The Darkness

The Blessing of Darkness

There was no electricity in the village. The nights were dark and not much work could be done. But still, his fondest memories were of his father telling stories by the light of the oil lamp to him and his brother and sister. Stories of the village ancestors, of gods, and lands far away and funny ones made up just for them. After that was stargazing.

A visitor had once given him a star map and it was fascinating comparing it with the brilliant night sky blazing with stars right above. After that was sleep: Pure, uninterrupted and unadulterated. He once asked his father why the day was bright and the night was dark. His father had told him, "The day is blessed with light and the night with darkness.” Why would anyone want to change that?

The Blessing of Darkness was enjoyed by all of mankind till the early 20th century. It is still available to 44 per cent of Indians and 55 per cent of the world's rural population. Africa is the richest continent in terms of darkness, being enjoyed by 96 per cent of the population of Malawi, 92 per cent of Tanzanians and 88 per cent of Zimbabweans.

The Balance of Power

Electricity is power. The power to turn night into day — like magic. Electricity is energy. Electricity increases the possibilities of what we see, hear, touch, smell and think. The more electricity you have the more rich and powerful you become. Electricity offers more choices. The choice to create, nurture and grow or the choice to consume and destroy.

Electricity is light. Something that makes you see. Electromagnetic radiation that has a wavelength of 4,000 (violet) to about 7,700 (red) angstroms. Light is nothing but a form of energy contained in the equation E=mc2, where E=energy, m=mass and c=the speed of light. It is the Sanskrit tejas, the force of the soul. It is the Yang that complements the Yin (darkness). "Tamso ma jyotirgamaya (lead us from darkness to light)," say the Hindu scriptures.

The Human Development Indicator (HDI) is not just about the quantity of wealth, but also the quality of life. A high HDI ranking of a country shows an uncanny similarity to the per capita consumption of electricity by its citizens. Norway ranks number one and is second only to Iceland in per capita consumption of electricity. USA is ranked seventh in HDI and ninth in per capita consumption.

COAL powers Indian electricity.

And leaves it’s ecological footprint...

..on land

Degradation: Coalmines are under the ground, so large trucks dig out soil up to 1200 metres. In India, 1,40,771 hectares of land has been lost to surface mining. This extracted soil has to be dumped somewhere. This process not only eats away the topsoil with its biota, but the mounds penetrate into adjoining soil, decreasing fertility.

Forest Loss: Coalfields are usually found near forests. Surface mining has eaten into 22.8 per cent of forest land in India. Plant Damage: SO2 pollution can reduce the leaf area of a plant by 40 per cent and the shoot length by 14 per cent, thereby bringing down agricultural yields.

..in the air

Coal fires: Coal fires lead to the emission of greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Smoke and wind blown ash is also a hazard.

Coal dust: This is full of suspended particulate matter. The blasting in coalmines disperses coal dust as far as 2-3 kilometres. Coal crushing plants are not well protected and hence many houses around these areas are totally black.

..in water

Groundwater Loss: 10 billion litres of groundwater is extracted every day in coalfields in one Orissa district alone. Wells in the area have run dry. Towns near coal mining areas complain of chronic water shortage.

Coal Washing: Washed coal reduces the release of
particulate matter into ambient air. But coal washing itself is polluting. The resulting slurry is laden with carbon particles and discharged into water bodies. Damodar in Jharkhand bears the brunt of this and is a highly polluted river. Wastewater from coalfields has heavy metals discharge.

History of Electricity

600 BC
Greek philosopher Thales discovers a fossil resin (called amber today) that can attract feathers when rubbed with fur. He calls the resin elektron.

1600 AD
Queen Elizabeth’s court physician finds other materials that can attract things when rubbed. He calls this attractive force electricity.

1752
Risking electrocution,
American Benjamin Franklin slips a key
over a kite string to prove that lightning is electricity.

"Electricity may be of use to mankind."

