The Hindu

Mangalore, Jun 8: The requirement of electricity at the taluk level is less than one mega watt a day and by setting up solar photo voltaic plants in every taluk energy could be saved, said Y.B. Ramakrishna, chairman of the task force on bio-fuels set up by the State Government.

He was delivering the key-note address at the inaugural function of the workshop on “Renewable energy”, organised by the Association of British Scholars, Mangalore Chapter, and the Dakshina Kannada District Small Industries Association.

Mr. Ramakrishna said that India was the only country to have a large number of villages. The energy needs of these villages could be effectively fulfilled by taking recourse to solar energy in a big way. Although the cost of installation of solar energy was high, there would be no further expenditure on it after the initial investment. “Bangalore is saving 900 MW peak load by utilising solar energy,” he said.

Gas generation from cow dung, and bio-gas from agriculture waste, urban solid waste, liquid waste, and their mixture could also be utilised to produce energy, he said. Citing the example of several bus stands in Maharashtra, which were lit by the energy generated from the bio-gas attached to the public toilet there, he said that bagasse could also be used for the generation of energy.

Deputy Commissioner V. Ponnuraj, who inaugurated the workshop, said that a kind of architecture could be developed whereby electricity usage during the day could be zero and this was a possible method to save energy.

Former registrar of Manipal University B.M. Hegde, who presided over the programme, urged the youths to explore new ways of generating energy.