Blackouts In India Highlight Benefits Of Solar Power

India recently faced two massive power outages that were the largest in the past decade. The first power grid collapse took place on Monday, affecting seven states in northern India. The power went out at 2:35 a.m. and was brought back six hours later, only to go out again. The first outage was followed by a second, even larger, power grid collapse on Tuesday which affected almost half of the country, hitting northern and eastern India.

Being someone of Indian decent, and having visited the country, I know that the country and its people are no strangers to power outages–sometimes they are government mandated to save energy and at other times they are brought on by power grid failures. If the two outages this past week have made one thing clear, it is this: India needs to take energy planning seriously and start reform.

Even though India is Asia’s third-largest economy, the country still depends on coal for its energy needs. Each year India — the world’s fourth-largest consumer of electricity — emits 1,602, 120, 000 tons of carbon dioxide, making it the third largest emitter in the world. One the biggest reasons for this high ranking is that the country relies on coal for 90 percent of its electricity, which accounts for more than a third of the country’s emissions.

And if you’re reading this article then chances are you know that CO2 emissions are the accepted cause behind the climate change, which is held responsible for drastic alterations in our environment, including but not limited to: fluctuation in rainfall and agricultural crop yields, more frequent and longer heat waves, negative affects human health, and changes to forests and other ecosystems.

With a population of over a billion–and counting–it is no surprise that the nation faced a supply shortfall of 8.6 percent this year in the month of June. The Confederation of Indian Industry, India’s top business lobby, voiced support for energy reform: ”The increasing gap between the demand and supply of electricity has been a matter for concern. Today’s outage is an urgent reminder for addressing these issues as a priority.”

Energy sourced from coal is clearly not enough to sustain the nation (and has such devastating effects on the environment) and the lack of rain this year has shown the down side of hydroelectric power, leaving solar power the answer to India’s problems. In fact, during this past week, solar power was the knight in shining armor for many Indians who had invested in solar technology. Scientific American reported that rural villagers who cannot afford electricity are the ones who use solar panels in their homes, and they fared better than their wealthier counterparts when the power grid failed.

Perhaps it is an overly idealistic notion, and easier said than done, but a combination of hydroelectric power (ideal for a country with a notorious monsoon season) and solar power just may be the answer to decreasing the number of blackouts, reducing CO2 emissions and providing the entire population with access to power.

Source:http://www.greenerideal.com/alternative-energy/0803-blackouts-in-india-highlight-benefits-of-solar-power/

Email posting Cheap Solar Power

With the descent of darkness life in the remote Indian village of Meerwada came to a standstill. Workers abandoned their, tools, kids strained to see their school books while adults struggled to carry out the most basic of household chores under the faint glow of aged kerosene lamps.

The arrival of solar power last year has changed all that. On a humid evening splashed with rain, fans whirr as children sit cross-legged to catch up on their Hindi lessons and people delight over the fact that they can actually see what they are eating and drinking. –Reuters.

Source:http://dawn.com/2012/08/02/solar-power-lights-up-indian-village/

Study rates nuclear a cheap source of energy

Nuclear energy is among the cheapest power sources available to Australia under a carbon price, rating alongside solar and wind as one of the least expensive options, says a world-first study.

The study by the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics found both nuclear and solar photovoltaics would be more cost-competitive than previously thought.

Nuclear power came in on par with solar photovoltaics and just a little more expensive than wind power in a comparison of low carbon technologies in 2020.

At about $50 to $100 a megawatt hour, nuclear was found to be the second cheapest low carbon technology now and remains one of the cheapest low emission technologies until 2030.

Neither major political party formally backs domestic nuclear power, but the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr, has said it should remain an option and the Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson, has insisted it is still ”a live debate in Australia, despite the best efforts of the Greens and non-government organisations to demonise the discussion”.

The Coalition leader, Tony Abbott, has said ”the Coalition has no policy for promoting nuclear power” but his deputy, Julie Bishop, has said it should be considered ”in the mix”.

The study will feed into the government’s energy white paper to be released later in the year. It finds the cheapest low emission power available now is generated from methane escaping from landfill, along with power generated from biomass, onshore wind farms and combined cycle gas.

The director of the ANU energy change institute, Professor Ken Baldwin, said the study had ”thrown up a few surprises”.

“It indicates that a number of technologies – notably nuclear and wind power – are already competitive, with other renewable technologies like commercial solar-cell farms joining the mix in the very near future,” he said. ”It shows nuclear is in fact no more expensive than other technologies.”

Politicians and energy experts have made assertions, assumptions and best-guesses about the relative cost of various technologies in the energy policy debate in the past but the new study is the first to provide them with specific, long term projections, with a model that can be varied as government policy or global circumstances change.

Huge falls in the cost of solar cells is one reason for the differences in the relative rankings.

Biogas and biomass electricity generation, while attracting relatively little attention in the Australian debate, remain some of the most cost competitive forms of electricity generation to 2050.

The Clean Energy Council said the study showed renewables were ”winning the race” and were both clean and cost-effective.

“While the recent public debate often oversimplifies Australia’s energy choice as ‘clean vs cheap’, this report shows the argument is now desperately out of date. Renewables are rapidly becoming the cheapest source of energy,” said the council’s deputy chief executive, Kane Thornton.

The study, done with consultants WorleyParsons, found carbon capture and storage on coal-fired power plants will not be cost competitive until 2030.

Source:http://www.eco-business.com/news/study-rates-nuclear-a-cheap-source-of-energy/