1785
Coulomb defines
electricity: The force of
attraction or repulsion
between two charged
spheres is inversely
proportional to the
square of the distance
between them.

1786
Professor Luigi Galvani
notices that sparks from
a electric machine cause
contractions in the leg
of a frog. He wrongly
credits this to "animal
electricity," but his work leads to the discovery of electrical currents.

..on people

Sinking lands: The soil surface in areas where coal mining takes place may collapse, causing extensive damage to agricultural land, buildings and transport networks. Sometimes a whole village or settlement is displaced.

Health of workers: Some 150,000 workers, truck drivers and loaders battle this threat every day. Most suffer from coal-related health problems.

...on the transport network

Transport costs reduce the competitiveness of domestic coal. Railways transport 51 per cent of mined coal. A further 23 per cent is transported on industry-owned rail networks. Coal is the largest single freight item handled by the railways.

Out of the total electricity generated in India, only 41 per cent is paid for. The rest is lost in transmission and distribution

Powerless

In India only 40 percent of the poor have electricity. Yet, it is the rich who steal the power subsidized for the poor. A look at India's power problems:

Sinking Subsidies: Although agricultural electricity subsidies have been introduced in the name of social benefits, poor farmers do not benefit from it, and indeed may be hurt by subsidies. However, wealthier farmers have successfully grouped up and lobbied for continuation of this policy. Subsidized electricity has imposed high costs and compounded the technological, institutional, and political problems in the sector.

Rich man;s theft: A 2001 Delhi Vidyut Board survey revealed that the power theft in one posh house in South Delhi equals to that of 500 houses in resettlement colonies! The survey also showed that the so-called "rich class" were involved in 75 per cent of the power thefts in the Capital.

Lost in transit: Out of the total electricity generated, nearly 7 per cent is used for auxiliary consumption and 30-31% is lost in the Transmission and Distribution. These T&D losses include commercial losses like faulty meters and non-payment of dues.

Solution is the problem?: The government hopes to improve matters by privatising power generation and distribution. There again it is the poor and powerless who have been found to suffer. India's biggest private power plant deal between the now infamous multinational energy giant Enron and Maharashtra is a case in point.

The Dhabol power plant had to be scrapped after it was found that Enron paid bribes to wrangle a deal where it would provide power at a cost far higher than what consumers were presently paying. Had the Enron project gone ahead, then the poor would have been shut out.

1800
Alessandro Volta
invents the battery, the first source of electricity that can produce a continuous flow of
current. This becomes the energy source for the telegraph and the telephone.

1805
Humphry Davy invents the arc light—a continuous charge between two generators. Some cities begin use it for street illumination, but they are fire hazards, produce a harsh light, and smell bad.

1827
German Schoolteacher
Georg Ohm develops a
simple law of electrical conduction. The unit of electrical resistance

1831
School dropout Michael Faraday converts mechanical energy into electricity, giving rise to the electric motor, the
dynamo and the
transformer.

1835
Blacksmith Thomas
Davenport invents the
electric motor, but he
regards it as a “toy”
because it performs
no useful work.

The Good, bad & Ugly of electricity generation

Source	Status
Solar power Generates power directly from sunlight Photovoltaic cells are the convertors Generators produce steam to drive turbines	Very few solar power plants Household solar trapping on the rise Extensive research still on

Wind power
Wind turbines convert energy
Technology like a windmill

High growth in Germany and America
Potential capacity in India is 45,000MW,
but installed is only 1500MW

Biomass
Is wood, garbage, agricultural waste
It can replace fossil fuel in the plant
Converted to steam for turbines

Many plants operational in America
Used directly for cooking in rural areas
Accounts for 15 per cent of world energy use
and 35% of energy use in developing countries

Hydroelectric power
Flowing water spins a turbine connected to a
generator
Built on dams and gushing rivers

World’s second largest source of electricity
Meets a fifth of the world’s needs
Potential to increase fourfold

