Nuclear fusion, the clean power that will take decades to master

The Joint European Torus (seen here with a superimposed image of a plasma) is one of the machines helping to unlock fusion power. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Matthew Hole, Australian National University and Igor Bray, Curtin University

This article is part of The Conversation’s worldwide series on the Future of Nuclear. You can read the rest of the series here.

Nuclear fusion is what powers the Sun and the stars – unleashing huge amounts of energy through the binding together of light elements such as hydrogen and helium. If fusion power were harnessed directly on Earth, it could produce inexhaustible clean power, using seawater as the main fuel, with no greenhouse gas emissions, no proliferation risk, and no risk of catastrophic accidents. Radioactive waste is very low level and indirect, arising from neutron activation of the power plant core. With current technology, a fusion power plant could be completely recycled within 100 years of shutdown.

Today’s nuclear power plants exploit nuclear fission – the splitting of atomic nuclei of heavy elements such as uranium, thorium, and plutonium into lighter “daughter” nuclei. This process, which happens spontaneously in unstable elements, can be harnessed to generate electricity, but it also generates long-lived radioactive waste.

Why aren’t we using safe, clean nuclear fusion power yet? Despite significant progress in fusion research, why do we physicists treat unfounded claims of “breakthroughs” with scepticism? The short answer is that is it very difficult to achieve the conditions that sustain the reaction. But if the experiments under construction now are successful, we can be optimistic that nuclear fusion power can be a reality within a generation.

The fusion process

Unlike fission, nuclei do not spontaneously undergo fusion: atomic nuclei are positively charged and must overcome their huge electrostatic repulsion before they can get close enough together that the strong nuclear force, which binds nuclei together, can kick in.

In nature, the immense gravitational force of stars is strong enough that the temperature, density and volume of the star’s core is enough for atomic nuclei to fuse through “quantum tunnelling” of this electrostatic barrier. In the laboratory, quantum tunnelling rates are far too low, and so the barrier can only be overcome by making the fuel nuclei incredibly hot – six to seven times hotter than the Sun’s core.

Even the easiest fusion reaction to initiate – the combination of the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium, to form helium and an energetic neutron – requires a temperature of about 120 million C. At such extreme temperatures, the fuel atoms are ruptured into their component electrons and nuclei, forming a superheated plasma.

Keeping this plasma in one place long enough for the nuclei to fuse together is no mean feat. In the laboratory, the plasma is confined using strong magnetic fields, generated by coils of electrical superconductors which create a donut-shaped “magnetic bottle” in which the plasma is trapped.

Schematic diagram of a fusion power plant. (Figure supplied courtesy of JET-EFDA publications copyright Euratom, Author provided)

Today’s plasma experiments such as the Joint European Torus can confine plasmas at the required temperatures for net power gain, but the plasma density and energy confinement time (a measure of the cooling time of the plasma) are too low to for the plasma to be self-heated. But progress is being made – today’s experiments have fusion performance 1,000 times better, in terms of temperature, plasma density and confinement time, than the experiments of 40 years ago. And we already have a fair idea of how to move things to the next step.

Regime change

The ITER reactor, now under construction at Cadarache in the south of France, will explore the “burning plasma regime”, where the plasma heating from the confined products of fusion reaction exceeds the external heating power. The total power gain for ITER will be more than five times the external heating power in near-continuous operation, and will approach 10-30 times for short durations.

At a cost exceeding US$20 billion, and funded by a consortium of seven nations and alliances, ITER is the largest science project on the planet. Its purpose is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of using fusion power for peaceful purposes such as electricity generation.

The engineering and physical challenge is immense. ITER will have a magnetic field strength of 5 Tesla (100,000 times the Earth’s magnetic field) and a device radius of 6 m, confining 840 cubic metres of plasma (one-third of an Olympic swimming pool). It will weigh 23,000 tonnes and contain 100,000 km of niobium tin superconducting strands. Niobium tin is superconducting at 4.5K (about minus-269C), and so the entire machine will be immersed in a refrigerator cooled by liquid helium to keep the superconducting strands just a few degrees above absolute zero.

