Environmental Issues Todays

Recent Issues & Challenges

Environmental issues that are considered as a threat to the modern society in the world are discussed. Recent transition have affected the vulnerable sectors badly, the scientist, researchers and the experts see as a tough challenges to tackle these issues in the future. Such  major issues which are to be addressed are as follows.

• Climate Change
• Risk of Large Temperature Increase
• Risk of Irreversible GHG Emissions from Environment
• Sea Level Rise
• Air Pollution
• Ozone depletion
• Water Crisis
• Ocean & Coastal Threats
• Shrinking Wetland
• Genetic Engineering
• Forest Destruction and Deforestation
• Industrial Agriculture and Farm
• Desertification
• Habitat Destruction
• Toxic Chemical
• Nuclear Weapon & Nuclear Power
• Natural Resources Extraction & Depletion
• Hydraulic Fracturing
• World Hunger/ Food Crisis
• Endangered Species and Biodiversity Loss
• Animal Cruelty
• Overpopulation   

Climate Change

UNEP (United Nation Environment Programme) Report : To limit temperature increase to 1.5°C, we must drop our greenhouse gas emissions 7.6% each year between 2020 and 2030. This will take an all-hands-on-deck effort. Climate change, or global warming, is the greatest environmental threat we've ever faced. How we respond to this crisis will greatly impact both current and future generations and all other species.

The global carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere has exceeded 400 parts per million. This level is considered a tipping point. "Carbon dioxide levels today are higher than at any point in at least the past 800,000 years. The last time the atmospheric CO2 amounts were this high was more than 3 million years ago, when temperature was 2°–3°C (3.6°–5.4°F) higher than during the pre-industrial era, and sea level was 15–25 meters (50–80 feet) higher than today."

A new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report warns that unless global greenhouse gas emissions fall by 7.6% each year between 2020 and 2030, the world will miss the opportunity to get on track towards the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.

The Effects of Climate Change

NASA report : Global climate change has already had observable effects on the environment. Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted and trees are flowering sooner.

Effects that scientists had predicted in the past would result from global climate change are now occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves. Change will continue through this century and beyond temperatures will continue to rise frost-free season (and growing season) will lengthen changes in precipitation patterns more droughts and heat waves hurricanes will become stronger and more intense sea level will rise 1-8 feet by 2100 arctic likely to become ice-free.

Risk of Large Temperature Increase

WMO (World Meteorological Organisation) report: Past 4 years warmest on record

The long-term warming trend has continued in 2018, with the average global temperature set to be the fourth highest on record. The 20 warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years, with the top four in the past four years, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Global warming

When carbon (CO2 or carbon dioxide) and other heat-trapping emissions are released into the air, they act like a blanket, holding heat in our atmosphere and warming the planet.

Overloading our atmosphere with carbon has far-reaching effects for people all around the world, including rising sea levels, increasing wildfires, more extreme weather, deadly heat waves, and more severe droughts.

Risk of Irreversible GHG Emissions from Environment

Arctic ice melt makes permafrost vulnerable

The absence of sea ice in the Arctic is closely connected to the melting of permafrost, according to a new study. Permafrost contains massive amounts of carbon which are likely to be released as climate change heats up the world. When this carbon enters the atmosphere as CO2 and methane gas, it will itself contribute to warming the globe.

As soils warm, microbes pump more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere

A teaspoon of soil can contain more microbes than there are people on the planet. Those microbes affect the climate by helping determine how much carbon is trapped in the soil and how much is released to the atmosphere. It’s a delicate balance, and one that scientists say is shifting as temperatures rise.

Sea Level Rise

Global Sea Level 

Global mean sea level has risen about 8–9 inches (21–24 cm) since 1880, with about a third of that coming in just the last two and a half decades. The rising water level is mostly due to a combination of melt water from glaciers and ice sheets and thermal expansion of seawater as it warms. In 2018, global mean sea level was 3.2 inches (8.1 cm) above the 1993 average—the highest annual average in the satellite record (1993-present).

Climate Change Impacts on the Environment

WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) report : The changing nature of the Amazon over time, global climate change and more deforestation will likely lead to increased temperatures and changing rain patterns in the Amazon, which will undoubtedly affect the region’s forests, water availability, biodiversity, agriculture, and human health. Between 30% and 60% of the Amazon rainforest could become a dry savanna.

Air Pollution

UNEP Report : Air pollution is broken down into ambient (outdoor) air pollution and indoor air pollution. This pollution comes from many sources, the majority of them a result of human activity. Air pollution has been called a major global health epidemic, causing one in nine of all deaths. It also has massive negative impacts on climate change and economies.

Ozone Depletion

NASA Explained : The stratospheric ozone layer protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet light, which damages DNA in plants and animals (including humans) and leads to sunburns and skin cancer. Prior to 1979, scientists had not observed atmospheric ozone concentrations below 220 Dobson Units. But in the early 1980s, through a combination of ground-based and satellite measurements, scientists began to realize that Earth’s natural sunscreen was thinning dramatically over the South Pole each spring. This thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica came to be known as the ozone hole.

