Rural Electrification

by admin May 20, 2015

A slight mutatis mutandis to a quote given by our beloved Spiderman, “With Great power” comes great Electricity Bill! Yes the original quote was true as well as this connotation holds true in today’s time. Power/Electricity should now be conferred as a status quo that everyone cannot afford, not our backward villages at least. Talking about these villages, here is a startling fact about India, around 412 million Indians have no access to electricity and about 90% of them form part of the rural population. And as disappointing as it is, the irony is that these people are the people who actually feed the rest of the population of India who work in the scorching heat, chilly winters and what not. Should not they be equally eligible for the basic comfort of electricity after the mammoth efforts they put in their fields just to feed the people sitting in their Air Conditioned cubicles doing nothing but manipulations and exploitation of the resources that can be put to a much good use?
It holds so true that “ Our generation is better prepared for a Zombie Apocalypse than an hour without electricity”, then why squander such an important resource which can be used to bring a change in the lives of people who live in the rural ghetto of India. About 668 million or around 70% of the Indians (in 6.4 lakh villages) live in rural areas and continue to use animal dung, agricultural waste and fuel wood as fuel for cooking. They do not have access to even a basic fan or a tubelight.

This is why there is a need to address the conundrum of Rural Electrification as soon as possible. Rural Electrification is basically a paradigm shift of thoughts of concentrating on the need to electrify the villages of India which do not have any access to electricity whatsoever. Hitherto, various programmes have been undertaken by the Government and various other organisations to address this issue but they have not been able to completely absorb the concern because of lack of public support and interest.

As quoted by Thomas Edison in 1931, “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”

But with the emergence of Solar Power and the benefits one can reap of it, are truly palatable. Solar energy can help Electrify our villages in an efficient way as the solar power is the last resource that is not owned yet, as nobody “taxes” the sun yet! Government has taken steps to tackle this important issue by setting up Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) and various schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Gram Vidyut Yojna, inter alia. But the government and various NGO’s working for the cause need people’s support in view of people taking lead from examples of countries like Costa Rica which became the first country to get all its needs from renewable sources mostly from solar power or from people who have set up Solar power panels on their rooftop providing additional electricity to the grid and thus transferring that extra electricity to the unelectrified villages.

Hence, the cause of Rural electrification needs to be addressed immediately so that maximum can be done for these electricity deprived villages which are of course a part of our beautiful India which shall lead all over the world in the coming years ahead.

So give the cause a thought and start now to be a part of this noble deed as all these initiatives involves full community participation to ensure the success of the endeavors.
Electrify the Villages, Villages will Em”POWER” India. And the world shall say “Watt A Village”.

An article by Sidharth Goel

Meera gets light into her home..

by Sunil Rai February 7, 2015

Meera, a resident of Semri Malvalag, in Uttar Pradesh has been living in the dark since she was married, and came into this village, to her husbands home. Her joy knew no bounds, when her home was ‘electrified’ with a solar home lighting system set up that can provide light and fan to her home, when needed. The system can provide light during the evening hours, helping her perform house hold work much more efficiently than before. Her children can study better. Importantly, the overall interaction within the house has improved, and with lighting inside the house, seemingly, the overall standard of living has improved so much.

Ab humare bacche bhi pad likh sakhte hain, aur aage bad sakte hain, humara time to nikal gaya par unko to time accha nikal jawega [Our children can also study at night, and move ahead in their lives, we have lived our lives, but the children have their lives ahead and hopefully that will be much better]

 

Financing Solar – Success Story in Bangladesh

by RuralBuddy October 15, 2014

Growing Markets in Renewable Energy

Bangladesh’s progress in microfinance is well known. But the application in Green Banking has been a new innovation. Many homes in off-grid areas have used microfinance loans to install solar panels.

Bangladesh is home to one of the fastest-growing solar home industries in the world. IDCOL, a government-owned intermediary, with support from the World Bank, has installed more than 3 million solar home systems. This has been enabled access to energy.

Around 13 million people are now getting solar electricity – around 9 percent of the population. Another 3 million more are set to be installed over the next few years and the market is growing.