A cross-section cutaway of ITER. For scale, note the human under the reactor core. (Source: The ITER Organization, Author provided)

ITER is expected to start generating its first plasmas in 2020. But the burning plasma experiments aren’t set to begin until 2027. One of the huge challenges will be to see whether these self-sustaining plasmas can indeed be created and maintained without damaging the plasma facing wall or the high heat flux “divertor” target.

The information we get from building and operating ITER will inform the design of future fusion power plants, with an ultimate aim of making the technology work for commercial power generation. At the moment it seems likely that the first prototype power plants will be built in the 2030s, and would probably generate around 1 gigawatt of electricity.

While first-generation power plants will probably be on a similarly large scale to ITER, it is hoped that improvement in magnetic confinement and control will lead to more compact later generation power plants. Likewise, power plants will cost less than ITER: long-term modelling which extrapolates to power plants suggest fusion could be economic with low impact on the environment.

So while the challenges to nuclear fusion are big, the pay-off will be huge. All we have to do is get it to work.

This article is part of The Conversation’s worldwide series on the Future of Nuclear. You can read the rest of the series here.

Matthew Hole is Senior Research Fellow, Plasma Research Laboratory atAustralian National University.
Igor Bray is Head of Physics, Astronomy and Medical Radiation Sciences at Curtin University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read theoriginal article.

Massive dead whales seen on California coasts

Author(s): DTE Staff @ 

Some experts have blamed increasing ship collisions for whale deaths

Representative picture of a humpback whale (Photo: Wikipedia)

California has been witnessing a spate in number of whales that are washing up on the US state’s beaches.  The latest sighting was of a female humpback whale that came ashore dead across northern California’s Pacific coast. Not many days ago, a 50-foot-long male was found dead on the same coast. Apart from these, other whales have also been reported dead in the state

While a few researchers, according to Business Insider, think that this is only a coincidence, others believe more and more whales are dying after colliding with ships.

“This is not a beaching,” says Moe Flannery who is a marine mammal expert and works at the California Academy of Sciences, in a report published by Guardian. She explains that these are incidents of stranding that occurs when the animal washes ashore and does not deliberately go on to the beach. This usually happens after the animal is injured.

Why Marathwada is becoming a graveyard for farmers

Author(s): Kumar Sambhav S... @KumarSambhav_S 

Season after season of failed crops is pushing farmers to the brink of desperation, while the inaction of the Maharashtra government is allowing agriculture to slip into a steep decline

Since January 2014, around 900 farmers ended their lives in Marathwada due to crop failures. At least two farmers committed suicide every day in the first four months of 2015 (Photos: Vikas Choudhary)

In Talavada village in Beed district of Maharashtra, farmer Sahibrao Athole made one last attempt to call for help. Lying alone in his field on the night of June 12, 2014, Athole was gasping for breath. He had consumed a litre of pesticide.

Athole used his mobile phone to call a friend and left a message for his family. He told him he had gulped down a bottle of pesticide and that he was dying.

At first, Athole’s brother, Rahul, did not believe the message. But he soon realised that it was too late in the night for his brother to play a prank. He rushed to the field, about four kilometres from their house, and found Athole lying unconscious. He was frothing at his mouth.

Rahul picked him up and ran a kilometre to reach the road. From there, he was taken to a private hospital. Athole showed some signs of recovery initially, but lost consciousness again after two days. On the ninth day, doctors declared him dead.

At 33, Athole was the only breadwinner of his family which included his wife and three children as well as Rahul, his wife and child.

“He was extremely hard-working. He would work in the fields early mornings and late evenings and earn daily wages as a labourer during the day. He wanted to give a good future to the family,” says Manisha, Athole’s wife, her voice breaking through her tears.

Manisha, Athole's wife, now works as a daily wage labourer to feed their three children

Two years after his father died, Athole managed to convert his mud house into a brick-and-plaster structure with separate sections for the two brothers and their families. He paid back a loan of Rs 1.5 lakh taken for the construction of the house. But there was another set of pending loans.

Triple whammy

In 2011, he had borrowed Rs 60,000 from a government-owned bank and Rs 150,000 from a private moneylender. In 2012, he planted sweet lime and watermelon on a small patch of land and cotton on the rest of the one hectare with the loan money.