Water Crisis

WHO Data & Facts : In 2017, 71% of the global population (5.3 billion people) used a safely managed drinking-water service – that is, one located on premises, available when needed, and free from contamination. 90% of the global population (6.8 billion people) used at least a basic service. A basic service is an improved drinking-water source within a round trip of 30 minutes to collect water. 785 million people lack even a basic drinking-water service, including 144 million people who are dependent on surface water.

Globally, at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces. Contaminated water can transmit diseases such diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio. Contaminated drinking water is estimated to cause 485 000 diarrhea deaths each year. By 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas. In least developed countries, 22% of health care facilities have no water service, 21% no sanitation service, and 22% no waste management service.

Ocean and Coastal Threats

UNESCO Report : World's Low Oxygen: Scientists Reveal Dangers and Solutions in Broadest Study Yet

In the past 50 years, the amount of water in the open ocean with zero oxygen has gone up more than fourfold. In coastal water bodies, including estuaries and seas, low-oxygen sites have increased more than 10-fold since 1950. As the Earth warms, scientists expect oxygen levels to continue dropping in both of these zones. To halt the decline, the world needs to rein in both climate change and nutrient pollution, an international team of scientists assert in a new paper published January 5 in Science magazine.

The study comes from the Global Ocean Oxygen Network (GO2NE), a new working group created in 2016 by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), representing 21 institutions in 11 countries. The review paper is the first to take such a sweeping look at the causes, consequences and solutions to low oxygen worldwide, in both the open ocean and coastal waters. The article highlights the biggest dangers to the ocean and society, and what it will take to keep Earth’s waters healthy and productive.

Shrinking Wetlands

WWF Report : 

Montenegro dams to harm crucial bird, fish habitats

Dam projects planned in Montenegro will likely harm Lake Skadar, the largest lake in the Balkans and a protected wetland site that is home to crucial bird and fish habitats, according to a study by WWF and Green Home.

Ramsar Convention

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is the only environmental treaty for a particular type of ecosystem and the first global inter governmental treaty to combine conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Signed in 1971, it originally focused on the conservation and wise use of wetlands primarily to protect water bird habitat. However, its basic tenets have broadened over the years to recognize wetlands, including coastal wetlands such as mangroves, coral reefs, and sea grass beds, as ecosystems that are extremely important for both biodiversity conservation and the well-being of human communities.

Genetic Engineering

ISAAA  (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications) Report : GM Crops affects on Environment

Risk assessment procedures in considering the interactions between a GM crop and its environment. These include information about the role of the introduced gene, and the effect that it brings into the recipient plant. Also addressed are specific questions about unintentional effects such as:

•  impact on non-target organisms in the environment
• whether the modified crop might persist in the environment longer than usual or invade new habitats
• likelihood and consequences of a gene being transferred unintentionally from the modified crop to other species

Forest Destruction/Deforestation

Global Forest Resource Statement 2020 Report : An estimated 420 million ha of forest has been lost worldwide through deforestation since 1990, but the rate of forest loss has declined substantially. In the most recent five-year period (2015–2020), the annual rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million ha, down from 12 million ha in 2010–2015. 

Forests face many disturbances that can adversely affect their health and vitality and reduce their ability to provide a full range of goods and ecosystem services. About 98 million ha of forest were affected by fire in 2015; this was mainly in the tropical domain, where fire burned about 4 percent of the total forest area in that year. More than two-thirds of the total forest area affected was in Africa and South America.

Insects, diseases and severe weather events damaged about 40 million ha of forests in 2015, mainly in the temperate and boreal domains.

Industrial Agriculture and Farm

• Depletion - Monoculture exhausts soil fertility, requiring costly applications of chemical fertilizers.
• Irrigation - Soils used to grow annual row crops and then left bare for much of the year have poor drought resistance, increasing irrigation costs.
• Erosion - Monoculture degrades soil structure and leaves it more vulnerable to erosion, resulting in costs for soil replacement, cleanup, and lost farmland value. 
• Lost biodiversity - Industrial farms don't support the rich range of life that more diverse farms do. As a result, the land suffers from a shortage of the ecosystem services, such as pollination, that a more diverse landscape offers.

Desertification

Desertification, also called desertization, the process by which natural or human causes reduce the biological productivity of dry lands (arid and semiarid lands). Declines in productivity may be the result of climate change, deforestation, overgrazing, poverty, political instability, unsustainable irrigation practices, or combinations of these factors.

 Slightly less than half of Earth’s ice-free land surface—approximately 52 million square km (about 20 million square miles)—is dry lands, and these dry lands cover some of the world’s poorest countries. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) notes that desertification has affected 36 million square km (14 million square miles) of land and is a major international concern. According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the lives of 250 million people are affected by desertification, and as many as 135 million people may be displaced by desertification by 2045, making it one of the most severe environmental challenges facing humanity.