In my interviews in Bangladesh last month I found that, in many places, solar energy has saved people money compared to using kerosene lamps. There are also health benefits – using solar electricity prevents indoor air pollution from burning kerosene.

Electricity allows children to study in the evenings and has supported small businesses, like cottage industries in garments.

In 2009, the Central Bank launched its own 200 billion taka ($25 million) renewable energy re-financing scheme for solar panels, biogas and waste treatment plants, to encourage the growth of these markets.

There could be lessons for other countries in Africa that have huge populations lacking grid access. Rahman has joined an advisory council at the United Nations Environment Programme in its enquiry into the design of a sustainable financial system.

Tackling poverty and financial inclusion

Not only has the Central Bank being successful on green banking, but it has also promoted financial inclusion of the poorest farmers. Rahman argues strongly that financial inclusion and stability are mutually supportive.

Rahman’s own life story is an interesting example of social mobility and inclusion, as he worked his way up from being the son of a rural farmer to Governor of the Central Bank.

The Central Bank has introduced bank accounts that can be opened with a deposit of just 10 taka (about 9 British pence), giving millions of poor farmers an opportunity to open up an account. All this has been enabled by the mobile phone revolution in Bangladesh.

These farmers, who have moved from the ‘unbanked’ to the ‘banked’, are now able to take bank loans instead of borrowing from informal moneylenders who charge high interest.

Access to finance can also help rural farmers become more resilient to disasters. As extreme weather events may become more frequent due to climate change, steps like these can help build resilience.

In a world where public faith in bankers has been tarnished by the financial crisis, Rahman’s reforms are rightfully being recognised as a global success story from the world of banking.

Free Clean Energy forever

by admin August 15, 2014

When I tell people that I think the United States can stop using coal and gas to generate electricity by 2030 (see “All In”), even some of my fellow environmentalists sometimes raise a skeptical eyebrow. True, it doesn’t sound like very much time. But it’s actually longer than we needed to go from Sputnik to conceiving, building, and landing Apollo 11 on the moon.

I’m not saying it will be easy—but it’s most certainly achievable. That’s because, unlike with the Apollo program, we already have the technology: clean, renewable energy. Wind and solar have lifted off and will soon achieve escape velocity.

I understand the skepticism, though, because it’s easy to forget how fast new technologies can spread. At the start of the 20th century, automobiles were exotic and prohibitively expensive. But by the time Henry Ford stopped manufacturing Model Ts in 1927, he had sold 15 million of them, and lowered the price by two-thirds.

What will drive the spread of clean energy technologies is not just that they are cleaner, healthier, and safer. As with the rapid adoption of the Model T, it will be economics. Right now, we can’t afford “business as usual.” The International Energy Agency estimates that for every year the world delays taking significant action to curb climate change, we will have to spend an additional $500 billion down the road.

The specific economic risks posed by climate disruption were laid out in detail this summer in a report from the Risky Business Project, co-chaired by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, retired hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, and former treasury secretary Henry Paulson Jr. (Bloomberg and Steyer have donated money to the Sierra Club through their charities.) Regarding real estate alone, it predicts that if we continue on our current path, between $66 billion and $106 billion worth of existing coastal property will be under the waves by 2050, and up to $507 billion worth by 2100.

Extreme weather is already having an economic impact, which explains why a majority of small-business owners support federal limits on carbon emissions from power plants. The main opposition, not surprisingly, comes from fossil fuel industries. ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson admitted at a recent shareholder meeting that climate disruption is real, and that the effects will be severe, but maintained that it was essentially a “risk-management problem.” In other words, ExxonMobil will extract every ounce of oil and gas it can—if we let it.

Another economic reality is that renewables are becoming cheaper much faster than anyone guessed was possible. In just the past three years, the price of solar panels has dropped by more than 60 percent and the per-megawatt-hour price of wind has fallen by more than 40 percent. In places like Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado, wind is cheaper than both coal and natural gas. As clean energy achieves greater economies of scale, this trend will accelerate.

