Micro-hydro: Power for new Generation

Navtej Kohli assuming that the era will come after few year when the people able to made small amount of power for its own use . Solar energy is the best means which make everybody to generate electricity for small use. Everybody knows about hydroelectricity power. But it seems very costly a person to generate power using water . But MicroHydro make it possible to generate energy for small use. Also the costing, maintenance also very low for making a MicroHydro plant .

Basically the term Microhydro related to the installation of hydroelectric power which can able to produce upto 100KW. The condition which is required for this plant is water rich area such as Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS). Some countries like Solomon Islands also generating and supplying small amount of power like 50kw with Microhydro.
It can be made with pelton wheel for high head and low flow water supply, for this installation just like small dammed pool just in the top of the waterfall which have several hundred feet of pipe leading to a small generator housing.
While making plan for installing low-headed MicroHydro plant its maintenance and mechanism are most important thing. Because low-headed system moves large amount of water and might be possible to be face encounter of surface debris. That’s why Banki turbine, a pressurized self-cleaning cross flow waterwheel, is often preferred for low-head microhydro power systems. Though less efficient, its simpler structure is less expensive than other low-head turbines of the same capacity. Since the water flows in, then out of it, it cleans itself and is less prone to jam with debris.
Most of the person considered Microhydro as complement photovoltaic solar energy systems because in many areas flow of the water rises in the winter season when the power of the sun are goes down.
Frequency stability
Many theories are behind what should be best frequency should be have for a ideal Microhydro system, but in the real scenario frequency of alternating current generated needs to match the local standard utility frequency. Usually controller valves the water supply to generate a constant frequency for motor and clocks. While taking normal controller under consideration, it is small programmable logic controller with custom program which use deadband to minimize valve motion such that valve wears out as slowly as possible, during water conservation.
A grid-linked system slaves its generator to the grid by measuring current, to assure that the power is always output, so the grid never drives the turbine. The usual scheme is to measure voltage across a shunt resistor on one of the phases. The external utility's grid controller provides precision frequency controls.
An independent system usually governs its long-term frequency from an external time standard. The hydropower's AC time may vary by several seconds per hour, but over many days, it doesn't vary at all. Traditionally a caretaker would compare a simple AC clock driven by the hydropower system to a shortwave clock broadcast and adjust the mechanical governor on the hydropower system until the AC clock read the same as the broadcast for a few minutes. Over time, the result would be good. With a modern PLC-based system, the caretaker can just set the PLC's clock periodically from a radio clock, say once per week. Some more-professional systems automatically set the controller's clock from a radio clock.

MicroHydro work Phenomenon

Rivers water are passed through settling basin to remove sediment which might be harmful for the turbine. After that water is make to flow into the Forebay Tank where it is directed downhill through a pipe called a penstock . After reaching at the bottom water drives specially made turbine to produce electricity.
Moreover Navtej Kohli appreciating MicroHydro system and want to make popular . Not only government but also private sector have to come up with new techniques for installing MicroHydro system which be low cost and low maintenance system.

Navtej Kohli redefining energy conservation!

ARE CURRENT ENERGY CONSERVATION MEASURES SUFFICIENT? Finds out Navtej Kohli.

“Alternative energy”, “recycling”, and “conservation” are terms that have become the buzzwords for the 21st century environmentalists. Although these solutions have long been seen as only hope to save our planet from the perils of global warming or other subsequent disasters, the sad news is – this isn’t really working!!

Reason??
The too much of management involved.

Let’s take recycling as a case in point. Did you ever imagine how many hours does it take to separate plastic, glass, aluminum and cardboard? Countries like Sweden and San Francisco where recycling is mandatory, people are either fined or jailed by the state for improperly sorting their recyclables. But despite of such strict laws in place, these superficial ‘buzzwords’ fails to fix the environment related problems.

Now imagine driving to a stinky receptacle, where people dump week-old pizza box into the cardboard bin or smashed can of beer into the glass container. Nightmarish…isn’t it? However, things would have been not as bad if people were not as careless as they are.