Habitat Destruction

Habitat loss poses the greatest threat to species. The world's forests, swamps, plains, lakes, and other habitats continue to disappear as they are harvested for human consumption and cleared to make way for agriculture, housing, roads, pipelines and the other hallmarks of industrial development. Without a strong plan to create terrestrial and marine protected areas important ecological habitats will continue to be lost.

Toxic Chemical

EWG (Environmental Working Group) report : 

The Pollution in Newborn

A benchmark investigation of industrial chemicals, pollutants and pesticide in umbilical cord blood.

In the month leading up to a baby's birth, the umbilical cord pulses with the equivalent of at least 300 quarts of blood each day, pumped back and forth from the nutrient- and oxygen-rich placenta to the rapidly growing child cradled in a sac of amniotic fluid. This cord is a lifeline between mother and baby, bearing nutrients that sustain life and propel growth.

Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power

In the last decade, however, with growing public awareness about climate change and the critical role that carbon dioxide and methane emissions plays in causing the heating of the earth's atmosphere, there has been a resurgence in the intensity of the nuclear power debate. Nuclear power advocates and those most concerned about climate change point to nuclear power's reliable, emission-free, high-density energy, alongside a generation of young physicists and engineers working to bring a new generation of nuclear technology into existence to replace fossil fuels. On the other hand, skeptics point to nuclear accidents such as the death of Louis Slotin, the Windscale fire, the Three Mile Island accident, the Chernobyl disaster, and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, combined with escalating acts of global terrorism, to argue against continuing use of the technology.

Natural Resources Extraction & Depletion

Resource extraction involves any activity that withdraws resources from nature. This can range in scale from the traditional use of pre-industrial societies to global industry. Extractive industries are, along with agriculture, the basis of the primary sector of the economy. Extraction produces raw material, which is then processed to add value. Examples of extractive industries are hunting, trapping, mining, oil and gas drilling, and forestry.

The depletion of natural resources is caused by 'direct drivers of change' such as Mining, petroleum extraction, fishing, and forestry as well as 'indirect drivers of change' such as demography (e.g. population growth), economy, society, politics, and technology. The current practice of Agriculture is another factor causing depletion of natural resources. For example, the depletion of nutrients in the soil due to excessive use of nitrogen and desertification.

Hydraulic Fracturing for natural Gas & Oil 

Hydraulic fracturing, informally referred to as “fracking,” is an oil and gas well development process that typically involves injecting water, sand, and chemicals under high pressure into a bedrock formation via the well.

When developing oil and gas well pads, the vegetation and soil are removed to level the areas for drilling and operations. The new assessment approach, called the disturbance automated reference tool set, or DART, is used to examine recovery patterns after well pads are plugged and abandoned to help resource managers make informed decisions for future well pad development.

The recovery of well pads following oil and gas development is an area of growing importance because recent technological advances such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have initiated rapid increases in development and production. Previous studies estimate that about 11,583 square miles of land in central North America were cleared for oil and gas related purposes between 2000 and 2012.

World Hunger - Food Crisis

UN World Food Program Data : Every day too many men and women across the globe struggle to feed their children a nutritious meal. In a world where we produce enough food to feed everyone, 821 million people – one in nine – still go to bed on an empty stomach each night. Even more – one in three – suffer from some form of malnutrition.

Endangered Species and Biodiversity Loss

WWF Report : Biologists estimate there are between 5 and 15 million species of plants, animals, and micro-organisms existing on Earth today, of which only about 1.5 million have been described and named. The estimated total includes around 300,000 plant species, between 4 and 8 million insects, and about 50,000 vertebrate species (of which about 10,000 are birds and 4,000 are mammals).

Animal Cruelty

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal) report : Each year, more than 100 million animals—including mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds—are killed in U.S. laboratories for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, and chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics testing. Before their deaths, some are forced to inhale toxic fumes, others are immobilized in restraint devices for hours, some have holes drilled into their skulls, and others have their skin burned off or their spinal cords crushed. In addition to the torment of the actual experiments, animals in laboratories are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them—they are confined to barren cages, socially isolated, and psychologically traumatized. The thinking, feeling animals who are used in experiments are treated like nothing more than disposable laboratory equipment.

Overpopulation

The United Nations predicts the world population will reach 7 billion on October 31, 2011, and continue exploding till its hits 10 billion by century’s end. Global population doubled from 1 billion to 2 billion between 1800 and 1930, then exploded over the past five decades — doubling from 3.5 billion in 1968 to nearly 7 billion now.

According to a May 2011 U.N. report, the global human population will likely exceed 10 billion by 2100. This projection is higher than previous estimates, which predicted the population would peak at slightly more than 9 billion in 2050 and then begin to decline.