Fossil fuels
Coal, petroleum and natural gas burned in large
furnaces to make steam

World’s largest source of electricity
Coal generates 70 per cent of India’s power needs
Uses a third of world natural gas production

Nuclear power
Heat from nuclear fission powers a steam turbine
World’s third largest source of electricity

Accounts for 77 per cent of France’s electricity;
30 per cent in Germany and Japan; 24 per cent
in UK and 21 per cent in US

1844
Samuel Morse builds the first practical telegraph.
His system of dots and dashes is
called the Morse Code. This was one of the first applications of electricity to technology.

1878
Thomas Edison invents the light bulb after trying more than 1,600 different filaments, including
hair from an assistant's head!

1882
The world's first hydroelectric power plant began operation on the Fox River in Wisconsin, America.

1882
America's first central
power station in New
York ushers in the
modern age of electricity. The first home lighted by electricity is that of JP Morgan, a director of the new power company.

1884
Englishman Charles
Parsons invents the turbine generator, which
can produce huge
amounts of electricity.

Electricity 2030 Electricity demand will grow faster than any other end-use energy source — by 2.4% per year to 2030 — effectively doubling over the period. It will contribute almost half the increase in global emissions during the period, principally from coal-fired generation. And new emissions will shift drastically from the industrialised to the developing world.

Drawbacks	Advantages
Photo cells in short supply Sunlight not always available Solar plants power charges high Dust and weather a hindrance	Limitless Democratic Decentralised

Power quality is intermittant
Requires high initial investment
Heavily site dependent
Expensive to maintain

Useful for remote areas
Emission free
Could account for 12 per cent
of the world's demand by 2020

Rural populations would rather
use it directly themselves
Enough research not done

Plants can work full-time
Solution to waste disposal

Heavily dependent on rains
Danger of floods in adjoining
areas
Initial investment high

Very efficient
Low maintenance cost
Emission free
Renewable

Heavily polluting
Causes land degradation
Transportation costs very high
Fossil fuels are finite

Coal is very cheap
Supply is consistent and reliable

Can be used for destruction
Waste a major hazard
Technology limited to few
Powers

Theoretically can take care of all
the world’s needs
Breakthrough in cold fusion will
lead to limitless cheap power

O d d b a l l s

Hydrogen fuel: Hydrogen is seen as a cheap renewable low-emitting fuel. However, much more research is required before it can take care of the world’s energy needs.
Ocean power: Australia is experimenting with an “Ocean wave energy power plant”, which converts the oceans’ waves into electricity.There is also the “Ocean wave energy convertor”, which is off the coast.
Geothermal power: In some areas of the world, enough heat rises close to the surface of the earth to heat underground water into steam, which can be tapped for use at steam-turbine plants.

Disasters like
Chernobyl in 1986
have raised the
doubts of the safety
of N-plants

1886
Fed up with the
servants breaking her dishes, Josephine
Cochrane patents a
steam-driven dishwashing
machine. Hotels and restaurants order the machines and use electric motors.

1886
The first electric streetcar begins in America. The horsecar is put out
of business.

1895
The Lumiere brothers
presented their moving pictures to a paying public audience.

1890
William Kemmler
becomes the first
convict to be executed
by judicial electrocution
in New York. The
execution takes about
an hour because the
authorities experiment
with various voltages.

1897
India's first hydroelectric
station is constructed in
Darjeeling. Power
remains in the hands of
local authorities and
private parties till India
gets independence in
1947.

OFF? NO ON!

There's a phantom in your electricity bill. It's very small, but it's there all the same. Here's how you can find it and get rid of it for good.

Lower your electrical bill by going through your home and locating “phantom loads”. These are appliances that you may be leaving plugged in even though you aren't using them at the moment and which are just sitting there using electricity unnecessarily.