The same year, however, all eight districts of Marathwada—Aurangabad, Jalna, Beed, Osmanabad, Nanded, Latur, Parbhani and Hingoli—faced one of the worst droughts in recent history. In all, more than 11,000 villages in Maharashtra and 6,500 villages in Marathwada faced severe water crisis. Around 3,900 villages suffered more than 50 per cent crop loss.

Athole’s crops failed during the drought of 2012. He tried to recover from the heavy loss in 2013, but it didn’t prove to be a good year. The unseasonal rains and hailstorms of March 2014 were the final straw. Athole’s rabi (winter) crop was damaged by the rains. He committed suicide three months later.

That year, crops worth Rs 20,000 crore on 400,000 hectares of land in Marathwada were destroyed in the first fortnight of March.

“When I asked him why he did it, he joined his hands, pleading with me to not ask him the question,” says Rahul, Athole’s brother. “I think the pressure of the interests on the loans kept piling up on him and the moneylenders might have been harassing him for recovery.”

Driven to death

Since 2002, Marathwada has seen between 200 and 250 farmer suicides every year. But since the drought of 2012, this number has reached an all-time high.

Since January 2014, around 900 farmers ended their lives due to crop failures, according to government data. At least two farmers committed suicide every day in the first four months of 2015. Unofficial numbers could be much higher.

Numbers in Marathwada have, thus, surpassed those of Vidarbha which was notorious for being the farmer suicide capital of Maharashtra.
 Apart from winter storms, Marathwada has received no rains in the past 16 months. Government irrigation schemes have also failed the farmers

Eighty-seven per cent of Marathwada depends on rains for agriculture. The average annual rainfall of the region is as low as 779 mm. Rainfall in 2014 was just over half of this amount.

“Many farmers could not survive crop loss due to failure of the monsoon. Those who could, invested in the rabi crop in winter, hoping that better efforts would fetch them better yield and this would help them recover the loss of the previous crop,” says Sanjeev Unhale of Aurangabad-based non-profit Dilasa Janvikas Prathishthan which works with farmers in the region.

Rabi crops need two to three good showers between October and January, especially in rain-fed regions like Marathwada. But with the deficient monsoon, those showers barely arrived. And like in 2014, unseasonal rains returned in March again this year, damaging whatever little had managed to grow.

“This hit the last nail in the coffin. With the loss of all their investment, no saving in hand to feed their families and no hopes of getting further loans or ever being able to pay back the debt, many farmers ended their lives,” adds Unhale.

A yet-to-be-published study by Unhale’s organisation on the current pattern of farmer suicides reveals that in most cases, the trigger is the farmers’ inability to meet obligations like the expenses of a daughter’s wedding, children’s education or health emergencies.

Besides, unlike in Vidarbha where most farmers who committed suicide were over 40 years of age, farmers as young as 23 are killing themselves in Marathwada. “Farmers here have a very high sense of esteem. They cannot take the humiliation of not being able to pay the debt or meet social obligations. Also, landholdings here are smaller than that in Vidarbha and farming families are becoming nuclear. Young farmers who have recently taken up the responsibilities of their fields are more vulnerable to psychological pressures,” explains Unhale.

Droughts worsen

Marathwada has been traditionally prone to droughts. Almost every twenty years, a big drought has hit the region, while smaller droughts keep occurring in the interim. However, since the El Niño led to a deficient monsoon in 2009, extreme weather events have become more frequent. There were little rains in 2010, 2011 and 2013 and severe droughts in 2012 and 2014.

Cracked soil, parched wells, dry hand pumps, malnourished livestock and locked houses—this is the state of Gitewadi, another village in Beed district. On the edge of the village lies Dadegaon dam, constructed on Kadi river five years ago. Today, there is no river and no reservoir. The huge concrete structure has been empty for the last three years.

Every year, around 400,000 couples from Beed district in Marathwada migrate to western Maharashtra to work in sugarcane fields, leaving their children and the elderly behind

Of the 120 families in the village, around hundred couples have migrated to western Maharashtra to work as sugarcane cutters. There are almost no adult men and women left. One sees only old women and school children.

“Every year, people migrate in couples in October-November after sowing their fields. If there is any rain, they come back to harvest the fields. Otherwise, they just leave it. They then come back in May-June hoping for mountain rains,” says Sopan Garaji, a journalist-turned-activist in Beed.