Population growth has an enormous impact on biodiversity, the suite of plant and animal species that make up our physical world. As the world’s human population grows unsustainably, so do its unyielding demands for water, land, trees and fossil fuels — all of which come at a steep price for other life forms already being forced into remote corners, deprived of food sources or out competed by introduced species. Most directly, population growth has led to massive habitat loss, over hunting and interruption of migration.

Arctic Circle : Whats the recent concern!

Arctic Circles : Real threat to the Earth & Ecology

Facts & figures about Article Circle

The Arctic circle is one of the two polar circles and most northerly of the five major circle of latitude. It marks the northernmost point at which the centre of the noon is just visible on the December solstice and the southernmost point at which the centre of the midnight sun is just visible on the June solstice. The region north of this circle is known as the earth as the Arctic, and the zone just to the south is called the Northern Temperate Zone.

The position of the Arctic Circle is not fixed and currently runs 66°33'48.1'' north of the equator.

Geographical figures

• Length - 1600 km
• Area - 20 mill sq. km
• passes through the Arctic Ocean, the Scandivian, North Asia, Northern America, Greenland
• Arctic Countries comprises Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, US (Alaska), Canada, Denmark (Greenland)and Iceland.

Climate

Long, cold winters and short, cool summer characteristics of the Arctic Climate. Sea ice, glacial ice, or snow covers some parts if the Arctic year-round, and almost all of the Arctic experiences long periods of the year with some form of surface ice. Winter temp. can drop below - 58° (-50℃), and summer temp. can occasionally exceed 86°F (30℃). Now, the Arctic is marked as the climatic laboratory for the rest of the planet.

Habitat to Flaura & Fauna

The Arctic circle is there polar bears, Arctic foxes, wolves and reindeer can be found as well as various species of birds such as snowy owls, bald eagles and those over so charming puffins (no penguins!) the Arctic Ocean provides a home for various types of whales, seals, walruses, fish and plankton.

Approx. 20,000 species of plants, animals, and microorganisms make the arctic home. Vegetation includes grasses, sedges, polar poppies, willow shrubs, dwarf birch, lichens, liverworts and mosses.

Arctic Fox

Polar Bear

Willow Vegetation

Major issues & threats

The Arctic Circle and impact of the Global Warming

The people and animals that live in the Arctic depend on its unique ecosystem to survive. For them the climate change is the actual threat to live their livelihood and it's a daily reality. And with the region warming twice as fast the rest of the world, the arctic ice is melting even faster, as the ocean absorbs the heat.

Oil drilling in the Arctic Circle

Arctic Ocean drilling is a gamble with catastrophic consequences for the people, wildlife and the sensitive ecosystem of the region. And yet major companies like Shell and the Exxon are making aggressive move to ushers a new "Oil rush" in the arctic ocean that we need a longer term fix we need to keep Arctic Ocean off limits to call drilling forever.

Climate Change

Anthropogenic climate change (due to human activities) is caused by greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere, largely the result of fossil fuel use since in the industrial revolution and deforestation caused by land use changes. These gases trap energy in the atmosphere that would otherwise escape to space.

Changes in Biological diversity

The people of the north are heavily reliant, both for food and for social and cultural reasons, on the variety and abundance of organisms (biodiversity). Biodiversity is dramatically in the north, the result of over harvesting, global habitat loss in wintering and staging grounds used by the migratory species and most significantly climate change.

Accumulation of toxic chemicals

Wind & ocean currents carry persistent chemicals, many of which are toxic to the arctic mining and oil development in northern Canada, the Barents Sea and Alaska could increase the chemical load in the Arctic. Increased shipping as a result of climate change will expose the Arctic to a greater risk of pollution. In addition, radioactive waste much of the result of cold war activities in the former Soviet Union - found in the Arctic.

Chemicals of concern include your POPs, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDT, and some organophosphate pesticides, as well as heavy metals such as mercury.

Recent in News

• 'Extreme fires erupt in the Arctic Circle' - Mashable.com Report

For the second straight year, an unusually large number of intense fires have ignited in the Arctic Circle, the polar region a top Earth.

• 'Siberian town hits highest temperature in records history for the Arctic Circle' - the Accuwaether Report

Verkhyoyansk, a Siberian town located 3000 miles east of Moscow, Russia, reached 100.4 °F on Saturday, breaking the record high temp for the Arctic Circle and Siberia and also making the first time that either region has reached 100°F in recorded history.

• 'Siberian town records 100°F day - the hottest in Arctic history' - Live Science Report

• 'Extreme weather 'record' likely in Arctic Circle, says UN weather agency WHO - UN reports

• 'Satellite images show wildfires ravaging the Arabic Circle' - by Yahoo!News

• 'Russian mining firm accused of using global heating to avoid blame of oil spill'

What does it signify?