Recycling is not an easy call anymore. Given the large amount of money and government involved with recycling programs, it seems all the more useless to reprocess. And that’s not all! There is an additional set of costs involved in purchasing recycling trucks, hiring drivers for them, their maintenance and other petty expenses. Oh! And did I forget to mention the pollution caused by those ‘additional’ recycling trucks?

Another of those previously significant GREEN terms is Conservation. A word used or rather overused to alarm people that our planet is running out of natural resources. While being miserly with energy resources can be one solution to the problem, yet that’s not all we can do about it.

We have been devising ways to save energy since 1970, turning almost every stone to stay energy-rich. The researches on alternate energy, energy saving equipments proves that. But today, as we step into 21st century, this obsolete approach needs to be reworked upon. Our ever expanding energy needs demands an unconventional approach towards energy conservation. Things are required to be seen in a wider perspective now. The challenge is to discover an alternative that ensures boundless flow of energy without compromising on our standard of living. Nuclear power can be quoted as a perfect example here.

Keep your Kids Pollution Safe - Navtej Kohli

A child's risk of developing allergies increases by up to 50 percent from pollution caused by traffic, a rate that increases the closer the child grows up next to major roads, a new study says.

Navtej Kohli Blogspot features the report:

The findings, published in the June issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, revealed significant links between the distance to the nearest road and asthmatic bronchitis, hay fever, eczema and allergic sensitizations.

Pollution and allergies have been linked in previous studies, but the association was often attributed to socioeconomic factors, not the distance from major roads.

Oil on fire - Navtej Kohli

Navtej Kohli Blogspot brings some more recent news on rising Crude Oil Prices

Retail gas prices and crude oil futures reached record highs Monday amid a backdrop of Mideast tensions and dollar concerns, but crude ended the day lower.

The national average price for a gallon of gasoline climbed to $4.086, according to a daily survey by motorist group AAA. That was up 0.7 cent from $4.079 the previous day, and eclipsed the previous mark of $4.08 set June 16.

Gas prices have risen 2.9% in the last month and are almost 38% higher than where they were a year ago.

Meanwhile light, sweet crude for August delivery settled down 21 cents at $140 a barrel after earlier setting a trading record of $143.67 a barrel, 50% above the price at the end of 2007.

Despite the pullback, oil prices remain consistently over $140 a barrel.

Global Destabilization on the cards - Navtej Kohli

Climate change likely to trigger global destabilization, report says!

Navtej Kohli brings his own analysis...

U.S. intelligence agencies presage illegal immigration, ethnic violence, humanitarian crises and national security issues during the next two decades, all thanks to Global Warming.

According to the recent report Global warming may instill a series of destabilizing effects all over world, causing aforesaid crisis.

Climatic fluctuations and rising global temperature could further rock the already fragile regimes around the world putting more national security challenges before United States.

Existing problems such as poverty, social tensions, environmental degradation, ineffectual leadership and weak political institutions are also speculated to worsen in the next 20 years.

The effects could be most harsh in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle Eastern and Central and Southeast Asian belt. Less rainfall and hot weather could halve the agricultural output in some regions of Africa, warns the report.

"We judge that economic refugees will perceive additional reasons to flee their homes because of harsher climates," Fingar said. "Many likely receiving nations will have neither the resources nor interest to host these climate migrants," who might be carriers of infectious diseases.

Overall, as many as 50 million additional people could be at risk of hunger by 2020, and as many as 1.2 billion people could suffer from water shortage.

Nevertheless, developed nations may fare better with an anticipated increase in agricultural production. But other problems like growing immigration pressures are likely to tighten its grip on US economy.

The report goes without global warming's latent effect on terrorism.

Lift Ban on Drilling

Navtej Kohli blogspot updates on rising oil and gas prices.

Bush urges to lift ban of offshore drilling

President George W. Bush will call on US lawmakers today to pass legislation lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling.

