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Author: rscasny
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OpEd: What India and Pittsburgh Have In Common

rscasny

I think we all live with some level of tunnel vision. We live locally and too often are unaware of what is going on in the wider world despite our access to the reportage of world events.

 

I thought about my own tunnel vision of the wider world when I did my typical Saturday morning thing: got a cup of coffee from my local Starbucks and read in the New York Times the story: India, Once a Coal Goliath, Is Fast Turning Green.

 

The gist of the story is that India WAS planning on building a whole lot of coal-fired plants but are cancelling many of them because (a) their current plants are operating at only 60% capacity and (B) they are relying more on renewables such as solar power.

 

India, so says the story, is also decreasing its annual coal production from 660 million tons to 600 million tons -- down 10%.

 

Clearly, the world is embracing renewable energy technology. It appears to be making sense in India. It even makes sense to the mayor of Pittsburgh in the U.S. In another story, it says that  Pittsburgh already has 13,000 jobs in the renewable energy industry. Says the story, "Pittsburgh today is increasingly rebuilding around greener medical complexes, research university and tech offices." Less need for coal, for sure.

 

I haven't been to Pittsburgh since I worked for Eaton Corp. as a field engineer about 20 years ago. And I have yet to visit India. But this morning over a cup of coffee at my local Starbucks, my world view just got a wee bit bigger.

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  • Interesting perspective, but there are other issues driving power in India.

     

    Agreed, they are reducing coal power, not so much to be Green, but because they do not have the power distribution infrastructure to get the power from the generator to the people.

     

    India is BIG.  They have almost no way to effectively provide power to remote areas.  The cost to install a reliable power infrastructure is HUGE.

     

    Their solution is to go to local solar power.  Both due to the amount of sunlight most areas receive, but more importantly, it eliminates the cost and effort to create the distribution grid.

    In their situation local power is reliable, as long as the sun shines, requires minimal cost to install, and reduces the ravages of nature and theft.

     

    I applaud their engineering and management decision.  For them it makes very good sense to go local solar as they are starting at a very primitive level in most cases.

     

    Just my opinion.

     

    DAB

  • in reply to DAB

    Don,

     

    I think you're right. Accompanying the story, was a picture of a solar panel on top of a man's home.  Perhaps that's the only way from him to get power; the story didn't say. But India is indeed a big country. Surely the cost of running power to them is a lot. Perhaps this in another advantage of green power. Running a portable generator on fossil-type fuel would be another hill to climb for remote areas (costs, maintenance, etc.)

     

    Randall

  • in reply to rscasny

    Hi Randall.

     

    I agree, exactly that, the alternatives like generators have the major disadvantages of cost/maintenance (hardly anyone can afford them when they are earning $20 a week), also the villages are quiet generally (you can hear the other distant villages at night often). A generator is usually so loud it is impractical. Also, the cannisters of fuel (propane or similar I think) end up getting used in a domestic environment which to me feels unsafe, a few mm of rubber grommet sealing the hose is the distance between life and death : (

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  • in reply to rscasny

    Hi Randall.

     

    I agree, exactly that, the alternatives like generators have the major disadvantages of cost/maintenance (hardly anyone can afford them when they are earning $20 a week), also the villages are quiet generally (you can hear the other distant villages at night often). A generator is usually so loud it is impractical. Also, the cannisters of fuel (propane or similar I think) end up getting used in a domestic environment which to me feels unsafe, a few mm of rubber grommet sealing the hose is the distance between life and death : (

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