Beed is considered “the factory” of sugarcane cutters. Every year, around 800,000 people migrate to western Maharashtra to work in the sugarcane fields. A couple earns around Rs 40,000 for the whole season.

Vijay Diwan, president of Nisarga Mitra Mandal, an Aurangabad-based non-profit working for water rights, attributes the prolonged drought to climate change. “Till five years ago, we thought climate change was a phenomenon happening somewhere in the world. But, before we could realise what was happening, it was right here at our doorstep,” he says.

Marathwada sits on basalt rocks. Due to small aquifers, groundwater has limited potential for recharge. Excessive extraction of groundwater has caused the water table to hit an all-time low

The continuous droughts have affected the productivity of the soil. “Salt accumulation is increasing and soil reclamation is not taking place. Thus, the average rainfall of 500 to 800 mm does not sustain a healthy crop anymore,” says S B Warade, a soil scientist formerly associated with the Marathwada Agricultural University, Parbhani.

Cropping crisis

According to the study by Dilasa Janvikas Prathishthan, almost 95 per cent of the farmers who committed suicide in the past year were cotton cultivators. Cotton is the traditional crop of Marathwada. It requires less water than cash crops.

The promotion of Bt cotton since 2006 has, however, increased the capital cost incurred on cotton production exponentially. Though the yield from planting Bt cotton was high initially, it has been declining continuously for the last four to five years.

Farmers from Hiranpuri village in Aurangabad told this correspondent that till three years ago, they would get up to 300 kg of cotton from less than half a hectare of land. Last year, the yield decreased to 200 kg and, this year, it was less than 100 kg.

Farmers spend lakhs of rupees for digging bore wells, many of which do not yield water anymore

“The constant drought combined with the excessive use of chemical fertilisers have brought down the carbon content of the soil from 1 per cent to 0.3 per cent,” says Warade. To make matters worse, the price of cotton, which is entirely dependent upon international markets, has been constantly falling.

“In 2010, cotton would fetch Rs 7,000 per 100 kg. Now, it is sold for hardly Rs 3,000. Thus, the per unit production cost of cotton is often more than or equal to the price of the crop that farmers get from each unit of land,” says Shashi Kevadkar, a Beed-based journalist.

With failing returns from cotton, distressed farmers are turning to the more lucrative but water-intensive sugarcane. Athole’s brother, Rahul, who now faces a debt of Rs 3.5 lakh, has replaced his entire cotton crop with sugarcane this year.

“I did not have an option. Sugarcane is the last bet I could take to pay off the debt. It requires only one time-investment, but can give up to three crops. Since there are so many sugarcane factories in the region, I hope to get a good price for the crop,” he says.

Rahul, Athole’s brother, now faces a debt of Rs 3.5 lakh. He has replaced his entire cotton crop with sugarcane this year, hoping to get better returns“This is the general trend in Marathwada. But the problem is sugarcane needs more than 2,000 mm of rainfall. Since there is no rainfall, whatever little surface and groundwater is available in the region is guzzled by sugarcane-growing farmers at the cost of those who grow traditional staple crops,” says Diwan of Nisarga Mitra Mandal.

The sugar factories set up by politicians in the region are also big water-guzzlers. A study by South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People last year said the water used by factories could irrigate nearly 3,240 hectares of high-yielding groundnut or take care of the drinking needs of “nearly 1,585,000 people till the onset of 2015 monsoon”.

“In the last decade, traditional crops of the region like groundnut, jowar and soya bean that gave sustainable food and income to the farmers with less water have totally been replaced by cash crops. This has made them vulnerable to greater losses,” says Joy Daniel of Institute for Integrated Rural Development (IIRD), an Aurangabad-based non-profit which promotes organic farming in the region.

Fuelling the drought

Rahul Athole has invested Rs 70,000 in a drip irrigation system for his sugarcane crop. But it will work only if the well in the corner of his field has enough water throughout the irrigation cycle. Sugarcane requires irrigation for up to a year and a half.

The left bank canal of the Jayakwadi dam in Aurangabad, one of the largest dams in Maharashtra, passes right behind Rahul’s fields. But it has hardly any water. “The water is released once or twice in the season. That gives us water for only 15 days,” says Rahul. The shortage of canal water since the 2012 drought was one of the major reasons why his brother suffered crop losses.

Jayakwadi was constructed on Godavari river in 1974 with the ambition to irrigate 0.18 million hectares of land in Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani, Beed and Ahmednagar districts. Initially, around 70 per cent of the total 2,909 Mcum (million cubic metres) storage capacity was allocated for irrigation. The right and left bank canals (89 km and 208 km respectively) were built for the sole purpose of irrigation.

In the first week of April this year, Jayakwadi dam had only 12 per cent of its live storage capacity, enough to meet the water requirements of main cities and industrial areas

By 2012, however, 21 per cent of planned irrigation water was diverted for non-irrigation use, including domestic water supply to four cities, the 1,130-megawatt Parli power plant in Beed, and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) units in five districts. This has resulted in the reduction of 36,500 ha of irrigation potential of the dam, points out a report by Pune-based non-profit Prayas.

While these figures represent plan allocation, the actual allocation in a season of scarcity is much more skewed, says Pradeep Purandare, expert member of the Marathwada Development Board. “Whenever there is scarcity, the water allocation for domestic or industrial use is not compromised. The burden of losses is almost entirely borne by farmers. At times, farmers would not get even a single rotation of water in a season due to scarcity,” he adds.

During water crisis, the upstream dams on the Godavari, which cater to northern and western Maharashtra, do not release water to Jayakwadi. This despite the fact that Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) Act, 2005, mandates equal distribution of water to all projects in a river basin during water crisis.

During the 2012 drought, water in Jayakwadi dam dropped to two per cent of its storage capacity of 107 thousand million cubic feet (tmc). But upstream dams in Pune and Nashik regions, which were 81 to 92 per cent full, did not release water.

“Strong political considerations dictate water distribution in the state. The region which has political clout takes away the lion’s share,” says Diwan.

According to the report of a high level committee (HLC) constituted by the Maharashtra government to suggest measures for “balanced regional development” in 2013, Marathwada constitutes 31 per cent crop area of the state but it uses only 14 per cent of the state’s surface water. Western Maharashtra, on the other hand, has 36 per cent crop area of the state, but uses 47 per cent of the water. And Vidarbha, with 30 per cent crop area, uses 28 per cent water.

Due to skewed policies of the state, Marathwada has the lowest ratio of actual irrigated land vis-à-vis the irrigation potential created. Of the potential land that can be irrigated by dams created in the region, only 38 per cent is actually irrigated. For Vidarbha, this ratio is 47 per cent while for the rest of Maharashtra, it is 76 per cent, pointed out the HLC headed by the former finance secretary of India, Vijay Kelkar.

This imbalance in water distribution is part of the policy neglect the region has been facing from the ruling political classes. Till 1961, Marathwada was part of the state of Nizam of Hyderabad. The region was always backward in terms of availability of natural resources and access to capital investment. It was included in the state of Maharashtra with the promise of development at par with other regions in the state.

Several committees and boards were constituted to recommend measures to bring Marathwada and Vidarbha at par with prosperous western Maharashtra (the hub of agricultural productivity and industrial development). But many of these measures were never implemented.

Farmers living downstream of the Jayakwadi dam on Godavari river have been protesting against the dam, alleging that they have not received any benefits of the project

The per capita income in Marathwada is 40 per cent lower than the rest of Maharashtra. Vidarbha’s per capita income, on the other hand, is 27 per cent below the rest of Maharashtra, according to the HLC.

It has been 18 months since the committee submitted its report to the state government, recommending increasing the share of Marathwada and Vidarbha in Plan funds as well as water distribution. The state Assembly has not accepted the report yet.

“Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union rural development minister Nitin Gadkari hail from Vidarbha. Former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar hails from western Maharashtra while the current agriculture minister of the state is from northern Maharashtra. This powerful clout of leaders is busy diverting development funds to their own region. While the leadership of Marathwada was always meek, the region has suffered huge setbacks with the deaths of Pramod Mahajan, Vilasrao Deshmukh and Gopinath Munde,” says a senior Marathi journalist from Aurangabad, who does not wish to be named.