"With gasoline now over four dollars a gallon, tomorrow he will explicitly call on Congress to also pass legislation lifting the congressional ban on safe, environmentally-friendly offshore oil drilling," Dana Perino (White House spokeswoman) said.

The announcement came just hours after Republican presidential candidate John McCain called for the federal government to scrap its 27-year-old moratorium on offshore oil drilling.

His demand tapped into voters' anxiety about sky-high fuel prices but his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, dismissed it as "political posturing" that would not help gas prices and might do much to ruin the coastal environment.

Perino said the president had long pushed Congress to expand the United States' domestic oil supply but blamed Democrats for blocking any action.

"The president believes Congress shouldn't waste any more time," she said, while adding that he "is not taking any executive action tomorrow."

Some more Global Poverty Facts by Navtej Kohli

Navtej Kohli brings some more sad and unfortunately true statistics:

1. Rural areas account for three in every four people living on less than US$1 a day and a similar share of the world population suffering from malnutrition. However, urbanization is not synonymous with human progress. Urban slum growth is outpacing urban growth by a wide margin.

2. In developing countries some 2.5 billion people are forced to rely on biomass—fuelwood, charcoal and animal dung—to meet their energy needs for cooking. In sub-Saharan Africa, over 80 percent of the population depends on traditional biomass for cooking, as do over half of the populations of India and China.

3. Indoor air pollution resulting from the use of solid fuels [by poorer segments of society] is a major killer. It claims the lives of 1.5 million people each year, more than half of them below the age of five: that is 4000 deaths a day. To put this number in context, it exceeds total deaths from malaria and rivals the number of deaths from tuberculosis.

4. 1.6 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live without electricity

5. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined.

6. For every $1 in aid a developing country receives, over $25 is spent on debt repayment.

7. 20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the world’s goods.

8. A mere 12 percent of the world’s population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World.

Read more interesting facts on Navtej Kohli Rediffblog

Global warming turning sea into acid bath - Navtej Kohli

Navtej Kohli blog brings another news update on Global Warming. Sea is turning acidic. A report on Navtej Kohli blog:

Increasing carbon dioxide emissions could leave species such as coral and sea urchins struggling to survive by the end of the century because they are making the oceans more acidic, research led by British scientists suggests.

The study of how acidification affects marine ecosystems has revealed a striking impact on animal and plant life. The findings indicate that rising carbon emissions will alter the biodiversity of the seas profoundly, even before the effects of global warming are taken into account.

Greater concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere mean that more of the gas becomes dissolved in seawater, increasing its acidity. This will have good consequences for some species, but be catastrophic for others.

Dr Hall-Spencer's team investigated the likely effects of acidification by studying natural underwater vents off the coast of Italy, where carbon dioxide bubbles up through the sea floor. This makes the water around the vents significantly more acidic than it is in surrounding areas.

The study shows that certain species are very badly affected by rising acidity. Corals of the Caryophyllia, Cladocora and Balanophyllia varieties, for example, were common in on the sea bed in the region, but absent close to the vents. Sea urchins and sea snails were also affected badly by the high acidity.

Other species, including sea-grass and a type of algae known as Sargassum, thrived as the extra carbon dioxide has a fertilizing effect. This extra growth, however, can be damaging to other sea life - Sargassum is an alien invasive species, carried to the region in the ballast of shipping.

The research team is the first to use natural underwater carbon dioxide vents to assess how acidity caused by the gas influences sea life. “Our field studies provide a window on the future of the oceans in a high CO2 world,” Dr Hall-Spencer said.

This appraisal of life in a more acidic ocean was if anything conservative, Dr Hall-Spencer said, because it mimicked future ecosystems only partially.

The acidity around carbon dioxide vents can be reduced by rough conditions, which dilute the water - something that would not happen if the whole ocean was highly acidic.

The researchers also noted that while fish continued to swim through more acidic waters, they avoided breeding or spawning in them. “That isn't a problem at the moment, as they can go elsewhere,” Dr Hall-Spencer said. “But in a more acidic ocean there will be no escape.”

