What Renewable Energy is Really About: Saving Money

Trust a hard-nosed business newspaper like The Wall Street Journal to make the case that Renewable Energy is about saving money and not about some loony left-wing desire to save the world: Link Somehow, the morons who go around with a messianic zeal touting Renewable Energy never make the case that the use of RE is good economics. You save money over the long term because you use natural energy that you do not have to spend money to access - sunlight is free compared to buying electricity generated from coal or whatever other source, reduced pollution means less sick people and less spend on keeping your environment clean, less spending on medical treatment etc and much more. The list goes on and on.

In a country like India or Sri Lanka where most of the year brings abundant sunlight, this could mean immense savings in electricity costs, as hot water is something that everyone needs. The import of coal from other countries would slow considerably because electricity would not need to be used for heating as much as it is. Power shortages and outages would also be reduced as the load on the generation and transmission system would be minimized. Yes, without beginning with the intention of becoming another Mahatm Gandhi or Nelson Mandela, it would be possible to become self-reliant, conscientious and to save the world as well as one's own finances in a world that is increasingly getting more expensive to live in. Now, if only the loudest voices for renewable energy could see things this way . . .

An interesting Wall Street Journal video on using solar water heating:



In the hot countries of South Asia, the problems of snow etc would be non existent. Hopefully, this is an idea that catches on . . .

Solar Water Heating Article in "Solar Today"

This is an excellent article in the ASES Magazine, Solar Today, that I am linking to in the hope that visitors here check out and do something about if they are in a position to: Solar Water Heater Article There are several parts of the USA where this tech and the available subsidies for using it should be very viable and even if it does not fully provide hot water for home use round the year, what heating it provides would be sufficient to save a lot of money.

And, most importantly, in a country where much power is generated by burning coal, it would be one way of showing fossil fuels the fist!

Why India Needs to Look at Renewable Energy RIGHT NOW

Treehugger has this sad piece that speaks about how bad things are in India and how much worse they are getting, environmentally speaking: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/india-carbon-emissions-land-degradation-increase-groundwater-declines.php While there are some positive attempts being undertaken at growing more trees etc, the country's huge demand for energy to power gadgets for an increasingly wealthy population has caused more than a few problems. India is building more and more coal fired powrplants - the NLC complex at Neyveli seems to come out with new tenders for mroe and more large coal fired powerplants by the day. And huge quantities of coal get imported from Australia, Indonesia etc. The coal burning plants need water ajnd this drains the country's already meager supply of clean water. This forces the people to draw ground water for drinking, washing, agriculture etc and depletes ground water supply.

As visitors here know, wind turbines do not require water to be drawn, greatly reducing the quantity of water used up because of its use in power generation. And, the use of solar water heaters, as is mandatory in some parts of India, could help significantly in reducing power consumption from those filthy coal-burning powerplants by redcing the amount of electricity that is used, reducing the use of water even further. A win-win situation? Of course! And, best of all, one that shows fossil fuel the fist!

Indian Scientists: Solar Water Heaters Provide a Payback in 2 Years and a Lifespan of 20

I do wish that politicians and bureaucrats across India would listen to Indian scientists who have carefully evaluated various solar powered systems and come to the conclusion that solar water heaters provide the most efficient use of Solar Energy as this post at Cleantech says: http://www.cleantech.com/news/4252/indian-scientists-water-heating-solar I have had positive feedback from another blogger earlier telling me that states other than Karnataka have some incentives of their own in addition to Central Government incentives and that some municipalities have these as well. I hope that this additional piece of positive pro-solar heater news filters across the country and helps whichever party or coalition that gets elected in May make its mind up about the direction that the country needs to take vis a vis solar water heaters.

I remember how "Geysers" became a status symbol some time in the early 1970s in India along with the first refrigerators and television sets that came into the country when I was a boy. Through the 80s these became a middle class possession and now huge numbers of people in India use them. If the amount of electricity that could be saved by switching from electric geysers to solar water heaters could be calculated for a country of over a billion people, it would, certainly, be something to blow peoples' minds. All of this would be less coal burned, for the major part. Now that can't be a bad thing, can it?

Municipal Financing for Renewable Energy in Homes - A Model for India

With solar water heaters becoming mandatory for new apartment complexes in Bangalore and parts of Karnataka State in India and similar laws on the horizon in several states (though nothing is really likely to happen until the General Elections are over in May) there is certain to be an explosion in the demand for some attempts at solving India's chronic power shortage problem. I have been a big supporter of the Karnataka law and have also been vocal about the immense potential that this opens up for entrepreneurs who wish to come up with useful solutions that address this problem and the new regulations.

Today's New York Times has this entry on a very interesting Municipal Financing solution being offered by cities in California, the USA's most indebted state and one which has major infrastructure and other problems - just like Karnataka State where Bangalore is the capital has in India: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/science/earth/15solar.html The concept of offering municipal financing by allowing deductions in property taxes over a period of time to offset the cost of installing renewable energy systems is an excellent one. India already has laws which allow businesses to write off the cost of renewable systems to the extent of 100% depreciation in just one year and both the Central Government and several state governments waive sales taxes on these products. If an incentive in reduced property taxes were offered, this would certainly prompt existing multi-storey apartment building societies to consider installing solar heaters and reduce the amount of power consumed in the country. Entrepreneurs (and there are very few in the renewable energy field in India) would do well to carefully exploit all of these possibilities and convey them to potential clients in a marketing push. And banks could lend money to finance the purchase of these products. There is a huge market waiting to be addressed and there are massive gains for not just entrepreneurs and consumers but also to the rest of the country on reduced energy costs and on the concordant reduction in pollution that is inevitable to follow this implementation.

Hopefully, someone would push for this to be addressed, come June.

Indian Opposition Parties Call Government BS on Power

A link sent my by friend Mohanakrishnan on Yahoo's Indian website has former Indian Express Editor and MP Arun Shourie call the government's lies on the power situation: http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20090228/1241/top-half-truths-and-whole-lies.html But Shourie is a politician these days and he confines his remarks to acute criticisms without offering any possible solutions to the crisis. Or, he may not be aware of the alternatives that are available and which could be used beginning tomorrow if the Indian government and private bodies in India so choose.

The state of Karnataka has introduced some sensible legislation mandating solar powered water heaters for all new multistorey apartment buildings. I think they need to go further by offering tax incentives to owners of older buildings and of individual homes to do the same. And, considering the problems that Bangalore has with power, why not ask all of the software companies - none of them are short a buck or two - to put solar photovoltaic panels on their rooftops? Indeed, why can't the almighty Government of India begin with a plan to make all buildings owned by the government either fully or partially powered by solar power? With the current glut in solar panel production and the low price of panels as many companies feel the recession bite across the world, this would be a superb time to buy and set this up.

Here's hoping for the best ONLY because this is an election year. Indian politicians work hardest in the run up to an election. Hopefully, in the two or three months ahead, they would do something useful on the power front.