Methanol is a promising fuel as it is clean, cheaper than fossil fuels and a good substitute for heavy fuels. India imports methanol from Saudi Arabia and Iran at present. Across the world, methanol is emerging as a clean, sustainable transportation fuel of the future.
Methanol can be used as an energy producing fuel, transportation fuel and cooking fuel, cutting down India’s oil import bill by an estimated 20% over the next few years. Unlike CNG, using methanol as a transportation fuel would require minimal alteration in the vehicles.
Methanol is a clean-burning fuel that produces fewer smog-causing emissions — such as sulphur oxides(SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter — and can improve air quality and related human health issues.
Methanol is most commonly produced on a commercial scale from natural gas. It can also be produced from renewable sources such as biomass and recycled carbon dioxide.
As a high-octane vehicle fuel, methanol offers excellent acceleration and power. It also improves vehicle efficiency.
Methanol has the potential to be an enduring solution to human energy needs is because the belched out C02 (greenhouse gas emission) both from using Methanol and while producing Methanol can be tapped back to produce Methanol.
Thereby a seamless loop of CO2 sequestration cycle is created to perpetually burn fuels without polluting the environment at all. C02 from steel plants, Thermal Power plants, Cement Plants etc. can be tapped in large quantities to produce Methanol.
The Concept of “Methanol Economy” is being actively pursued by China, Italy, Sweden, Israel, US, Australia, Japan and many other European countries. 10% of fuel in China in transport Sector is
Methanol. Methanol Economy, if adopted by India can be one of the best ways to mitigate the Environmental hazards of a growing economy. NITI Aayog is preparing a road map for a full-scale implementation in the near future.
27-Nov-2018: 'India may face an intense and increased water deficit next year'
Water deficits will increase and intensify in India in 2019, says the latest edition of Global Water Monitor & Forecast Watch List (November 2018). It represents the regions which are likely to encounter significant water anomalies in the next few months. The results showcase that exceptional water deficits occur throughout Gujarat in the west and severe to exceptional deficits from Madhya Pradesh through Karnataka, as well as in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, and India’s far northeast.
The report presented by ISciences (US based limited liability corporation) states the findings from the latest Water Security Indicator Model (WSIM) analysis of global water anomalies using observed temperature and precipitation through October 2018 and an ensemble of forecasts issued the last week of October 2018. ISciences Water Security Indicator Model (WSIM) monitors and forecasts water anomalies on a near global basis. WSIM products include data, visualisations and reports. WSIM includes algorithms to assess the impacts of water anomalies on people, agriculture and electricity generation. WSIM has been run continuously since April 2011 and has been validated against subsequent monitoring based on observed data.
The map of South Asia, presents a selection of regions likely to encounter significant water anomalies during the one year period beginning in August 2018 and running through July 2019 using three months of observed temperature and precipitation data, and nine months of forecast data.
The forecast predicts severe to exceptional surplus water for regions including Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Mizoram. Moderate to severe deficits were forecast for Bihar. From February through April, deficits in India are expected to moderate overall and some regions in the country’s eastern third will normalise. However, intense deficits will persist throughout Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and along the Tungabhadra River through Karnataka. The forecast for the final months — May through July (2019) — indicates primarily moderate deficits in India and pockets throughout the region. Some surpluses are expected in Jammu and Kashmir, northern Pakistan, along the Gandaki River in central Nepal, and pockets of Tamil Nadu.
The 12-month forecast through July 2019 indicates exceptional (greater than 40 years) water deficits in Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh.
The previous year datasets are used to derive model value. The results of previous model state that three of the five hottest Septembers on record in India have occurred in the last three years — 2015, 2017, and 2018. Though this September’s extreme heat was unrelated to El Niño — which usually introduces warm dry conditions — El Niño is being blamed for low rainfall during the June-to-September monsoon season. The monsoon rain deficits have caused drought-like conditions in almost a third of Indian districts, and added stress for the farmers.
India’s coffee production is expected to fall to its lowest in five years due to flood damage to plantations in southern states such as Kerala and Karnataka. India exports about three quarters of the coffee it produces, and flood damage has been reported in all key producing areas of the country. The future forecast will help visualise the impact and intensity at a large scale.
It also provides highlights of regional water forecasts for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Central Asia and Russia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
23-Nov-2018: Scientists weigh up stratospheric sunlight barrier to curb warming
Spraying sun-dimming chemicals high above the Earth to slow global warming could be “remarkably inexpensive”, costing about $2.25 billion a year over a 15-year period. Some researchers say the geo-engineering technique known as stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) could limit rising temperatures that are causing climate change.
As yet unproven and hypothetical, it would involve the use of huge hoses, cannons or specially designed aircraft to spray large quantities of sulphate particles into the upper layer of the atmosphere to act as a reflective barrier against sunlight.
Total costs to launch a hypothetical SAI effort 15 years from now would be $3.5 billion, scientists at Harvard University said in a report published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, adding that average annual operating costs would be about $2.25 billion a year over 15 years.
Discounting other methods of deployment because of cost and feasibility, the research assumes a special aircraft can be designed to fly at an altitude of about 20 km and carry a load of 25 tonnes.
After direct input from several aerospace and engine companies, the scientists said they have developed a design that could be suitable and could be ready to be deployed in 15 years, aiming to cut the rate of temperature change in half. The scientists emphasised that this is merely a hypothetical scenario.
There are risks to such unproven potential technologies. Scientists have said SAI could result in negative consequences such as causing droughts or extreme weather in other parts of the world, harm crop yields as well as potential public health and governance issues.
It also does not address the issue of rising carbon dioxide emissions, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.