Global warming will also have an independent impact on sea life, by raising ocean temperatures.

Bid begins for Jolie's kids' pix - Navtej Kohi

'Million Dollar baby'...Oops! I mean babies. Angelina Jolie's impending delivery has become the talk of the town. Several big magazines are desperate to get the exclusive pics of the twins and are willing to pay 15 million dollars for the first shot. Navtej Kohli Blogspot features the report.

The bidding war for the first photographs of mum-to-be Angelina Jolie’s twins is set to touch a record high with magazines like People and OK! willing to offer 15 million dollars for the snaps.

OK!'s representative admits the publication would be "foolish" not to bid for the photos.

In 2006, the couple offered the first pictures of daughter Shiloh through distributor Getty Images while People magazine paid more than 4.1 million dollars for the North American rights.

British magazine Hello! obtained the international rights for 3.5 million dollars.

However, Jolie and partner Brad Pitt donated all the profits to an undisclosed charity.

Pre-mature balding cure - Navtej Kohli

For people worried about their premature hair loss, Navtej Kohli has a good news. Scientists have pioneered a technique that would help provide a cure for premature hairloss - hair cloning.

The new technique, known as follicular cell implantation works by replicating remaining hair strands and would eventually help millions of people to regain a full head of their own hair.

It can potentially re-grow a limitless supply hair for individuals who have become bald during cancer treatment, from suffering severe burns, or simply the onset of age, reports the Telegraph.

The cell therapy, during clinical trials, increased hair count in at least two thirds of patients after six months, and four out of five if the scalp is stimulated beforehand through gentle abrasions, which encourage hair growth.

The new technique is a breakthrough in hair restoration and has been granted 1.9 million pounds by the government.

The procedure is being developed by Intercytex, a British company based in Manchester.

Poverty Facts by Navtej Kohli

Navtej Kohli was taken off guard to see these disbelieving yet unfortunately true facts!

Do You Know?

1. The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income.

2. According to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”

3. Around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. The two regions that account for the bulk of the deficit are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

5. 4. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.

6. Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.

7. Infectious diseases continue to blight the lives of the poor across the world. An estimated 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with 3 million deaths in 2004. Every year there are 350–500 million cases of malaria, with 1 million fatalities: Africa accounts for 90 percent of malarial deaths and African children account for over 80 percent of malaria victims worldwide.

More facts to follow on Navtej Kohli Blog. Keep checking back!

Brangelina buy 35 million pounds house - Navtej Kohli

Navtej Kohli has an interesting news for all Brangelina fans.

Hollywood star couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie has bought a house on the French Riviera worth a whopping 35 million pounds to cater for their expanding brood.

The sprawling chateau comes complete with it's own vineyard, moat, lake and forest.

“It’s incredible – the drive is three miles long,” the Sun quoted a source as, saying.

The couple will be welcoming their twins into the world on August 19 this year, and they always wanted to have them in France, the native place of the actress’ beloved late mother.

The new additions will take the number of kids in Brangelina’s brood to 6.

The couple are already parents to two boys – Maddox and Pax, and two girls – Zahara and Shiloh.

Polar bears gets the much awaited justice - Navtej Kohli report

Navtej Kohli is happy with the court's decision of announcing POLAR BEARS as federally Threatened species.

Here he shares the report:

Following a three-year legal battle to protect the polar bear from extinction due to global warming, three environmental groups won protection for the species with the announcement today that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is listing the polar bear as a federally “threatened” species.

The decision was issued in response to a 2005 scientific petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, and was required by a court order in a lawsuit brought by the groups to end the administration's delay in issuing a final Endangered Species Act listing decision.

While the polar bear listing is one of the administration's clearest acknowledgments to date of the urgent threat posed by global warming, the administration is simultaneously attempting to reduce the protections the bear will receive under the Act. It claims in the listing decision that federal agencies need not consider the impact of global warming pollution on the polar bear; it has also proposed a separate regulation reducing the protections the polar bear would otherwise receive.