Phantom beginning The problem is a fairly recent one. Once upon a time when you turned an appliance off, it was really off. Then back in the seventies, you began to see TVs that offered an “instant on” feature. When you turned the TV on, the picture and sound came on immediately. A handy feature. But, the cost was that the TV used a small bit of electricity to maintain this ever-ready state.

Next came remotes TVsand stereos equipped with a remote control needed to be ready to heed the press of the remote 'on' button. And that meant that they, too, used a tiny amount of power. Then came the VCR with digital timer. It used a little current to remember what time it was. Before long, these features were a part of many different appliances. Today any household appliance that has a clock, timer, memory or remote is consuming electricity even if it's turned off.

How can you find them all? Well, there’s no complete list anywhere. Many different appliances offer features that create a phantom load today. But there are ways to identify which appliances are guilty. One energy consultant in America found that his 27- inch TV used about 100 kilowatt hours a year due to phantom load. In Indian terms, that’s about Rs 200 in a year. Now that’s not much, but if all phantom loads were added in the world’s household, then it would be a lot of precious energy going down the drain.

America’s Lincoln Electric Systems estimated the following annual costs for phantom loads: 19" color TV $6.65; TV cable box $0.83; stereo receiver $1.83; microwave oven $1.38; phone answering machine $1.95; personal computer $0.75. So that’s a total of $13.39 (around Rs 615) in a household that has all of these. One study estimated that the grand total phantom load from TVs alone was equal to the output of a Chernobyl sized power plant.

How can you control it? Plug the TV or other appliance into a switchable outlet. Choose an outlet that's controlled by a wall switch or get a power strip that has an on/off switch. But remember that when you turn on your TV it might need to relearn which channels are available in your area. And that could take 30 seconds or so. You also won't be able to turn on the TV using your remote. The remote will work fine after the TV is on, but not until then.

Is it worth it? You'll need to decide that for yourself. Some will choose what they call convenience and others will prefer to save the money and environment. But now that you have some facts, you can make a decision that right for your situation.

(Source: www.stretcher.com/stories/990913l.cfm)

1905
American meter reader Earl Richardson
develops a lightweight
iron and then persuades
a power company to
provide electricity during the day on Tuesdays for ironing. This is the beginning of 24-hour electrical service.

GADGETS GALORE!

1933
US President Franklin
Roosevelt becomes the
leading exponent of the idea that low electric
rates mean better living.

Create Your Own Electricity*

Make a Lemon Juice Battery

Materials

A nice juicy lemon
A plate of zinc and a plate of copper (coins, nails of the same will do, if neither are available, then you can also proceed with two different metals like an aluminum foil and steel)
Electrical alligator clips
An electric meter

Method

Stick the zinc plate on one side of the lemon and the copper one on the other side. (Note, the two shouldn't touch) Your battery is ready for testing.
Connect the clips to the meter and you will see that a faint current is passing through it.

Youcanalso...

increase power of the battery you have made as it won't be powerful enough to light a bulb. You can take a number of lemons and connect them together, as shown in the figure. After that, connect them to an LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulb which consumes less electricity.

You can carry out this experiment using different metals and you'll see that different combinations produce different voltages.

Why & How?

In your lemon battery, the electrons are conducted from one metal to the other through the juice, which acts as the electrolyte. The zinc plate is the negative electrode (-) of the battery and the copper is the positive electrode (+).

This is an example of a wet cell. The ones that you use in your gadgets are dry cell batteries which use a powdered electrolyte, and which have a higher voltage.

To be attempted under adult supervision

* ...and commit an illegal act. Says who? says the Central Electricity Act of India 1948! According to this act individuals, communities and organisations cannot generate or distribute their own electricity in India.

1948
Three Bell Telephone
Laboratories scientists
invent the transistor,
which leads to the
miniaturization of electronic equipment and to the development of the modern computer.

1957

The first power plant using nuclear
energy begins
operation in
Pennsylvania,
America.

