10 reasons to be hopeful that we will overcome climate change

From actions in China and the US, and rising Electric Car sales, there is reason to be hopeful.

Continue reading at The Guardian (UK)

MIDC water policies - A concern.

The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is the back-bone for Industrial revolution in the state of Maharashtra. It has about 233 industrial complexes spread over 1,30,000 acres of land all over the state. It provides fully developed industrial plots with all the necessary infrastructure, including roads, electricity and water etc.

MIDC provides water to its complexes using water tankers where required. MIDC provides approximately 2240 Million Litres of water every single day. This generates an annual water revenue of Rs 500 Crores.

MIDC policy states that all the industrial water requirements can only be met by MIDC. It permits RWH systems on Industrial Structures, but does not allow the harvested rain water to be used. This short sighted policy, while generating revenue, is adding to the water shortage in the rest of the state

The average annual rain fall across the state is 1300 mm. It varies from 400 mm to 6000 mm. Using the state average of 1300 mm, the RWH potential per acre is roughly 4.4 million litres. The total potential across 1,30,000 acres is enormous. The Hinjewadi IT park Phase 1 & 2 has a total land holding of approximately 440 acres. The annual rainwater potential, using Pune’s average figures of 770 mm, is about 1100 Million litres. This potential, if used judiciously, will make large amounts of water available for agriculture & domestic usage. At the same time, implementing RWH schemes on such large areas will help improve ground water levels. It will also help reduce the Carbon footprint.

A reduced dependence on Tanker Water has other implications as well. Reduced water costs for industry mean increased profits. This can be used for improving quality of the products and increased employment. Water, that is not consumed by industrial units can be diverted to public supply, thereby increasing water availability for citizens. Improved ground water levels will help everyone who lives around the area. A reduced Carbon Footprint is not only helpful to the environment, but it can be used for advertising the green credentials, which, in turn, can improve investments in the MIDC.

This can only happen if Citizen Groups and the MCCIA can work together to influence Government policies around the MIDC. Only working together, can real change be achieved.

Modi accelerates India solar revolution, doubles tax on coal : Renew Economy

Modi accelerates India solar revolution, doubles tax on coal : Renew Economy

By Giles Parkinson on 11 July 2014

The newly elected India government of Narendra Modi has announced a suite of initiatives for solar energy across the country that will be partly funded by a doubling of the tax on coal.
Modi – a long time supporter of solar – has promised a “saffron” revolution that will include ambitious targets for small, large and off-grid solar and a switch away from an assumed reliance on coal as the country seeks to deliver on its momentous task of bringing electricity to the entire country.
In its first budget announced this week, Modi’s government announced funding for a series of “ultra mega” solar PV farms to be located in four Indian deserts, in Rajasthan,  Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
The government also launched a scheme for 100,000 solar power driven agricultural pump sets and water pumping stations in off grid areas.
It has also announced plans to dramatically extend a plan to cover canals with a series of 1MW solar farms, using availabl space to generate electricity and to reduce evaporation.
And it has also announced tax cuts and excise exemptions for arrange of solar components and machinery to help reduce the cost of domestic manufacturing of solar PV cells and modules.
This is considered crucial if the government is going to meet the ambitious 20,000MW of solar by 2022 under the previous government’s National Solar Mission program.
But Modi wants to expand this dramatically – some suggest 10-fold, but perhaps not in the same time frame – and has promised at least a solar light in every household by 2020 as part of his “saffron revolution”. India currently has some 300 million people – nearly the population of the US – without power.
Deutsche Bank says the country currently has 2.6GW of solar capacity – much of it in Modi’s home state of Gujarat – and it expects installations to be around 1.5GW in 2014 and around 2GW in 2015.
However, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said in a report last week that India could install more than 200GW of solar out to 2030 – nearly as much as coal-fired generation – because utility scale solar will be cheaper than new coal plants in India by 2020. The country is also expected to reach “socket parity” for residential solar before 2020.
Meanwhile, the $250 million budgeted for these measures in the 2014/15 financial year will be financed by a doubling in the tax on coal to 100 rupess ($1.70) a tonne. The tax, introduced in the 2010 budget, collected about 25 billion rupees in its first year.