This decision is a watershed event because it has forced the Bush administration to acknowledge global warming's brutal impacts,” said Kassie Siegel, climate program director at the Center for Biological Diversity and lead author of the 2005 petition. “It’s not too late to save the polar bear, and we'll keep fighting to ensure that the polar bear gets the help it needs through the full protections of the Endangered Species Act. The administration's attempts to reduce protection to the polar bear from greenhouse gas emissions are illegal and won't hold up in court.”

Polar bears live only in the Arctic and are totally dependent on the sea ice for all their essential needs. Global warming is an overwhelming threat to the polar bear, which is already suffering starvation, drowning, and population declines as the sea ice melts away.

Famine fears for seven million Ethiopian children - Navtej Kohli Blog

A CNN report on Navtej Kohli blog:

A year of drought and soaring food prices has threatened the lives of tens of thousands of Ethiopian children.

"We have nothing to feed our children," said Egu's village elder. "We are losing our children day by day."

Ethiopia's Health Ministry, along with UNICEF, monitors the health of thousands of children here, but the number of areas they have been able to regularly visit has been cut in half this year.

Due to scanty rainfall Ethiopian farmers could not plant second crop this year, Which has exacerbated already critical food shortage.

"It's an open crisis, and there are more people than we expected who need additional food," said Bjorn Ljungqvist, head of UNICEF Ethiopia.

There is a crucial shortfall in the supply of therapeutic foods used to treat children with severe acute malnutrition, the UNICEF official said.

The UN's children's agency is appealing for $10 million to pay for emergency needs of more than 7 million children under 5 as well as pregnant and nursing mothers in 325 drought-affected districts.

The World Food Programme supplies the emergency food for UNICEF, but rising food prices mean it could not guarantee aid for all the areas in need.

"Unless you get immediate assistance the risk is, you fall into severe malnutrition and eventually death, so unless our supporters come in immediately for this, we fear that is what is going to happen in the country," said Jakob Mikkelse, the program's nutrition and education chief.

Egu is a village UNICEF is no longer able to visit on a regular basis.

"If we were not here, those children who we had found now with severe acute malnutrition would have died at home," UNICEF Emergency Nutrition Project Officer Samson Dessie said.

UNICEF estimates that 6 million Ethiopian children under the age of 5 are at risk and that more than 120,000 have only about a month to live.

As the relief workers depart Egu, they leave behind a few emergency food packs and a promise to return.

The Ethiopian government has worked with UNICEF since 2004 on the Enhanced Outreach Strategy to provide food for child survival. The effort distributes child survival packages that include vitamin A supplementation, de-worming, measles catch-up, nutritional screening and referral to supplementary or therapeutic feeding programs.

"EOS is really very important from many perspectives with regard to child survival," Dessie said. "The first is it brings high-impact, low-cost child survival packages like vitamin A, which can reduce child mortality by up to 35 percent."

China's Earthquake may claim more than 50000 Lives

Navtej Kohli brings a terribly shocking report!

China's government has given warning that 50,000 people may have died in the earthquake that has devastated large areas of Sichuan province.

So far, 19,509 people are known to have been killed – an increase of more than 4,000 on Wednesday's estimate of the disaster's human toll - and has directly affected 10 million people.

Survivors are still being pulled from the ruins of their homes and public buildings.

But time is running out in the search for survivors from the earthquake, which struck on Monday.
"Generally speaking, anyone buried in an earthquake can survive without water and food for three days," said Gu Linsheng, a researcher with Tsinghua University's Emergency Management Research Centre. "After that, it's usually a miracle for anyone to survive."

One of the surviver told that the start of the earthquake sounded like a train approaching.

So far, the full extent of the damage inflicted by the earthquake, which measured a magnitude of 7.9, has not been assessed.

The Disaster Relief Headquarters of China's State Council said the final death toll could exceed 50,000

The authorities said that another 30,000 troops will be deployed in Sichuan to reinforce the 50,000 already helping the relief operation. Although the chances of finding survivors are diminishing by the hour, the government vowed to continue the search.