In the first week of April this year, Jayakwadi dam had 251 Mcum of water which is only 12 per cent of its live storage capacity. This would just about fulfill the water requirements of main cities and industrial areas in the region. The upstream dams, on the other hand, were filled with over 50 per cent of their capacity.

India Meteorological Department, in its southwest monsoon forecast for 2015, said there was an almost equal chance of rains being either “below normal” or “deficient”. If the monsoon plays truant yet again this year or water is not released by upstream dams to Jayakwadi, Marathwada farmers have little hope of salvaging their livelihood.

Response to Ebola, obesity high on the agenda

Author(s): Vibha Varshney @vibhavarshney 

WHO will evaluate performance related to MDGs and set priorities for the coming year, including plans to fight antimicrobial resistance

Source: flickr

Each year, representatives of 194 member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) gather at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva.

This year, from May 18 to 26, participants will discuss topics relevant to global health such as communicable and non-communicable diseases, nutrition and genetic diseases, reforms to funding and transition from millennium development goals (MDGs) to sustainable development goals (SDGs).

These topics are decided by the executive board of WHO based on the trend in health problems that plague the world (See “Priority list for the 68th World Health Assembly”).

The gathering determines the policies of WHO, supervises financial policies and approves the proposed programme budget. Last year, 20 resolutions were passed. But what comes out of a WHA is more or less unpredictable and health experts avidly follow the proceedings.

MDGs, Ebola on the agenda

This year’s assembly is crucial as it is the deadline for meeting the MDGs. All countries together have failed to meet targets globally and this meeting will discuss the shortfalls. The stage will also be set for the SDGs which will be implemented from next year.

WHO’s inability to address the spread of Ebola last year is likely to be at the forefront. The organisation admits that it was ill-prepared to handle the epidemic and lacked capacity. WHO indicated that as large chunks of the funds available to them are tied to specific programmes, they were unable to gather enough funds to deal with the epidemic.

WHO funds are largely provided by private funding agencies like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Financing for situations like these has been part of talks on reforms since 2010.

The 68th assembly this year will consider a new draft policy on WHO’s engagement with non-state actors as part of their discussion on reforms. WHO accepts that the reform process needs to factor in such emergencies.

Obesity, antimicrobial resistance may see vigorous debate

Among other subjects that are likely to be debated at the meeting is the increasing incidence of non-communicable diseases. WHO’s efforts so far have attracted the wrath of public health experts.

For example, WHO set up a Commission for “Ending Childhood Obesity” which submitted its report earlier this year. Public health experts point out that the Commission failed to give due attention to poverty and failed to consider the role of trade agreements in affecting the price of food.

In its critique on the report, People’s Health Movement, a network of international health activists, pointed out that there is an “unseemly relationship between the Commission and the corporate sector”.
 
Similarly, on the issue of antimicrobial resistance, a draft copy of a global action plan on antimicrobial resistance was submitted recently to the WHO. In it, experts recommended that instead of an increased focus on antibiotic drugs, diagnostics and vaccines, there should be more emphasis on finding alternatives such as probiotics and developing healthy building design and reengineering medical instruments to improve infection control.

Priority list for the 68th World Health Assembly

• WHO reform
• Maternal, infant and young child nutrition
• Ending childhood obesity—updates from the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity
• Prevention and control of non-communicable diseases—comprehensive review and assessment of progress
• Global burden of epilepsy—need for coordinated action at the country level to address its health, social and public knowledge implications
• Adolescent health
• Air pollution—addressing the health impact of air pollution
• Antimicrobial resistance—draft global action plan on antimicrobial resistance to be discussed Poliomyelitis
• WHO response in severe, large scale emergencies—options for a contingency fund to support WHO’s emergency response capacity will be discussed
• 2014 Ebola virus disease outbreak
• Pandemic influenza preparedness
• Malaria—post-2015 draft global technical strategy
• Dengue prevention and control
• Global Vaccine Action Plan
• Substandard/spurious/falsely labelled/falsified/counterfeit medical products
• Health emergencies
• Monitoring of the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals
• Health in the post-2015 development agenda

Nearly 80 per cent of West Africa lacks access to electricity: UNEP

UN report gives enough attention to efficient lighting, ignores objective of electricity-for-all

Representative picture/CSE

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recently released a report that provides tactical solutions to policymakers to accelerate the use of efficient off-grid lighting products.