Solving Punes Water Problem

The Indian monsoon, which is the economic lifeline of India, has almost always started on the 7th of June in Maharashtra. However, the effects of climate change have started showing their impact.  Over the last few years ,  the monsoon pattern has changed dramatically, and is getting delayed by weeks.

The response by the authorities has always been :

1. Reduce city water supply
2. Restrict water for Irrigation
3. Appeal to citizens for water conservation

However, the moment monsoon rains hit our city, all this is forgotten. The Pune Municipal Corporation has no policy, and citizens do not have time to ensure that policies can be developed to handle this situation, either tactically or strategically.

 

Water crisis in Pune is mainly due to :

1. Poor water management – Housing societies in fringe areas as well as newly constructed colonies get less than adequate water from the PMC, thereby increasing their dependency on water tankers.
2. Water loss of 40% from source to our home - This is mainly due to leaking old pipes, which, in some cases, are up to 50 years old.
3. Unequal water distribution – Per capita water supply ranging from 300 litres per to about 50 litres as against the legislated 135 litres.
4. Poor implementation of Rain Water Harvesting policy – The RWH policy came in to force in 2009  for all the new constructions as a mandatory arrangement. For old constructions, a 5 % property tax rebate was offered for those who implemented RWH systems.  
5. No water conservation policy - people wash their cars every day without realising that their ability to pay for water also means there is someone who is being deprived of their drinking water.
6. No additional water catchment area to increase water availability for the city – Pune city population is about 4 million. The existing catchment areas of Dams are inadequate to meet the demands of rising population, commercial & industrial activities & agriculture sector.

Short Term Measures:

PMC must plan & allocate funds to replacement old pipes. Infrastructure needs to be planned to equalise water supply to all parts of the city. All new constructions must get adequate water connection before occupation by residents. Citizens must be taken in to confidence while planning & executing these measures. Ward-wise efforts need to be made to educate citizens about rainwater harvesting and water conservation.

Strict checks must be undertaken by CREDAI Pune & its members for proper implementation of RWH systems in the new constructions

Long Term Measures:

The MIDC does not permit industrial units on their land to implement RWH systems. Industry water demands are met by the MIDC, which is a revenue generator. If industrial units are permitted to implement RWH systems to meet majority of their water demand, large quantity of water will be available for agriculture as well as for domestic needs. The PMC needs to pass legislation with the State Government  to make this possible.

Water conservation is another issue which needs to looked at. Pune city has more than 25 lac vehicles. 5 litres water, on average, are used daily for cleaning one vehicle. This consumes 125 lac litres of water every day, a wastage which needs to be stopped. This water can meet daily needs of more than 100,000 people. Pune rivers  must be cleaned by putting a ban on diverting untreated domestic sewage as well as industrial effluents. Water supply should be metered & charged accordingly to meet the water treatment & distribution expenses.

Unless citizens participate in this movement, there will be no results. We will keep facing growing water shortages, and face these same issues every single year until it reaches a crisis point. If we act now, we can set actions in motion to ensure that we can control this issue within the next decade.
 

California Drought Proves Laws of Nature Are Absolute

California Drought Proves Laws of Nature Are Absolute

The beginning...

In 2002, after my retirement from the Indian Army, I started studying rainwater harvesting & water conservation techniques in my spare time. I, then, executed Pune’s first RWH project in our housing society, Green Land-2  Viman Nagar. Our society had one bore-well with a limited yield of 30 minutes a day. With limited water supply provided by the Pune Municipal Corporation, we needed to buy 3 water tankers at a cost of Rs 1000 daily. However, with the implementation of the RWH project, our tanker requirement became zero & bore-well yield increased to 9 hours a day even during summers. This saved recurring water costs & also helped us to obtain a 5 % property tax rebate for all 57 flat owners in the society.

With this success, I created an NGO, Parjanya, in 2003 to promote this concept. Since then, we have helped more than 350 Housing Societies, Hospitals and other Organizations to tide over their water problem by implementing customised RWH projects. All this has helped in improving the ground water table in the project areas, and has provided financial gains by reducing their expenditure on tanker water.