Recent transition shows the clear evidence that the heatwave in the arctic aren't usual. Weather patterns around the world can align in such a way that hot air is transported quite far northward and colder air from the poles southward. Over the last few months a large area of high pressure in the eastern Russia has been dominant. This has led to southerly winds bringing warmer air from near the tropics, leading to higher than avg temp.

However, the persistence of this weather pattern has led to a congevity and scale of heat that is worrying. This is consistent with what climatologists believe will happen in the Arctic with Climate Change. Most scientist agree that over the past 30 years, the arctic has warned at a two times rate of global average.

Why its so concern the warming of Arctic?

• The North & South poles play a vital role in regulating the earth's climate - acting as natural cooling system.
• Warming in the Arctic is leading to the thawing of once permanently frozen permafrost below grow. (Permafrost thaws, CO₂ & CH₄ previously locked up below ground is released).
• Reduced snow cover will mean that the Earth absorbs more heat from the Sun & ocean current shift. Arctic region is also home to millions of people, many from unique, indigenous populations. These people and their cultures are also at risk.
• The impact of wildfires are also a consideration few years back, they ravaged parts of the Arctic. Although they are common in summer, high temp & strongly winds made them unusual several.

Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is a energy that is generated from natural resources that are continuously replenished. This includes sunlight, geothermal heat, wind, tides and various forms of biomass. This energy cannot be exhausted and is is constantly renewed.

Why do we need renewable source of energy

• To reduce pollutants, greenhouse gases and toxins that are by-products of non-renewable sources of energy;
• The use of alternative energy sources can help preserve the delicate ecological balance of the earth, and help conserve the non-renewable energy sources like fossil fuels; and
• Renewable sources are inexhaustible.

What renewable energy comprises of

• Solar energy - energy generated from the Sun
• Hydel energy - energy derived from water biomass - energy from firewood, animal dung, biodegradable waste and crop residues when it is burnt.
• Geothermal energy - energy from hot dry rocks, magma, hot water springs, natural geysers etc.
• Ocean thermal - energy from waves and also from tidle waves.
• Co-generation - producing two forms of energy from one fuel.
• Fuel cells - fuel cells are also being used as cleaner energy source

Sun - The Ultimate Source of Energy

The sun has been providing us heat and light for billions of years and it is expected that it will continue to do so for billions of years to come. All plants get their energy from the sun and all animals get their energy mainly from the plants.

Solar Grid to harness Solar Energy

The ways to produce electricity from sunlight

• Photovoltaic Electricity - uses photovoltaic cells that absorb the direct sunlight to generate electricity.
• Solar Thermal Electricity - uses a solar collector that has mirrored surface which reflects the sunlight onto a receiver that heats up a liquid. This heated up liquid is used to make steam that produces electricity.

Photovoltaic Electricity

Solar panels attached aluminium mounting system. Photovoltaic (PV) cells are made up of at least two semiconductor layers - a positive charge and a negative charge. As a PV cell is exposed to sunlight, photons are reflected, pass right through, or absorbed by the solar cell. When enough photons are absorbed by the negative layer of the photovoltaic cell, electrons are freed from the negative semiconductor material. These freed electrons migrate to the positive layer creating a voltage differential. When the two layers are connected to an external load, the electrons flow through the circuit creating electricity. The power generated - Direct Current (DC) is converted to Alternate Current (AC) with the use of inverter.

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) or Thermal Technology

It utilized focused sunlight and convert it into high temperature heat. The heat is then channeled through a conventional generator to produce electricity. Solar collector captures and concentrate sunlight to heat a fluid which in turn generates electricity. There are several variations in the shape of the collectors. The most commonly used are the parabolic through. Parabolic through power plants use a curved, mirrored trough which reflects the direct solar radiation onto a glass tube containing a fluid and fluid gets heated owing to the concentrated solar radiation and the hot steam generated is used to rotate the turbine to generate electricity. Commonly used fluid are synthetic oil, molten salt and pressurized steam. The power generated - Direct Current (DC) is converted to Alternate Current (AC) with the use of inverters.

Potential of Solar Energy in India and it's installed capacity

India has the potential to generate 35 MW/km2 using solar voltaic and solar thermal energy. Solar energy of about 5000 trillion kWh per year is incident over India's land area with most parts receiving 4-7 kWh per sq. m per day. Hence both technology routes (solar thermal and solar photovoltaic) for conversion of solar radiation into heat and electricity can effectively be harnessed providing huge scalability for solar power in India (Specially in high solar radiation area : Rajasthan, Gujarat, Laddakh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra & Madhya Pradesh)

The current installed capacity of solar grid connected power reached 37.627 GW as of 31st March, 2020. A major initiative called 'The National Solar Mission' was formed by Govt of India and its state govt. One of the main features of the mission is to make India a global leader in solar energy and the mission envisages an installed solar generation capacity of 100 GW by 2022.