Titled “Developing Effective Off-Grid Lighting Policy - Guidance Note for Governments in Africa”, the report recommends how the government can seize market opportunities by creating a conducive and developing environment. The report was launched by UNEP in partnership with other organisations.

"On average, 76 per cent of the population in West Africa lacks access to electricity and spends up to 20 per cent of the household budget on kerosene, which is potentially damaging to their health and detrimental to the planet's climate," said Achim Steiner, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director. "Adopting modern, solar powered solutions could provide these households with less expensive, more-efficient and healthier source of electricity, while boosting productivity and job creation," he added.

Millions of households across the globe have already been using options that are not dependent on grid, as per the report that also includes an industry perspective on policy measures promoting the growth of the efficient off-grid lighting market and access to efficient lighting. It further argues that in many nations, electrification via expansion of the electricity grid falls behind meeting the needs of the growing population. By means of off-grid lighting systems, African countries possibly can save from declining use of fuel-based lighting sources along with the greenhouse gas and other emissions.

The report quotes that "It identifies best practices, proven case studies and practical recommendations for establishing a regulatory framework and policy strategies for efficient off-grid lighting promotion, including the four elements of an integrated policy approach to accelerate and ensure a successful transition."

More was needed

Unfortunately, the focus of the report is only providing access to efficient lighting and not providing electricity for all uses. The UN’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative, on the other hand, has three objectives that they plan to achieve by 2030—universal access to modern energy services, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency and double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY/17 & 18/2015

CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY/17 & 18/2015

NOVAK DJOKOVIC WONROME MASTERS TENNIS

i. Novak Djokovic of Serbia won Rome Masters Tennis title.

ii. He Roger Federer of Switzerland.

iii. This is fifth title of the season for him, the other titles are the Australian Open, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells the Miami Open and the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

DAVID GRANGER IS NEW PRESIDENT OF GUYANA

i. David Granger is sworn in as the eighth President of Guyana. 

ii. His A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) party-led coalition won the national elections.

ICICI’S BANK OPENED FIRST BRANCH IN CHINA AT SHANGHAI

i. P.M. of India NarendraModi inaugurated the first branch of ICICI Bank in China at Shanghai.

ii. The branch is inaugurated in presence of Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank.

iii. The Shanghai branch will engage in banking activities permitted under the guidelines of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

M. ARUNA SHANBAUG DIED AFTER 42-YEARS IN COMA

i. ArunaShanbaug the nurse of Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital died after battling with coma for past 42-years following a sexual assault by a hospital ward boy. 



ii. Shanbaug was sexually assaulted on 27 November 1973 by a ward boy-cum-sweeper of the hospital, SohanlalBhartaValmiki, after throttling her with a dog chain.

iii. While hearing the ArunaShanbaug case in March 2011, the Supreme Court of India rejected the mercy killing (euthanasia) petition for her.

iv. The petition was filed by former journalist and author PinkiVirani.

However, SC laid down guidelines for passive euthanasia instead of active euthanasia.

v. Passive euthanasia entails the withholding of common treatments, such as antibiotics, necessary for the continuance of life.

vi. In 1998, a biography was written on Aruna by PinkiVirani which was titled Aruna’s Story.

INDIA ASSUMED PRESIDENCY OF THE 68TH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY

i. India assumed Presidency of the 68th World Health Assembly (WHA) after 19 years.

ii. The session was presided by the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare JagatPrakashNadda at Geneva.

iii. The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states.

iv. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states.

MARIA SHARAPOVA WON ITALIAN TENNIS OPEN

i. Russian Maria Sharapova won the women’s singles of Italian Open for the third time. 

ii. She defeated Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro.

iii. The Italian Open title was held in Rome, Italy.

POLICE AWARD  OF US WON BY INDIAN-AMERICAN HARKEERT SINGH SAINI

i. Harkeert Singh Saini, an Indian-American policeman won the prestigious Top Civilian Supervisor of the Year.

ii. He was awarded for his efficient services to the Houston Police department in the state of Texas of United States.