1965
The first great US blackout begins on Nov 9 evening in two states to the next morning. 800,000 commuters are stranded in the subway, a prison riot takes place and TV screens go blank.

1999
In India, more than
half of the population
still have no access to
electricity.

2003
North America's biggest
blackout hits 50 million
people on August 14,
bringing traffic to a halt
and plunging New York
and Toronto into darkness.

Electrified !!!

56 years after Independence, 56 per cent of rural India still has no access to electricity. Maybe it’s time villagers placed power in their own hands and produced their own electricity. Here’s a look at how villages can get 'electrified' themselves:

Gigantic Gobarr Power

Imagine 15000 cows providing 50000 kgs of gobar a day to power a biogas plant! That’s the proposed Pathmera village gobar gas plant in Jalore (western Rajasthan), which will be the biggest biogas plant in the world. It will generate 72,000 units of electricity a day and supply power to nearby Jodhpur and some areas in Gujarat. Waste from the plant will be used as manure. The biggest biogas plant is currently in America.

Buy you own streetlight

Now for as little as Rs 1400, you can have your own streetlight in Assam. The streetlight’s bill will be hooked to your personal meter, so that’s a burden of the state government. A hundred such “personal” streetlights lit up sleepy little Nalbari. Next in line is Tezpur, which had its streetlight connections cut off due to non-payment of dues.

Sunny Islands

Today, solar power is finding its way into the villages of the Sagardweep Islands of West Bengal. Nine solar plants supply power to 6000 people, with twice that number waiting in the wings. The power plants are operational in the evening for only 5 hours, but that is still more than 4 hours supplied by the islands’ diesel power plant, which is making huge losses.

Power is steep at Rs 8 unit (the diesel plant charges Rs 2), but it is still gaining acceptance. Villagers are using CFLs and other energy conserving methods. Earlier, most of the villagers earlier relied on kerosene lamps. But even kerosene is scarce and expensive in open markets.

Micro Hydel, Max Power

There are half-a-million watermills in India, called gharats. They work much like a hydroelectricity project does. They’ve been hailed as technological marvels and were among the first human efforts to tap water power. Every

gharat is capable of generating 5 kilowatts of power a day. So theoretically, gharats can generate 2,500 megawatts of electricity, which is quite a lot. The Uttaranchal government declared watermills as small scale industries and allowed owners to upgrade them for the production of electricity.

WHEAT TO WATTS: This gharat, which is being used to
grind wheat, can be upgraded to generate electricity

Deepavali... Deep (light) avali (rows), a row of lights that taught us to vanquish ignorance that subdues humanity and to drive away darkness that engulfs the light of knowledge.

Boom, bang, razzle, dazzle...

Celebrating to BLOW UP the world?

Diwali today means more air, noise and light pollution due to use of lots of firecrackers
More traffic jams due to pre-Diwali melas and hence more automobile exhaust, which is compounded by subsequent firecrackers
More patients for hospitals after the festival
Really bad news if there’s no wind and rain to lessen the effects of the smoke

—Crackers like "phuljari" and "anar" contain highly toxic heavy metals like cadmium, lead, copper, manganese and zinc

—Others have arsenic, mercury, chromium and iron oxides which lead to severe pollution after they are burnt

—According to the Central Pollution Control Board, 95 per cent of the crackers available in the market violate noise and air pollution norms.

—Thanks to crackers, pollution levels of Delhi rose to 10 times the permissible limit on Diwali day 2002.