"This is only a beginning of this battle, and a long way lies ahead of us," said Gao Qiang, the deputy health minister. "We will never give up hope. For every thread of hope, our efforts will increase a hundred fold. We will never give up."

Wen Jiabao, the prime minister, visited the wreckage of school in Sichuan where dozens of children died.

He thanked doctors and nurses for helping the injured and said: "The party and the government are grateful to you. The people need you. They see you as a relative."

Congestion charge does not cut pollution - Navtej Kohli

Navtej Kohli shares an interesting story. Recently he came across the following report based on a study that shows congestion charge does not cut pollution.

A new study has shown that city centre congestion charges do nothing to cut pollution or better the quality of air.

Researchers from King's College, London have concluded that the capital's charge, which was introduced in 2003 affecting couriers working the capital, has made no difference to levels of smog in the city as extra buses and taxis are using the roads.

Professor Frank Kelly, environmental health expert at the institute and the study leader, said: "The problem was that the central zone was only one per cent of the Greater London area.

"Even though it reduced the traffic by 40,000 vehicles a day, there was a dramatic increase in the number of buses."

Kelly added that the introduction of the low emission zone (LEZ) could see improvements to the air, with people undertaking courier work and other large vehicle drivers having to pay between £100 and £200 to enter most of London if their vehicles do not meet pollution standards.

Meanwhile, in what could be good news for couriers, plans to introduce a £25-per-day congestion charge for high emission vehicles could be scrapped by new London mayor Boris Johnson who pledged to abandon the initiative in his manifesto.

Navtej Kohli on rising oil prices

Navtej Kohli shares his concern about the rising oil prices. Oil is not cheap anymore!

Oil prices have increased by almost 280% for the past five years, and the market has become increasingly seasonal and volatile. In 2007, for example, the commonly used benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, averaged close to $72 a barrel, and its range was between $50 and $100 a barrel.
Since the beginning of 2008, oil prices have set several records. And recently they hit another new level - crude-oil spot prices and oil futures reached nearly $120 a barrel. This latest spike in prices was due to the earlier minor disruptions in oil production - the Nigerian rebel group attacked oil pipelines in the region, and a Japanese oil tanker was struck off the coast of Yemen.
The recent increases in oil prices are due to a slowdown in oil-supply growth and the surging demand from developing countries, in particular China and India.
A falling US dollar has also pushed up the oil price, since oil is traded in the currency. Other factors include speculation on the oil futures market, increasing risk aversion and market uncertainty from the recent US credit crunch, and geopolitical threats in the Middle East.
However, the main concern remains consumers' purchasing power, and not so much the rising oil price itself. Increases in the price of oil are like a tax increase, affecting mostly low- to middle-income households. Economic growth depends on stronger consumer spending to keep the economy going. If consumers are made poorer (or feel poorer) by higher oil prices and cut back spending, growth forecasts may not be as good as predicted.
Going forward, WTI prices are projected by several research houses to average in the range of $90.50 to $101 a barrel in 2008 and $80 to $92.50 in 2009, provided that there is no further sharp dollar decline and severe geopolitical tensions. Although the oil market seems to be coming down, it will remain at a high level.
The era of cheap oil is over. A new paradigm of thinking about energy is, therefore, essential. We should not be too concerned about short-term fluctuations in oil prices, but focus more on medium- to long-term solutions. Conservation and efficient use of energy are perhaps the best policy choices at hand, but the government should also seriously explore alternative energy options and make decisions.

How Did a Classified Ad Lead to the World's Most Popular Hobby?

A fun fact by Navtej Kohli

In 1841, the London Times carried a most unusual classified ad. It was placed by a young woman interested in wallpapering her bedroom walls. And she wanted to do it with postage stamps!
This young woman thus became the world's first philatelist, or stamp collector. The millions of philatelists the world over who followed her in stamp collecting, however, did not collect for the purpose of papering their bedroom walls.

