban areas; and grid-quality power generation and supply. Among the goals envisaged in the Draft Policy Statement for 20 12 is to in crease the share of non-conventional energy in the add itional installed capacity to I0%, or 10,000 MW, in the next 10 years. The Working Group on Non– Conventional Energy Sources for the 1 0' 11 Five-Year Plan has proposed generation of 4227 MW of power from non-conventiona l energy sources during the I0' 11 Plan period. The break-up of the proposed Biomass /Cogeneration -I 000 MW Biomass Gasilier 122 MW Waste-to-Energy 150 MW Solar Power 155 MW Total 4227 MW Capital costs of non- conventi onal energy systems are slightly hi gher at thi s s tage . However costs of generation on a life-cycle basis compare favourabl y with conventional energy, as there is no recurring fuel cost. Courtesy: Assocham Parliamentmy Digest No.5 . 22.3. 20()2 to 28.3. 2()02 ELECTRICITY MUD FROM Project /vlonitor, Feh 1-15 2002. Following the successful harness ing of wind and tidal wave for generating electricity, it has been repo rted that power ca n be generated from common mud . According to research conducted by microbiologists at the University of Massa chusetts, certa in mi c roorgani sms can tran sform organic matter commonly found at the bottom of the ocean into electrical energy. A report appearing in Science quotes Derek R. Lovely of the University as saying that aside from raising the possibility that microbes someday could be used to produce power in subs urface settings, the findings have implications for many industrial and military appl ications. An understanding of how microbes generate and use electrical energy may also prompt the development of new technologies to decontaminate po ll uted water and sedime nt containi ng orga ni c materials, including petroleum and sediments from Boston Harbour. a col lecti on of mason jars, ord inary e lec tri ca l wi ring , and ste ril e graphi te electrodes determine the science beh ind the mechanics of a s impIc sed imen t batte ryy. Thc resea rche rs added a layer of common mud to the water in the jars, put one graphite electrode in the mud. another in the overlying water. The res ultin g electrical current was s trong enough to activate a light bul b, or a simple computer. T hr ough more refin ed experiments, Lovely's grou p fo und that a famil y of energy harvesti ng microorgan isms, commonly referred to as Geobaclers. were key to the electrical current. Whereas most life fo rms, including humans, gel their energy by oxic! isi ng organic compo unds with oxygen. Geobacte rs ca n g row 111 envi ronments lacking oxygen by using the iron naturall y present in the soil, in place of oxygen . Thi s new research demo nstrates that Geobaclers can also substi tute an electrode. for the iron, accord ing to Lovely. A large number ofa Geohacter species known as Desu!furoll/onas acetoxidans (D. ace/oxidans) were found on th e anode end of the pr imit ive batte ries. When the researc he rs de stroyed the D. acetoxidans in the sed iment. the current stopped. The group has also found that some Geohoct ers can convert tox ic organic compounds. such as toluene, to electri city. C'o rrrte.1y: Water .-lnd1:;ner,!..'Y lmemational .Jmr.-Mar. 10()2. 1Jpl3-l-1. Fax. 91- 11 -61 1 63F E-mail: chip(~rnda. vsnl. net. ilr Web: ll'll'tl'. cbip.org --