International Solar Alliance

International Solar Alliance (ISA) is launched at the CoP21 Climate Conference in Paris as a special platform for mutual cooperation among 121 solar resources rich countries lying fully or partially between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. The alliance is dedicated to address special energy needs of ISA member countries. International Agency for Solar Policy and Application (IASPA) will be the formal name of International Solar Alliance. The ISA secretariat will be set up in National Institute of Solar Energy, Gurugram (India).

Objectives

• to force down prices by driving demand;
• to bring standardization in solar technologies
• to foster research and development

Wind Energy

Wind energy is the kinetic energy associated with the movement of atmospheric air. Wind turbines transform the energy in the wind into mechanical power, further converting to electric power to generate electricity. Five nations - Germany, USA, Denmark, Spain and India account for 80% of the world's installed wind energy capacity.

Wind Energy

Wind farm

• Onshore wind farms : operate one land, where the wind tends to be the strongest. The turbines of a onshore wind farms are less expensive and easier to set up, mantain and operate than offshore turbines.
• Offshore wind farms : Construction of wind farms in large bodies of water to generate electricity. Offshore wind farms are more expensive than onshore wind farms of the same nominal power.

Wind Farm

Working of wind turbines

Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical energy. This mechanical power can be used for specific tasks ( such as grinding grain or pumping water) or a generator can convert this mechanical power into electricity. Most turbines have three aerodynamically designed blades. The energy in the wind turns two or three propeller-like blades around a rotor that is connected to the main shaft , which spins a generator to create electricity. Wind turbines are mounted on a tower to capture the most energy. At 100 ft or more above ground, they can take advantage of faster and less turbulent wind.

Main factors that determine the electricity production

• Wind speed - stronger wind produce more energy. Wind turbine generates energy at a speed of 4-25 metres/sec.
• Blade radius - the larger the radius of blades, the more the energy produced. Doubling the blade radius can result in four times more power.
• Air density - Heavier air exerts more lift on a rotor. Air sensory is a function of altitude, temperature and pressure and lighter air so they are less productive turbine locations. The dense heavy air near sea level drives rotors faster and thus relatively more effective.
• Wind turbines can be of horizontal axis design and vertical axis design.

Potential of wind energy in India and it's installed capacity

The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) has recently launched Wind Energy Resource Map of India at 100 m above ground level (AGL) on online Geographic Information System platform.

The wind energy potential in the country at 100 m AGL is over 302 GW. Gujarat has the maximum potential followed by Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh according to the resource map.

Wind power generation capacity in India has significantly increased in recent years. As of 29 February 2020 the total installed wind power capacity was 37.669 GW, the fourth largest installed wind power capacity in the world. Wind power capacity is mainly spread across the Southern, Western and Northern regions.

World Wind Energy Association

WWEA is an international non-profit association embracing the wind sector worldwide, with  more than 600 members in around 100 countries. WWEA works for the promotion and worldwide deployment of wind energy technology.

• WWEA provides a platform for the communication of all wind energy actors worldwide.
• WWEA advises and influences national governments and international organisations.
• WWEA enhances international technology transfer.

WWEA Working Principles

• Wind energy shall serve as one cornerstone and a driving force for the immediate application of a world energy system driven by renewable energies to completely substitute fossil and nuclear sources.
• Global dissemination of grid-connected and stand-alone wind energy solutions should rely on experience gained from the most successful implementation strategies, based on favorable legal, political and social framework conditions as initiated by national associations. Local and rural communities and people should be involved and should benefit directly.
• WWEA shall stimulate and support the foundation of national and regional wind energy associations and encourage national governments to set ambitious targets and political frameworks for priority strategies in favour of a fast and sustainable development of all renewable energies.
• WWEA organises together with continental, national and regional wind energy associations World Wind Energy Conferences and further international events for mobilising a wide range of the different wind energy applications.
• WWEA plays an active role in the World Council for Renewable Energies and cooperates with further international renewable energy organisations in order to work for a full substitution of all polluting and hazardous waste causing energies.

Ocean Thermal Energy

Large amount of solar energy is stored in the oceans and seas. On an average, the 60 mill square km of the tropical seas absorb solar radiation equivalent to the content of 245 bill barrels of oil.The process of harnessing this energy is called OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion). It uses the temperature differences between the surface of the ocean and the depth of about 1000 m to operate a heat engine, which produce electric produces electric power.

OTEC working Flowchart

Wave Energy

Waves result from the interaction of the wind with the surface of the sea and represent a transfer of energy from the wind to the sea.

The first wave energy, project with a capacity of 150 MW has been set up at Vizhinjam near Trivandrum.

Wave Energy Plant 

Tidal Energy

Energy can be extracted from tides by creating a reservoir or basin behind a barrage and then passing tidal waters through turbines in the barrage to generate electricity.

A major tidal wave power project costing of Rs 5k crores, proposed to be set up in the Hanthal Creek in the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat.

