Category

Ecology & Environment

One Sun One World One Grid: A collective vision towards carbon neutrality

“The Sun Never Sets.” Even in the middle of the night, it shines with all the flashes on the other side of the planet and carries the potential to meet the energy demands of the entire human race. But do we have the required approach and technology to harness this constant energy source? The answer is in affirmation, and the whole world is making giant strides through path-breaking initiatives like OSOWOG (One Sun One World One Grid). It is a Green Grids international initiative to establish an interconnected global power grid. With this project, the wholesome energy comes from diversified…

POST COVID CORPORATE TRAVEL? – GREAT LEARNINGS WITH JAKSON GROUP

2020 was a year like no other. For travellers like us, it was a nightmare as we got cooped up in our homes, with no way of travelling to places, to explore. But the Covid19 pandemic did not hit just the leisure travellers. It created a huge impact on business travel as well, to an extent of near to no travel for work. Now that the vaccines are showing hope and businesses are going back to near 100% capacity, business travel is slowly picking up, albeit with a new normal. A recent survey among corporate travellers by SAP Concur reveals…

Beat the Pollution Crises, Switch to Solar Energy

The pollution crisis has been consistent in India for many ages. While many countries have faced the challenges of pollution, no other country is battling the scale and austerity of the pollution that covers India. Air pollution has been on the rise in New Delhi and its surrounding areas. This pollution poses grave and multi-faceted risks to India’s prospects of achieving its sustainable development goals. The health expenditure also increases rapidly with the rise in pollution. Current Challenges of the Pollution Crisis Climate Change No one is far from the harsh reality of the climatic changes taking place these years….

Hydrogen based Energy Solutions – Clean Energy for a Cleaner Planet

Role of Hydrogen Since 1880, global temperature has risen by 1.1 Degree Centigrade.  Climate change exposes us to risks like natural disasters, health disasters, food epidemics, economic issues and disruption of supply chains. There is global commitment to limit temperature rise to ideally 1.5 degrees centigrade –  this is the only way to sustain and survive. Clearly, we need to make this world a better place to live in for our generations to come. Temperature rise beyond 1.5 degrees could be very dangerous and has irreversible effects.   Mitigation of climate change would require rapid reduction of CO2 and other harmful…

A Paradigm Shift in Bestowing Affordable and Clean Energy Ecosystem Through Battery Energy Storage Systems

With the increased environmental awareness and climate change initiatives, there has been a transition towards source of energy, i.e., renewable energy. India also is seeing a consistent shift from petroleum derivatives towards renewable energy sources. With a focused goal of accomplishing 40% of installed capacity dependent on renewable sources by 2030, energy storage has all the earmarks of opening the sustainable power sources’ genuine capability and achieving this objective. It has been noticed that scalability and adoption of renewable source of energy has widely gained popularity. However, the bigger challenge remains of grid integration. The intermittent idea of the sustainable…

Decarbonizing India’s energy sector

Rise in global energy demand and the impact this has on global economics and the environment continues to be an important topic of discussion across various world forums. While carbon emissions have significantly risen globally over the last 20 years, currently, India is the third-largest emitter of carbon emissions after China and the US and is projected to overtake the US by 2030 at its current pace. Need for decarbonization As per International Energy Agency (IEA) database, CO2 emissions in India had increased by 132% compared to a global average of 40% between 2000 and 2015. The emissions intensity of…

Water Conservation – Imperative for India and the world

Water is one of the most essential natural resources for life on Earth. About 97% of the earth is surrounded by water with only 3% of this being fresh water, which can be used for consumption, agriculture and other usages. Water scarcity situation occurs when high rate of aggregate demand from all water-using sectors exceeds available supply, under the prevailing infrastructural conditions. From Cape Town to sub-Saharan Africa to Asia’s teeming megacities, there’s a global water crisis affecting millions of people. Water scarcity affects every continent and was listed in 2019 by the World Economic Forum as one of the…

PV module waste management – The next big challenge for the solar sector

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technology has emerged as one of the most promising technologies for improving energy security and mitigating climate change. This market is growing rapidly world-over, and further exponential expansion is expected in the coming years. In addition to its positive impacts on energy security and climate change, PV technology is also among the most favoured renewable energy technologies, particularly when evaluated from a life-cycle viewpoint. In India as well, solar power capacity has grown from a mere 2,300 MW in 2013 to over 27,000 MW in 2018 at a CAGR of 64%, making India one of the top…

Can Plastic Roads be an Answer to the Global Plastic Waste Crisis?

Global Plastic Waste Crisis

One of the gravest environmental challenges facing mankind today is plastic pollution. According to conservative estimates by the United Nations, humans today produce more than 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year and this figure is continuously on the rise. Even worrisome is the fact that only 9% of this waste gets recycled, 12% incinerated and the rest – more than 75% – gets dumped in landfills, water bodies and the natural environment worldwide. As a result, plastic waste has become a major environmental hazard polluting our cities, farmlands, rivers and even our oceans. Researchers estimate that at this…