Are there still technological and economic challenges? Absolutely. For example, our current power grid wasn’t designed for renewables. The up-front costs of modernizing it will be substantial—although the payoff is free fuel forever. And let’s not forget that we have to make the transition from dirty fuels while keeping the lights on for everyone and supporting workers in the communities most affected by this transition.

Conubia mattis egestas quis. Suscipit, vehicula metus per lectus parturient venenatis eu elementum lacinia tristique blandit mauris vitae varius nam pulvinar pellentesque. Nisi velit iaculis hendrerit cras sit Nullam dignissim. Laoreet duis habitant lacinia, massa mi phasellus mus fermentum metus praesent Sociis lacinia lobortis dui pharetra orci. Gravida dis purus aliquet egestas eget ante torquent neque. Turpis ac praesent nisl. Amet dolor ut turpis habitant quis euismod pellentesque nostra luctus nisl taciti condimentum imperdiet cubilia. Tempus potenti ligula aliquam. Aliquet erat, nisl consectetuer vulputate hac donec. Leo urna maecenas aptent mattis fusce lobortis dictum natoque fringilla Dui posuere tellus duis.

We can do it, though, and not just because we have the technology and economics on our side, but also because we have the will. The EPA’s new standard to cut carbon pollution has overwhelming popular support. Polls show that 70 percent of U.S. adults agree that the federal government should limit “greenhouse gases from existing power plants in an effort to reduce global warming”—a majority that holds whether you ask Democrats, Republicans, or independents.

As President Obama told an audience of new college graduates this June, “You’re going to have to push those of us in power to do what this American moment demands.” And push we shall.

Facts around Rural Electrification

by admin August 5, 2014

Expansion of electricity is vital to both economic and social development of a country. The current state of Electricity in most of the states in India is worse than ever which includes Nagaland, Orissa , Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh etc. The Census of India 2011 indicates that 44 % of India’s rural households continue to depend on Kerosene for lighting, while even today 0.5 percent of its population or close to 897,760 households does not have access to lighting at all.
Industry , Farmers and household have invested a substantial amount of their capital on various alternative power equipments such as generators, inverters, and Voltage stabilizers to fulfill the power demand. India’s annual per capita electricity consumption is 400 Kwh, which is far behind than other countries like China ( 900Kwh) , Malaysia (2500Kwh) and Thailand (1500Kwh). Inspite of various attempts to achieve 100% electrification , India has achieved 44% electrification to the rural households.
Solar is by far the largest energy resource available on Earth. Grids may fail to reach a place,but sun doesn’t. Solar photovoltaic aka “solar cells” are growing faster than any other energy technology. Total installed PV capacity has doubled every two years since the inception year 2000. This Moore’s Law-like growth shows no sign of slowing. If PV capacity were to keep growing at the current rate, solar panels would satisfy all electricity demand within a decade. They are by far the leading solar technology in terms of total deployment, operates silently at low temperatures, and it doesn’t require much maintenance. Lack of maintenance is nice, lack of carbon footprint is nicer.
Viable and reliable electricity through solar energy in Villages will result in increased productivity in
a) agriculture and labor,
b) improvement in the delivery of health and education,
c) access to communications (radio, telephone, television, mobile telephone),
d) improved lighting after sunset,
e) facilitating the use of time and energy-saving mills, motors, and pumps, and
f) increasing public safety through outdoor lighting.

With the ever increasing population and limited amount of fossil fuels (coal, crude oil etc) which upon burning warms our palnet and disturbs the ecological balance . We have to shift to a technology which is clean, green and promising.The only thing which comes into our mind is Decentralised Generation

India is really lucky to receive high volumes of solar light and energy all throughout the year. India receives sun shine over 300 days a year which is most of the time. About 5,000 trillion kWh per year energy is incident over India’s land area. Theoretically, a small fraction of the total incident solar energy (if captured effectively) can meet the entire country’s power requirements. Tapping into it effectively will help resolve energy crisis in many regions of the country.
It’s almost certainly not the case that 100% power will be solar energy , But it’s pretty much believable to imagine that over 40 years, solar energy could account for more than half of India’s Rural power. Solar today is about where electricity was in the late 19th century. Many had seen the promise, but few could fully grasp the possibilities

An Article by Samad Khan