Wind Power: The future of power generation

In response to the worldwide fuel and power crisis, we are inventing newer methods of harnessing available sources of energy. Well one of the newer means of power generation which costs relatively lesser and is more environment friendly is Wind Power. Conversion of wind energy into electricity using wind turbines is how wind power is harnessed. I read in the wikipeia that last year (2007) 94.1 gigawatts of power was produced across the world and this is just 1% of the total electricity produced. We still have a long way to go if we have to stop or even considerably slow down use of fossil fuels. But considering the statistics of 2000 the global wind power generation has increased phenomenally (500%).

One of the major sources of wind power is at windy regions where corporations install large numbers of windmills which are connected to turbines which help convert the force of wind into electricity and transmit it to the grid for circulation.

Well why am I blogging about Wind Energy, when I am not even remotely connected to the industry? Let me come to the point now, during my recent California trip, I saw the two extremes of harnessing energy sources. In Texas I saw hundreds of oil and natural gas wells dotting both sides of the highway (I-20) and in California I saw hundreds of windmills in numerous windfarms along the highway. Texas also has potential to establish wind farms but the development has been slow.

Here are some pictures of wind farms I noticed while on road to California.

High gas prices making people do strange things

I read this nearly full page article in the Dallas Morning News with great amusement. The article titled "Hypermilers driven to maximize gas mileage" talks about several individuals who have made adjustments to their driving lifestyles and do strange things to derive the maximum gas mileage out of their cars.

The article starts off with the case study of one Chuck Thomas. How does he manage to get more bang for his buck? He drives at a steady 50 mph on highways even as other cars zip past him at 70 mph or more. I have seen on US highways driving at 50 is near impossible, motorists behind you come threateningly close and do all kinds of things to make you speed up. But these "Hypermilers" are obstinate they don't go faster. Then what else do they do, they install high-tech gadgetry to track gas mileage on their dashboard guages. Then often they stop the car and push it into their parking slots to save a few drops of fuel. And the results have been astounding to say in the least. Chuch is getting 80-90 mpg (miles per gallon) out of his car which is supposed to deliver only 53 mpg.

I find it outright ridiculous that Americans are indulging in such acrobatics to save gas. Fuel is only $4 per gallon here compared to approximately $6 per gallon in India and I don't remember having done any of these kind of acrobatics to save fuel. I had three advantages one, my car is small it is powered by a 3-cylinder 800 cc engine and delivers a whopping 40 mpg on highway and 30-35 mpg in the city. And then I prefer to ride the motorcycle most of the time and only when it is absolutely necessary I take the car out.

But what do I say about American cars and the roads here. I have time and again seen one individual driving a huge V-8 truck or Luxury SUV which delivers about 12-17 mpg. The present fuel crises is chasticising Americans to a great extent it is showing them that they can't ignore environment completely and exploit the finite resources endlessly. Now thanks to $4 per gallon fuel prices many people here are thinking about economical and smaller cars. If they had thought about these things 10 years ago, probably the mortgage crises could have been avoided. Think about it!

An India-Phobic Panel Discussion

Today I attended a panel discussion titled "Who gets the fuel? Us or them?" at the Preston Ridge Campus of the Collin County Community College, where I am currently taking a course in Business Mathematics. This panel discussion was conceived and organised as part of the college's "Earth Day" celebrations. There were different activities in the college all related to environment in some way or the other. There were stalls of Animal Shelters, Electricity Companies, Eco-friendly tattoos, a flute recital etc.

The panel discussion was the grand finale of the event. When I came to know about the discussion couple of weeks ago I felt both outraged and hurt. These people are accusing India of competing with them for fuel. I am pretty sure that more than half of Americans have never been to India and would never visit our country at all. They have so little knowledge about the country but they want to point fingers. Hence I did some research about petroleum consumption and after carefully making notes I went to the discussion to make my point.

The panel comprising of four students of the college was moderated by faculty members from the Geology, Chemistry and Sociology departments. The discussion started with a presentation by the faculty members about how it would be a catastrophe if India's major car manufacturers Tata Motors released their newest car Tata Nano (650 cc) into the market. They expressed fears over millions of Indians buying the small car which would result in increased fuel consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and pollution. One of the ideas put forth by the faculty was that "Should America exert pressure on India to ban production of the Nano Car?"

As I sat through the presentation I didn't know whether to laugh or to wring my hands in despair. They presented comparative facts about India and America which were packaged to portray as if India was a potential world polluter.

In my opinion the title of panel discussion is a big farce. It is the same as a huge elephant saying that it is not finding enough food because the little rabbit ate it all and so the rabbit should be banished from the forest.

After the panelists had had their say the audience was given a chance to speak. Though I was one of the first to raise my hand, my chance came last after all the others had had their say. Last but definitely not the least, here are some of the facts that I presented. At the end of my talk the panel, moderator and other faculty were apolegetic about some of their statements and said so.

Population Vs fuel consumption
America accounts for a mere 5 percent (300 million) of the world's population, but consumes an unfair amount of the world's total fuel production. 44 percent. On the other hand India accounts to 20 percent of the world's population (5 times America's population) and consumes only 4 percent of the world's production of fuel.

Number of Cars and other vehicles
American has over 270 million passeger cars and trucks, 12.9 million recreational boats and 6.2 million motorcycles. (833.34 cars per 1,000 people)

India has only 9.17 million passenger vehicles vehicles, a few hundred recreational boats and 7 million motorcycles. (7 cars per 1,000 people)

Average Cars
The average car in America is at least 3,000 cc and runs on a V-6 engine (6 cylinder)
The average Indian car (Maruti 800) runs on a 800 cc, 3 cylinder engine.

Average Fuel efficiency
America's vehicles return an average fuel efficiency of 17.1 miles per gallon.
Indian cars return an average fuel efficiency of 35.65 miles per gallon.

Fuel consumption
America consumes over 92,53,000 barrels per day (388.6 million gallons per day)
India consumes only 38.8 million gallons a day.

Most Fuel Efficient car in America
Toyota Prius - powered by two engines churning out a mammoth 145 horsepower, this car returns a fuel efficiency of 46 miles per gallon.

Most Fuel Efficient Car in India
Tata Nano - powered by a small 650 cc engine, churns out a decent 30 horsepower and returns a superb 54 miles per gallon.

Greenhouse Gas emission
America - 1,559 metric tonnes
India - 250 metric tonnes

Here is the biggest punch. Everyone in the world says India is a dirty country. But who generates most trash in the world? It is the world's self-appointed policeman and big brother AMERICA.

Per capita Garbage/ solid waste generated per year
US - 230 million tons (about 4.5 pounds per person per day)
India - 18 million tons of trash. If we were to calculate the amount of solid wastes generated by individuals in India it would be abysmally low.

I am really glad I attended the panel discussion and made people aware of the reality. Perhaps it will lead them to think about the future of the world and probably one of them may decide to buy a smaller car. MAYBE.... I don't know... and I wont know too.

I look forward to hearing from my blog readers about their opinions on this subject.