Tidal Energy

Biomass

Energy from biomass is the oldest fuel used by human’s .Our ancestors burned wood to keep the cave warm. Biomass is a renewable energy resource derived from plants and animal waste. The energy from biomass (biomass conversion) is released on burning or breaking the chemical bonds of organic molecules formed during photosynthesis. Thus biomass represents an indirect form of solar energy. Biomass fuels can be used directly or they can be transformed into more convenient form and then used.

Biomass Plant

Sources of BioMass

It is derived from numerous sources, including the by-products from the timber industry, agricultural crops and their by products, raw material from the forest, major parts of household waste and wood.

Biomass can be burnt directly as a source for cooking, heating, lighting, generating steam, for industrial use for producing electricity.

• can be used to generate gaseous fuels (gasification).
• can be converted into alcohol (liquid biofuels) by distillation.

Methane and biogas can be produced from urban wastes in landfills and sewage at waste water treatment plants. In some facilities, manure from livestock and other organic waste is converted by microorganisms in specially designed digestion chamber to form methane(CH4), which is burned to produce electricity, used in fuel cell, or used as fuel for vehicles. Molasses obtained from sugarcane is fermented to produce ethanol, that can be used in automobiles.

Bagasse as biofuel

Indian sugar mills are rapidly turning to bagasse, the leftover of cane after it is crushed and its juice extracted, to generate electricity. This is mainly being done to clean up the environment, cut down power costs and earn additional revenue. According to current estimates, about 3500 MW of power can be generated from bagasse in the existing 430 sugar mills in the country. Around 270 MW of power has already been commissioned and more is under construction.

Biogas plant

The biogas plant consists of two components: 

A digester (or fermentation tank) and a gas holder. The digester is a cube-shaped or cylindrical waterproof container with an inlet into which the fermentable mixture is introduced in the form of liquid slurry. The gas holder is normally an airproof steel container that, by floating like a ball on the fermentation mix, cuts off air to the digester (anaerobiosis) and collects the gas generated. In one of the most widely used designs, the gas holder is equipped with a gas outlet, while the digester is provided with an overflow pipe to lead the sludge out into a drainage pit.
Any biodegradable (that which can be decomposed by bacteria) substance can be fermented anaerobically (in absence of oxygen) by methane-producing (methanogenic) bacteria. Cow dung or faeces are collected and put in a biogas digester or fermenter (a large vessel in which fermentation can take place). A series of chemical reactions occur in the presence of methanogenic bacteria (CH4 generating bacteria) leading to the production of CH4 and CO2.

Methanogenesis is a microbial process, involving many complex, and differently interacting species, but most notably, the methane-producing bacteria. The biogas process is shown below in figure 30.3, and consists of three stages; hydrolysis, acidification and methane formation.

Petro-crops (Plants)

Petroleum and wood are chief energy resources from time immemorial, but they have been overused and not being replenished fast enough. This is cause for concern. There is a need for alternative energy providing sources that can be regenerated. Recent researches suggest that hydrocarbon producing plants can become alternative energy sources, which can be inexhaustible and ideal for liquid fuel. These plants called petroplants/petrocrops can be grown on land which are unfit for agriculture and not covered with forests. The most critical step in bioenergy production is the selection of plant species that produce substances from which useful products can be extracted in an economically viable way.

Many such promising species belong to the families Asclepiadaceae, Asteraceae, Anacardiaceae Euphorbiaceae, Convolvulaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Lamiaceae, and Moraceae. Jatropa Curcas is an important petro plant.

Jatropa Curcas : A fuel plant

Potential of Biomass Energy in India

India has a potential of about 18 GW of energy from Biomass. Currently, about 32% of total primary energy used in India is derived from Biomass. More than 70% of the country’s population depends upon biomass for its energy needs. India has ~5+ GW capacity biomass powered plants: 83% are grid connected while the remaining 17% are off-grid plants. The off- grid plants are divided between co-generation plants that do not utilize bagasse, biomass gasifiers for rural applications and biomass gasifiers for thermal applications in industry. Around 70 Co-generation projects are under implementation with surplus capacity aggregating to 800 MW.

Biomass potential of the world

The world production of biomass is estimated at 146 billion metric tons a year, mostly wild plant growth. Biomass accounts for 35% of primary energy consumption in developing countries, raising the world total to 14% of primary energy consumption. In the future, biomass has the potential to provide a cost-effective and sustainable supply of energy, while at the same time aiding countries in meeting their greenhouse gas reduction targets. By the year 2050, it is estimated that 90% of the world population will live in developing countries.

