Energy -III; Pujya Gurudev

Energy and Environment

=Pt.ShriRam Sharma Acharya

Nuclear and Bio-product Energy: Since past half-a-century, the developed world has been giving emphasis to production of electricity in nuclear plants. However, this method of electrical power generation has several limitations: - 

(i) it relies on fission of uranium and plutonium; the stock of these nuclear fuels and substitutes like thorium available on the earth can last at the most for two thousand years; (ii) it is very costly hence the electrical power produced at this cost cannot be afforded by developing countries; 

(ii) there is always a danger of used nuclear fuel being processed for making atomic bombs; and 

(iii) most definite and immediate is the threat of radioactivity generated from the nuclear waste of such reactors. Larger the production of nuclear electricity, more severe would be this threat.

As the bio-species (entire animal and plant kingdom) exist on the earth because of the Sun, the energy obtained from bio-products would also be indirectly a gift of solar power. Production of energy from bio-products includes – biogas from cow-dung as a substitute of LPG (cooking gas) and fuel, production of electrical energy from bio-degradable waste, conversion of Bagasse(sugarcane waste) into diesel or extraction of (bio)fuel from oil bearing plants like “Jatropha” and its use for running automobiles. However, so far nothing promising has been reported on cost-effectiveness and long-term sustainability of this alternate source of energy. In the present scenario, the shrinking forestlands and cattle population coupled with growing migration of people from villages have further diminished the possibility of large-scale production using bio-products.

Thanks GOD, Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma