Necessity, as they say, is the mother of all inventions. A silent revolution is brewing up to find new energy solutions. The use of renewable energy is no more confined to cookers, geysers and lanterns—or, lighting a house by fixing solar panels on the building’s roof top.
The human mind has explored the unthinkable and pushed the renewable energy research to the next orbit. Bertrand Piccard has demonstrated that the solar energy could be used to power a plane, which has four 10 HP electric engines similar to a scooter and weighing not more than 1600 kg like a small sports car. The solar plane’s founder says that the idea came after his first non-stop round-the-world trip in a balloon some ten years ago, when he was shocked by the large amounts of fossil fuel it consumed. What he learnt in the process of developing a solar plane is equally profound. “We are not trying to create an aviation revolution but a change in the mindset of the way people think about clean energy solutions and how it can be used in society," he added. The plane is made of composite materials and has over 11,000 silicon cells covering the wing.
Italian Renaissance’s master Leonardo da Vinci’s stroke of ingenuity is also visible in some pockets of excellence. Like Vinci, who observed nature to create master pieces from paintings to design of a helicopter, Daniel Nocera, a professor of chemistry and energy, and his team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has observed the process of photosynthesis in plants for years—how the plants breathe and produce power. They are now trying to replicate that model artificially to produce enough electricity from a bottle-and-half of water, however dirty, to power a small home. Tata Group has signed with Nocera to market the technology, when it would be ready. The initiative, if it succeeds, could reinvent rural electricity supply and provide a viable energy solution to about three billion people worldwide who don’t have it—and yet generate enough profit to sustain it.
The humble biomass may not be in that league of sophistication, but many are harnessing the rustic natural resource to generate green electricity—marrying profit with saving the environment. A lot action is happening in biomass, as the Energy consulting firm InfralineEnergy’s comprehensive report “Evaluating the Attractiveness of Business Opportunity in Biomass Power in India”, says “The opportunity could be gauged from the fact that India is a country blessed with abundant natural resources. The biomass among them is the most promising resource which does not have the inherited precincts as the solar energy—dependent on light days; and wind energy, which has site specific restrictions.”
Apart from showcasing the opportunities and best practices in the sector on the basis of economic analysis and forecasting, the report from the energy consulting firm predicts, “the total biomass power installed capacity by the end of 2013 is expected to be 2395 MW. By 2015 under the BAU, total installed capacity expected to be 4643 MW and in optimistic scenario, 5584 MW. Total bagasse cogeneration power generation capacity by the end of 2013 is expected to be 4576 MW. At the end of 2015 under the BAU and optimistic scenario, total installed capacity for bagasse are expected to be 5290 MW and 5464 MW, respectively. The return on equity could be above 26 percent for the investors.” The challenges, always offer, new opportunities for the fertile minds.
The human mind has explored the unthinkable and pushed the renewable energy research to the next orbit. Bertrand Piccard has demonstrated that the solar energy could be used to power a plane, which has four 10 HP electric engines similar to a scooter and weighing not more than 1600 kg like a small sports car. The solar plane’s founder says that the idea came after his first non-stop round-the-world trip in a balloon some ten years ago, when he was shocked by the large amounts of fossil fuel it consumed. What he learnt in the process of developing a solar plane is equally profound. “We are not trying to create an aviation revolution but a change in the mindset of the way people think about clean energy solutions and how it can be used in society," he added. The plane is made of composite materials and has over 11,000 silicon cells covering the wing.
Italian Renaissance’s master Leonardo da Vinci’s stroke of ingenuity is also visible in some pockets of excellence. Like Vinci, who observed nature to create master pieces from paintings to design of a helicopter, Daniel Nocera, a professor of chemistry and energy, and his team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has observed the process of photosynthesis in plants for years—how the plants breathe and produce power. They are now trying to replicate that model artificially to produce enough electricity from a bottle-and-half of water, however dirty, to power a small home. Tata Group has signed with Nocera to market the technology, when it would be ready. The initiative, if it succeeds, could reinvent rural electricity supply and provide a viable energy solution to about three billion people worldwide who don’t have it—and yet generate enough profit to sustain it.
The humble biomass may not be in that league of sophistication, but many are harnessing the rustic natural resource to generate green electricity—marrying profit with saving the environment. A lot action is happening in biomass, as the Energy consulting firm InfralineEnergy’s comprehensive report “Evaluating the Attractiveness of Business Opportunity in Biomass Power in India”, says “The opportunity could be gauged from the fact that India is a country blessed with abundant natural resources. The biomass among them is the most promising resource which does not have the inherited precincts as the solar energy—dependent on light days; and wind energy, which has site specific restrictions.”
Apart from showcasing the opportunities and best practices in the sector on the basis of economic analysis and forecasting, the report from the energy consulting firm predicts, “the total biomass power installed capacity by the end of 2013 is expected to be 2395 MW. By 2015 under the BAU, total installed capacity expected to be 4643 MW and in optimistic scenario, 5584 MW. Total bagasse cogeneration power generation capacity by the end of 2013 is expected to be 4576 MW. At the end of 2015 under the BAU and optimistic scenario, total installed capacity for bagasse are expected to be 5290 MW and 5464 MW, respectively. The return on equity could be above 26 percent for the investors.” The challenges, always offer, new opportunities for the fertile minds.
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