Wednesday, February 29, 2012
To Romantics ;)
...koadi keertanayum,
Would the countless great compositions,
kavi koartha vaarthaigalum,
or even the beautiful words chosen by a poet
thuLi kaNNeer poal arththam tharumo...?'
..be as meaningful as a single drop of tear?
-Vairamuthu for Vellai Pookal (Kannathil Muththamithal)
And T.S. Eliot agrees by asking, 'Am I, then, made of words?'
Would the countless great compositions,
kavi koartha vaarthaigalum,
or even the beautiful words chosen by a poet
thuLi kaNNeer poal arththam tharumo...?'
..be as meaningful as a single drop of tear?
-Vairamuthu for Vellai Pookal (Kannathil Muththamithal)
And T.S. Eliot agrees by asking, 'Am I, then, made of words?'
Ayn Rand to Nayn Rand
Aye Rand is a one-time must-read, pretty much for readers of all tastes. Both 'Atlas Shrugged' and 'Fountainhead'. After a long debate with a few friends, some years back, we managed to agree that it wasn't an obvious re-read though. So, Byn Rand, I guess!
Monday, February 27, 2012
What the Elements Taught Me
Earth taught me
to embrace all, to outlive all,
to know stasis is death and
to evolve from season to season,
to be on the move within and without
Fire taught me
to be aflame with desire,
to dance, dance, dance,
until all desires turn to ash,
to sanctify the world with grief,
to illumine through contemplation
the ocean’s womb and the granite’s heart
Water taught me
to ooze unannounced
from eyes and clouds,
to seep deep into earth, into bodies,
adorning both with tender leaves and flowers,
to strip myself of name and location
and merge with the magnificent blue
of memory’s final horizon
Air taught me
to sing disembodied through bamboo-clumps,
to prophesy through leaves,
to lend wings to seeds,
to be, at once, a gentle caressing breeze
and a speeding , howling, storm
Ether taught me
to be full with the full moon,
to be null with the new moon,
to be the red, red flush of dawn and dusk,
to be everywhere and to be nowhere
The five elements taught me
to be one with all,
to be detached from all,
to be changing forms forever,
until the day of my deliverance
from the world of forms.
-K.Satchidanandan
(Translated from Malayalam by the poet)
to embrace all, to outlive all,
to know stasis is death and
to evolve from season to season,
to be on the move within and without
Fire taught me
to be aflame with desire,
to dance, dance, dance,
until all desires turn to ash,
to sanctify the world with grief,
to illumine through contemplation
the ocean’s womb and the granite’s heart
Water taught me
to ooze unannounced
from eyes and clouds,
to seep deep into earth, into bodies,
adorning both with tender leaves and flowers,
to strip myself of name and location
and merge with the magnificent blue
of memory’s final horizon
Air taught me
to sing disembodied through bamboo-clumps,
to prophesy through leaves,
to lend wings to seeds,
to be, at once, a gentle caressing breeze
and a speeding , howling, storm
Ether taught me
to be full with the full moon,
to be null with the new moon,
to be the red, red flush of dawn and dusk,
to be everywhere and to be nowhere
The five elements taught me
to be one with all,
to be detached from all,
to be changing forms forever,
until the day of my deliverance
from the world of forms.
-K.Satchidanandan
(Translated from Malayalam by the poet)
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Emission Omissions
Jigyasa Jyotika/International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Can biodiesel help cut emissions in the
Indian transport sector?
Diesel is a major fuel source in India, with 71 percent of
the oil consumed in 2005 being diesel and 29 percent
gasoline. Given that India’s fuel consumption of 12
million tonnes per annum in the transport sector alone is
expected to double by 2030, India and other developing
countries are urgently seeking cheap and environmentally friendly
alternatives to meet future energy demand.
A recent study by IIASA’s Forestry Program, published
in the journal Applied Energy, demonstrates that biodiesel,
which produces significantly fewer emissions than regular
diesel, can be produced cost-effectively in India from the plant
Jatropha Curcas, a drought- and pest-resistant perennial that
grows in tropical wastelands and produces seeds for up to
50 years. Jatropha could potentially produce 150,000 tonnes
of cheap and renewable diesel for Indian vehicles per year.
Importantly, Jatropha does not compete with food crops for land;
instead, it potentially offers opportunities to poorer Indian
farmers to use wasteland to increase their income. By-products
of biodiesel production, for example, oil cakes and glycerol,
can also be used in the fertilizer and cosmetic industries, respectively.