However, what  I had not realised, was the unexpected benefits of reducing Pune's Carbon footprint. As we all know, CO2 is one of the biggest culprits in the issue of Climate Change. Take, for example, a case of our society. Each water tankers travels 10KMs from water loading point to our society. This means that each tanker had a round trip of 20KMs daily. We used three tankers i.e. a total of 60 kilometres travelled in order to meet our daily water needs. This translates into roughly 21,000KMs annually. All these tankers use Diesel Fuel. With an average mileage of 8KM/Ltr, 2700Ltrs of Diesel was being used to deliver water to us annually. One litre of diesel, when used in a vehicle, releases 2.65KG of CO2.  

Implementing RWH in our society reduced our carbon footprint by 7100 KG / year !!

When I look at all of the 350 projects we have implemented since 2003, there is a saving of nearly 2 Million Kilograms of CO2 reduced each and every single year. When I started Parjanya, my intention was to improve access to water. That I have been playing my part to reduce our impact on climate change makes me feel extremely satisfied with my achievements.

Over the next few years, all countries will start making policies to reduce CO2 emissions. However, we, as citizens of India, and the world, have a duty to help reduce emissions wherever we can. 

I will play my part. If anyone needs any information on Rainwater Harvesting techniques, I shall freely provide all information and explain how it can be done. Visit my website at www.parjanya-rwh.com and contact me.

Explaining RWH and Pune's water situation

Trees - a fact check

Every year we plant trees with a lot of enthusiasm. This is usually done just on or before the World Environment day. Most people know that trees are “green”, but here are some more facts about them.

1. Trees act as natural pollution filters and remove a lot of vehicle exhaust particulate matter and   dust by trapping them in their leaves
2. Trees lower temperature – this is especially important in cities where the concrete jungle tends to increase the ambient temperature
3. Trees reduce soil erosion. This ensures that land can stay fertile and doesn’t get washed away
4. Trees help recharge the ground water table
5. A mature tree produces as much oxygen in a season as 10 people inhale in a year
6. A mature tree can absorb about 20 kilos of CO2 every year, and, if not burnt, will store that carbon even after it has been cut down
7. Trees provide green canopy & provide a habitat for wildlife, adding to the richness of our flora and fauna
8. Fruit bearing trees provide food

However trees alone do not offer a complete solution to control the rapidly increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. Improving the tree cover will definitely reduce pollution and improve our local environment. But it is a bit more than that. Every tree we plant is a legacy we leave behind for our children, and theirs...

So let us plant more trees & ensure that they’re taken care of, not just for mother nature, but for generations that will follow us.

Pune.... Then and Now !!

I remember being stationed in Pune about 30 years ago as a young Army Officer. Back in those days, Pune was known as the “Pensioner’s Paradise”. There was greenery everywhere and beautiful climate all year round. In Army terms, it was a “non-fan” station – which meant that people stationed in Pune did not need fans. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Pune today. There are multiple reasons for it, but let us talk about one in particular.

In 2003, there were approximately 7.5 lac vehicles on the streets of Pune City. Today, there are 25 lac vehicles. Assuming a daily average fuel consumption of just one litre per vehicle, the total daily  CO2 emission is a staggering 6250 tonnes !

We all use electricity in our homes and we get water supplied to us – either by the PMC, or by Water Tankers. We also consume food that has been transported by trucks and packaged in plastics. When we walk, we leave footprints behind. Using that same terminology, we all have a Carbon Footprint that measures how much CO2 we cause as a result of our lifestyle. CO2 is widely recognized as one of the pollutants responsible anthropogenic climate change – or – Climate Change that is a result of human activity. We all are increasing our Carbon Footprint without even realizing it, and it is all adding to atmospheric CO2 that is causing havoc with local and global ecosystems.

However, we can take active measures to reduce our Carbon Footprint.

• Rainwater Harvesting: If you can reduce your usage by one tanker a day, that reduces the annual emissions by nearly 2 tonnes.
• Energy Saving Devices like CFL Lights: Replacing a single 40 watt conventional bulb with an 8 watt CFL can reduce annual emissions by 70kg
• Converting wet kitchen garbage to compost not only reduces CO2 emissions, but also Methane emissions. Methane emissions cause twenty times more heating than CO2

Unless we change our attitude towards to mother nature, we may face a harsh climate in the future, and our children will pay the price .....