Europe under Inflationary Shock says Navtej Kohli

Navtej Kohli see inflation as a penalty on the poorest that will further eat away the already low purchasing power of this section. Europe is going through a rough patch owing to inflation and the resultant rise in energy and food costs. A report published in the New York times, gives a closer look at this issue.

Europe is facing a “very strong inflationary shock” as a result of rising energy and food costs, the top European Union official for economic affairs said on Monday as the price of oil traded not far from $120 a barrel.

The European economic chief, Joaquín Almunia, recommended structural changes in national economies.
He said higher inflation was emerging as “a big punishment to the weakest sectors of society” eating away at the purchasing power of consumers who are struggling with stagnant incomes.

His remarks came as the European Commission revised its forecast for inflation this year to 3.2 percent, from 2.1 percent in 2007, well above the target of slightly under 2 percent that the European Central Bank aims for.
Mr. Almunia also said that governments should change laws and regulations that keep prices high. European officials have said that these measures include fostering greater competition in services and keeping down administrative fees and sales taxes.

“We need to be concerned not only because of economic reasons but also because of social reasons,” Mr. Almunia said, “and we need to ask the governments to step up their efforts of adopting structural reforms that can counter these inflation risks.”

Commodity price increases, amplified by rising demand from fast-growing Asian economies, have contributed to higher inflation. On Monday, oil touched a high in New York trading of $119.40 a barrel, settling at $118.75, after a weekend strike closed a pipeline that delivers crude oil to British refineries from the North Sea and violence reduced production in Nigeria.

Mr. Almunia acknowledged that inflation was biting hard in Europe because many incomes had not risen as much in the current economic upswing as in past expansions, amplifying a feeling of being squeezed.
“The disposable income of households is not increasing as much as in previous recoveries,” he said, “and this means wage increases have not increased so far as much as in previous recoveries.”

Mr. Almunia also said that the strong euro, which so far has shown little sign of pinching European growth, would eventually affect a weaker world economy. The euro settled in New York Monday at $1.5645, below its record just over $1.60, but is probably still overvalued, he said.

India Government Taking Renewable Energy Seriously

According to the 11th New and Renewable Energy five-year plan recently proposed by the government of India, from 2008-2012 the renewable energy market in India will reach an estimated US $19 billion. Investments of US $15 billion will be required in order to add the approximately 15,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy to the present installed capacity. The government of India has planned a subsidy support system of approximately US $1 billion in government funds. This amounts to adding renewable energy capacity at 1 Watt per US $1, with potential subsidy support of US $0.07/Watt.

The Indian government by 2012 expects renewable energy to contribute 10% of total power generation capacity and have a 4-5% share in the electricity mix. This implies that growth in renewable energy will occur at a much faster pace than traditional power generation, with renewables making up 20% of the 70,000 MW of total additional energy planned from 2008-2012.

Financial assistance is available in various forms, such as direct installation subsidy, feed-in tariffs, tax rebates, and low interest loans. Increasingly Indians are seeing a shift away from subsidizing installed capacity and towards subsidizing power generation with feed-in tariffs and tax rebates. For example, wind energy developers can take 80% accelerated depreciation, sales tax exemption, excise duty exemption and income tax exemption for up to 10 years. Preferential tariffs are being worked out at the state level. While the new framework for supporting renewable energy generation is evolving, most of the direct subsidy has thus far been designed for installed capacity.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in India has also provided funds for town and city level renewable energy planning. This local information infrastructure, comprising of local awareness, urban design, laws and smooth functioning processes, is an important step towards integrating renewable energy into economic life, and improving power delivery in the last kilometer. In addition to improving investment opportunities, this may also bring about greener, better designed and less polluted cities. With the expected growth in this sector, the availability of technically trained personnel may become a hurdle for further growth in the coming years. Thus, an opportunity exists for educational and training institutions to introduce new courses, curricula, and training for students to work in this emerging job market in urban and rural areas.

This move from the Indian government is a very wise move considering the increasing global warming threats. It will surely help to improve the energy shortage and reduce pollution.