Jatropha seeds have a 37 percent oil content that needs
minimal refining before use. As Jatropha biodiesel is very similar
to diesel itself, little modification to current engines is required.
Vehicles can run on pure biodiesel or any bio/mineral diesel mix.
Compared to mineral diesel, pure biodiesel cuts emissions of
black carbon or “soot” by 60 percent, carbon monoxide and
hydrocarbons by 50 percent, and greenhouse gases by 80 percent.
Sulfur dioxide emissions are nil, given the vegetable origin of
Jatropha; however, the combustion characteristics of the engine
used could increase or decrease nitrous oxide emissions by up to
10 percent.
With Luleå University of Technology in Sweden, IIASA
modeled 40 million hectares of Indian wasteland across 24 states
to determine the number and locations of potential biodiesel
production plants that would be optimal for fuel production.
The analysis revealed that biomass cost was the most important
factor affecting overall biodiesel production cost, followed by
investment and transportation. One result of the emissions analysis
was that poor Jatropha plant yield at any location could result in
raw materials needing to be transported to the production plant,
increasing financial costs and emission levels. While overall findings
show that, based on the costs of production and the emissions
released, an appropriate number and specific locations of biodiesel
plants can be determined, further research is required on the
economies of scale involved.
The use of Jatropha for biodiesel production, while significant,
is limited to tropical countries. Previous FOR research has shown
that methanol derived from poplar trees can be a viable biofuel
alternative to gasoline in Austria, while ongoing research is
looking at the potential for using a variety of other plant types
(such as maize or canola) as biofuel production sources in other
non-tropical regions.
Can biodiesel help cut emissions in the
Indian transport sector?
Diesel is a major fuel source in India, with 71 percent of
the oil consumed in 2005 being diesel and 29 percent
gasoline. Given that India’s fuel consumption of 12
million tonnes per annum in the transport sector alone is
expected to double by 2030, India and other developing
countries are urgently seeking cheap and environmentally friendly
alternatives to meet future energy demand.
A recent study by IIASA’s Forestry Program, published
in the journal Applied Energy, demonstrates that biodiesel,
which produces significantly fewer emissions than regular
diesel, can be produced cost-effectively in India from the plant
Jatropha Curcas, a drought- and pest-resistant perennial that
grows in tropical wastelands and produces seeds for up to
50 years. Jatropha could potentially produce 150,000 tonnes
of cheap and renewable diesel for Indian vehicles per year.
Importantly, Jatropha does not compete with food crops for land;
instead, it potentially offers opportunities to poorer Indian
farmers to use wasteland to increase their income. By-products
of biodiesel production, for example, oil cakes and glycerol,
can also be used in the fertilizer and cosmetic industries, respectively.
Jatropha seeds have a 37 percent oil content that needs
minimal refining before use. As Jatropha biodiesel is very similar
to diesel itself, little modification to current engines is required.
Vehicles can run on pure biodiesel or any bio/mineral diesel mix.
Compared to mineral diesel, pure biodiesel cuts emissions of
black carbon or “soot” by 60 percent, carbon monoxide and
hydrocarbons by 50 percent, and greenhouse gases by 80 percent.
Sulfur dioxide emissions are nil, given the vegetable origin of
Jatropha; however, the combustion characteristics of the engine
used could increase or decrease nitrous oxide emissions by up to
10 percent.
With Luleå University of Technology in Sweden, IIASA
modeled 40 million hectares of Indian wasteland across 24 states
to determine the number and locations of potential biodiesel
production plants that would be optimal for fuel production.
The analysis revealed that biomass cost was the most important
factor affecting overall biodiesel production cost, followed by
investment and transportation. One result of the emissions analysis
was that poor Jatropha plant yield at any location could result in
raw materials needing to be transported to the production plant,
increasing financial costs and emission levels. While overall findings
show that, based on the costs of production and the emissions
released, an appropriate number and specific locations of biodiesel
plants can be determined, further research is required on the
economies of scale involved.
The use of Jatropha for biodiesel production, while significant,
is limited to tropical countries. Previous FOR research has shown
that methanol derived from poplar trees can be a viable biofuel
alternative to gasoline in Austria, while ongoing research is
looking at the potential for using a variety of other plant types
(such as maize or canola) as biofuel production sources in other
non-tropical regions.
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