Pollutants	Can lead to...
Suspended Particulate Matter	: Asthma, cancer, restrictive lung diseases, pneumoconiosis
Respirable Particulate Matter	: Respiratory illness (chronic bronchitis and asthma), heart diseases
SO2	: Eye burning, headache, respiratory problems like pulmonary emphysema, cancer, heart diseases
Nitrous Oxides	: Lung irritation, chest tightness, viral infection, airway resistance

Why air pollution hits children harder

— They breathe more relative to their body weight and surface area

— They spend more time outside, especially during the day, when pollution levels are highest

— They are 3 times more active than adults when outside

— They are closer to the ground and hence inhale more automobile exhaust and heavy pollutants

— Their smaller airways are more easily obstructed when irritated

— They breathe more through the mouth, which reduces filtration effectiveness, and allows more particles into the lungs

— Their lungs are still developing

— They are less likely than adults to recognize when they are being affected, and less able to avoid exposure

H A V E A S A F E A N D H A P P Y D I W A L I

Sparky Snippets

“One day, sir, you will tax it.”

—Michael Faraday, on being asked by Prime Minister Gladstone who was visiting Faraday’s laboratory if electricity would ever have practical significance.
(Quoted in Science, 1994)

“This room is equipped with Edison electric light. Do not attempt to light with match. Simply turn key on wall by the door. The use of electricity for lighting is in no way harmful to health, nor does it affect the soundness of sleep.”
—A message on public buildings and homes in America in 1878, when electric lights started being installed in them.

“The greatest thing on earth is to have the love of God in your heart, and the next greatest thing is to have electricity in your home.”
—An American farmer when his house was powered during the rural electrification drive in the 1930s.

Electrifying Throne: In 1890 Emperor Menelik II of Abyssinia ordered for three American electric chairs as part of his national modernization programme. When the chairs arrived, His Highness was shocked to learn that they wouldn’t work because Abyssinia had no electricity. Determined to make the best of a bad situation, he adopted one of them for his
imperial throne!

Bird On Live Wire: A bird can sit on a power line without getting electrocuted because it’s not making a complete circuit so the electricity doesn’t pass through its body.

The electricity doesn’t flow through the bird’s legs because it wants to find the easiest way to complete the circuit and that’s along the power line.

If the bird was touching two lines or had one leg on the ground the circuit would be complete and the electricity would flow through the bird – killing it.

Jumping Electricity: Electricity can jump. That’s why you should never try climbing power poles or power pylons. Even though you may be some distance from the lines, the electricity can jump from the lines and electrocute you.

"I have accomplished all I promised."
— Thomas Edison
(To New York Sun reporter in 1882)

"Use Your Electricity For More Than Light."
— a store catalogue in 1917.

Alternating Current: In a small village in north India, one week they have daytime electricity and the following week it is nighttime power. Maybe because of this lack of constant “modernity” people gather at the local tea shop (everybody has a running bill) and they drink tea hours on end and talk.

The per capita consumption of electricity in 2000 in INDIA
All-India North East Western Punjab Delhi Arunachal Pradesh Bihar		355 Kwh 103 Kwh 535 Kwh 921 Kwh 653 Kwh 69 Kwh 141 Kwh
Availability of electricity for total Indian population by water source: Drinking water source: TAP
Electricity available Electricity not available Latrine available Latrine not available		82.0 % 18.0 % 53.8 % 46.2 %
Drinking water source: WELL
Electricity available Electricity not available Latrine available Latrine not available		45.4 % 54.6 % 27.5 % 72.5 %

+ 63% of all of the world's electricity is generated is by burning fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas. 56% of the world’s rural population does not have access to electricity. Coal remains No. 1 source for power generation. 75% of India’s coal demand currently goes to power generation. Just 20 electric utilities in the United States are responsible for half the carbon dioxide, mercury, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide pollution emitted by the 100 largest power generating companies in the nation. Out of the total electricity generated in India, nearly 7% is used for auxiliary consumption and 30-31% is lost in the Transmission and Distribution (T&D). These T&D losses include ‘theft’ as well as commercial losses. Delhi has on of the highest reported T&D losses - 45%; but, the electricity charges for domestic consumers in the Capital continue to be the lowest in the region. According to Greenpeace, wind energy can provide 10 per cent of the world’s electricity requirements by 2020, create 1.7 million jobs and reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by more than 10 billion tonnes. -

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