Madhu Sharma

Environmental Implications of Rice and Wheat Stubble Burning in North-Western States of India

The paddy and wheat cropping pattern (PWS) is one of the extensive farming systems in north-western zones of India mainly the river plains of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh. These river plains famous for extensive agricultural fields are equally defamed for burning of rice and wheat straw and stubbles by peasants after the reaping season. In India, it is reckoned that 22,289 Gg of paddy stubble biomass is generated annually and out of this, 13,915 Gg is blazed in the agricultural fields as calculated. Haryana and Punjab alone produce 48% of the whole straw production which is openly burnt in situ. The flaming of paddy stubbles causes soil nutrient loss of organic carbon (3850 million Kg), nitrogen (59 million Kg), phosphorus (20 million Kg) and potassium (34 million Kg), aside from deteriorating the ambient air quality. Burning of agricultural residue discharges various trace gases like COX, CH4, NOX, SOX and huge quantity of particulates matters (PM10 and PM2.5) which cause adverse impacts on human health. The major problems faced by the local people are eye irritation, dryness of eyes and chest congestion. It also led to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumoconiosis, pulmonary tuberculosis, bronchitis, cataract, corneal opacity and blindness. The cases of road accidents also enhance during the period of stubble burning due to poor visibility. It also contributes to haze, greenhouse effect and environmental changes thereto. In India, National Green Tribunal (NGT) prohibited this ancient agricultural practice of straw burning in pollution-wrecked city New Delhi and the adjacent four states viz. Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. One suitable method to reduce this menace is incorporation of straw into soil which eventually enhances soil fertility. The crop residue material can also be used for compost formation as a traditional approach. Alternate energy resources can also be generated from this agro-biomass. The most prominent method to prevent this threat is to generate biomass energy. Further, in past decades, many conversion processes have been developed to produce alternate biofuels under different forms (pellets, briquettes) from crop residues. An integrated crop residue management approach is need of the hour to combat this anthropogenic disaster.

Application of Remote Sensing in the Monitoring of Biogas Production

Anaerobic digestion (AD) systems are extremely sensitive to changes in environmental variables. Correct design and control of the system’s parameters are essential to maximize process efficiency, increase stability, and prevent system failure. Automation systems can both raise plant availability and help meet the transparency requirements of the process. A fully automated continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) of 40 m3 capacity was designed for jatropha waste and installed at University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun (India). This is first fully automated digestor at pilot scale which can be monitored by remote sensing all over the country. Parameters (pH, temp, feeding rate, energy consumption) were attained from a CSTR plant online by using remote monitoring system. Pilot scale CSTR was operated using cow dung:jatropha de-oiled cake (CD:JDOC) in a optimized ratio of 1:3. The reactor was run continuously for 120 days. Average biogas produced per day was 25 m3 per day.

Fiber Optic Daylighting System

In today’s rapidly developing world, the need for energy has risen exponentially. The majority of this energy is used for industrial & commercial use. Energy used for lighting makes up for a sizeable portion of the global energy consumption. Industries, business spaces, commercial buildings etc. all makes use of artificial lighting even during daytime, while abundant sunlight is available. This is one of the major reasons for high levels of energy consumption in these sectors. The solution for this problem is provided by fiber optic solar lighting system. The sunlight is collected and focused by making use of solar collectors on the roof top of a building and then transmitted into the building through optical fibers to interiors of the building. While Solar energy has been used for production of energy, the conversion efficiency of solar pv comes to around 1720%. This implies that almost 75-80 of the solar energy is still being wasted. So instead converting the solar energy to electrical energy, which is then used for lighting, the insolation can be directly used for day lighting purposes if the necessary technology can be

Operating temperature of PV module modified with surface cooling unit in real time condition

High operating temperature decreases photo voltaic module efficiency. Normal Operating Cell Temperature, NOCT of silicon crystalline is about 49°C as reported. A cooling unit with reverse flow water circulation is designed, fabricated and applied on PV back surface to partially avoid undesirable effect of its temperature increase. This modified module with cooling unit and similar non-cooled modules are installed outdoor identically at University of Petroleum and Energy Studies campus, Dehradun. Installed Normal Operating Cell Temperature, INOCT of both the modules are determined and compared by varying water flow rate from cooling unit. And also water flow rate is optimized to maintain minimum possible operating temperature.

Step Towards E-Waste Management (STEM)

The growing energy insecurity has brought dire need of energy recovery through processes that can utilize each and every electronic components from materials used in the contemporary world. Along with the demand of electronics and electrical products, the generation of e-waste is increasing at tremendous rate. However, the technology for safe disposal or recycling of such matter still remains a challenging issue, given the lack of awareness, infrastructure and other developments. This can cause severe damage to the ecology. Present work discusses such issues and how e-waste can be effectively managed and acclimatized. The handling of such wastes from the solar photovoltaics industry has also been reviewed, and an attempt has been made to speculate the spectrum of possibilities for safe disposal of e-waste, thereby having a sustainable energy utilization system which can explore the possibilities of harnessing electronic products without damaging the environment.

Nano Based Synthesis of PV Panels for Minimizing E-Waste

The globally growing solar panel deployment will result into huge solar panel waste in the coming years. The solar panels will form the major portion of E-silicon waste in the future. The efficiency of the panels can be increased and waste can be minimized by utilizing the materials such as nanowires, nanoparticles, nanotubes and other similar electrically and photonically active Nano template. PV manufacturing companies are researching on quantum based and Dye sensitized solar cells to replace silicon solar cells. The waste produced during manufacturing is less and can also be recovered after end of life of the cell. This process will not only help in reducing the installation, manufacturing costs but will also lead to E-silicon waste reduction. It will also reduce the expensive electronic and electric equipment’s used to produce the conventional silicon panels. If the nanosolar technology for PV panels is encouraged it will restrict the practice of exporting silicon waste to developing countries for landfill. The paper analyzes the amount of waste generated when nanotechnology is combined with solar panel technology.

GRIHA norm evaluation - A field study in Uttarakhand, India

Enormously growing demands for urban fabricated spaces have caused enormous rise in the construction of buildings. In addition to this the increasing population of India has also resulted in constructing of numerous schools, colleges and universities. The need of the present hour is that these developments should occur in a sustainable manner causing minimal or no harm to the environment. This field study was undertaken in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the developing construction sector of India. The aim was to assess the importance of educational institutions in the promotion of green buildings. This paper gives a preview of various green building rating systems available in India along with their salient features. An educational institution was assessed by means of GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) evaluation system. During the course of field survey all the criterions were assessed. The findings and the possible star rating which can be achieved by the educational establishment has been described in this paper.