Co-generation

Co-generation is producing two forms of energy from one fuel. One of the forms of energy must always be heat and the other may be electricity or mechanical energy in a conventional power plant, fuel is burnt in a boiler to generate high pressure steam. This system is used to drive a turbine, which in turn drives an alternator steam turbine to produce electric power. The exhaust system is generally condensed to water which goes back to the boiler. As the low pressure steam has a large quantum of heat which is lost in the process of condensing, the efficiency of conventional power plant is only around 35%. In a co-generation plant, the low pressure exhaust steam coming out of the turbine is not condensed, but used for heating purposes in factories or houses and thus very high efficiency level, in the range of 75% to 95%, can be reached. Since co-generation can meet both power and heat needs, it has other advantage as well as in the form of significant cost savings for the plant and reduction in emission of pollutants due to reduce fuel consumption.

Potential in India and it's installed capacity

Biomass energy is one of the most important sources of energy forming 32% of total primary energy usage in the country with more than 70% of India's population dependent on it for energy needs.

The current availability of biomass is estimated at about 450-500 mill tonnes annually translating to a potential of around 18000 MW.

In addition, about MW power could be generated through bagasse based co-generation in the country's 550 sugar mills.

Approximately over 300 biomass power and co-generation projects aggerating 3700 MW have been installed in the country for feeding power to the grid. Also, 30 biomass power projects aggregating about 350 MW are under different stages of implementation.

The government plans to meet 20% of the countries diesel requirement by 2020 using bio-diesel. Potential sources of bio-diesel production have been identified in wild plants such as jatropha curcas, neem, mahua, karanj, simarouba (exotic tree) etc.

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal generation first to sing of geothermal energy of the vast reserver of heat stored in the earth's inner core. Below the earth's crust, there is a layer of hot and molten rock called 'magma'. Heat is continually produced there, mostly from the decay of naturally radioactive materials is Uranium and Potassium.

Thermal Energy emit from the Earth surface

How is it captured

Geothermal system can be found in regions with a normal or slightly above normal geothermal gradiant (gradual change in temperature is known as the geothermal gradiant, which expresses the increase in temperature with depth in the earth's crust. The average geothermal gradiant is about 2.5-3 ℃/100 m.) and especially in regions around plate margins where the geothermal gradiants may be significantly higher than the average value.

The most current way of capturing the energy from geothermal sources is to tap into naturally occurring "hydrothermal convection" systems where cooler water seeps into the earth's crust, is heated up and then rises to the surface. When heated water is forced to the surface, it is relatively easy to capture that steam and use it to drive electric generators.

Fuel Cells

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert the chemical energy of a fuel directly and very efficiently into electricity (DC) and heat, thus doing away with combustion. The most suitable fuel for such cell is hydrogen. A fuel cell consists of an electrolyte sand witched between two electrodes. Oxygen passes over one electrode and hydrogen over the other, and they react electrochemically to generate electricity, water, and heat.

Hydrogen Fuel Engine

Fuel cells for automobile transport

Compared to vehicles powered by the internal combustion engine, fuel cell powered vehicles have very high energy conversion efficiency, and near-zero pollution, CO2 and water vapour being the only emissions. Fuel-cell- powered EV's (electronic vehicles) score over battery operated EV's  in terms of increased efficiency and easier and faster refuelling. In India, diesel run buses are a major means of transport and these emit significant quantities of SPM and SO2. Thus, fuel-cell powered buses and electric vehicles could be introduced with relative ease to dramatically reduce urban air pollution and to make a positive impact on urban air quality.

Fuel cells can supply combined heat and power to commercial buildings, hospitals, airports, and military installation at remote locations. Fuel cells have efficiency levels up to 55% as compared to 35% of conventional power plants. The emissions are significantly lower (CO2 and water vapour being the only emissions). Fuel cell systems are modular (i.e additional capacity can be added when ever required with relative ease) and can be set up where ever power is required.

REN21

REN21 is the global renewable energy policy multi-stake-holder network that connects a wide range of key actors form -

• Governments
• International organisation
• Industry associations
• Science and academia as well as civil society

To facilitate knowledge exchange, policy development and joint action towards a rapid global transition to renewable energy. REN21 promotes renewable energy to meet the needs of both industrialized and developing countries that are driven by climate change, energy security, development and poverty allevation.

REN21 is an international non-profit association and committed to the following objectives

• Providing policy-relevant information and research-based analysis on renewable energy to decision makers, multipliers and the public to catalyses policy change.
• Offering a platform for interconnection between multi-stakeholders actors working in the renewable energy field worldwide and identifying barriers as well as working to bridge existing gaps to increase the large-scale deployment of renewable energy worldwide.

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

IRENA has 150 member nations with Headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization that supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future, and serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy.

IRENA promotes the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydro-power, ocean, solar and wind energy the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, energy security and low-carbon economic growth and prosperity.

IRENA Official Logo

Conclusion

Efficient use of renewable energy would reduce our dependence on non-renewable sources of energy, make us energy self-sufficient and make our environment cleaner. As more green power sources are developed - displacing conventional generation - the overall environmental impacts associated with electricity generation will be significantly reduced.