Sunday, June 28, 2009

Good time to start harnessing power from solar

Year by year mercury in India is rising and it seems as if there is no way it is going to reverse in coming years. Rivers are drying up with delayed monsoons and increasing temperatures thus putting stress on hydroelectricity. The only way to take advantage of this soaring temperature is to plan for large scale or house hold level solar based power harnessing and thus mitigating the power scarcity or crisis as mentioned below.

India heat wave sparks protests

Protests are growing in Delhi over power cuts as the Indian capital remains in the grip of a heat wave.

The government of the northern state of Punjab has announced that its offices will shut early as it also attempts to deal with a similar power crisis.

In Delhi, police have been called to break up demonstrations outside the offices of electricity companies.

Hundreds of people turned up at the house of a state minister demanding a solution to the problem.

As residents wait for this year's delayed monsoon, it is getting hotter and hotter and the disruptions to power supplies are getting bigger and bigger.

'Grim'

Most of the residents at the protests are without power for between six to 10 hours a day.

With temperatures in the mid-40s, there is an increasing demand for electricity as everyone tries to cool down.

The system here is unable to cope.

Some people are now sleeping in their air-conditioned cars.

The Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, has described the situation as grim.

This city will host the Commonwealth Games next year and some say the current crisis shows that it is not ready.

The chief minister has dismissed those fears, saying two power plants are being constructed for the games.

This year's delayed monsoon is slowly moving across India. The people of Delhi are praying it gets here soon.

courtesy: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8123012.stm

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Interesting stats on bottled water industry in India

As India lacks an efficient and safe potable water supply, its urban population is increasingly depending on bottled water to quench their thirst. Bottled water is going to be a huge and crucial industry in the future. For those of you who are interested in venturing into this industry, these are some interesting stats to know as a start.

http://www.rediff.com/business/report/2009/jun/12/bottled-water-plants-consume-7-point-03-mn-cubic-m-of-water.htm


Over seven million cubic m of water is consumed by 1,952 licenced mineral and packaged drinking water plants in the country annually.

According to figures available with the Central Ground Water Board, while 1,940 licences have been issued in the country for packaged drinking water, only 12 of them have been issued for bottling of mineral water.

Andhra Pradesh -- with 471 licences to manufacture packaged drinking water -- leads the tally, according to the Bureau of Indian Standards.


Himachal Pradesh, famous for its natural springs, has eight licences for bottling mineral water. Incidentally, it has the least number of packaged drinking water licences -- seven -- in the country.


Tamil Nadu comes second with 447, followed by Gujarat with 179 licences. Gujarat also has one mineral water bottling licence.


According to data collected by the Central Ground Water Board from state governments, the quantum of ground water used by the plants is around 7.03 million cubic m per annum.


Water cess is levied and collected by state pollution control boards for prevention and control of water pollution.


Differential rates of cess are collected depending upon the use of
water.

courtesy: http://www.rediff.com/

Singapore water makes global waves!

.....Continuation to the previous post

A BBC article on Singapore's water story.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7371463.stm