sherlock@vsnl.com wrote:

Actually we must be one of the few who are more endowed by nature than most others nations, yet manage to screw everything. Go to the interior of Maharashtra and see (i shudder to imagine the fate of bihar or orissa).

Talking about nature's endowment, I got this idea last year. One of the huge but untapped resource of our Nation is abundant solar energy. We have put it to use but at miniature levels like solar batteries or solar heating for overhead water tanks in hotels.

1. In the US maybe 2 decades ago they had developed a solar furnace. It was a giant parabolic reflector like that of a torch, that concentrated so much heat at its focal point that it was enought to melt steel. This is *free* energy. The same technique could be used to setup a thermal power plant. It will boil water to make steam and this will drive the generator turbines. Since the temperature levels are high, a variable focus will regulate temperatures in summer as well as monsoon to give constant levels of steam. An automatic tracking device will ensure that the reflector always faces the sun. The night time power can be generated by the consumers themselves by using rechargable batteries with inverters at night.

These plants can be set up at smaller levels in every village or town and handed over to the local village committes to maintain and collect tarrifs. This would make it a community effort and avoid outstanding bills. It will also provide employment to the locals as well as educated children of the farmers who can work with high technology right in their own village. This will also usher in a new era of IT development in our rural areas. Fuel for all this is free.

2. Another important use of this solar furnace is to boil water in a distillation plant that will convert sea water into drinking water at massive levels. We are blessed with a vast coastline that will provide abundant sea water. The distilled water can be pumped into the interiors of our Nation using a network of pipelines and local reserviors. Distilled water also means less deposits inside the pipes. Clean drinking water will mean better health and hygine in rural areas. Excess water can also be used for drip irrigation.

3. At the National level, the govt. in collaboration with the private sector can setup massive solar furnace power plants in the desert regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan which have the maximum heat. Then similar power plants can be set up in sea connected desert regions in the Middle East, Western Africa, Mexico, Australia etc. Today it is not difficult to efficiently transmitt power over long distances. The international power plants will transmitt power through undersea cables.

So when the sun is setting over the Indian region, the power from the Middle East plants will be switched on. Then from Western Africa. Then Mexico and later Australia. This will ensure uninterrupted power even when it is night time in India.

Regards,

Rony.