Energy

Jatropha curcas cultivation. Germplasm Reported from the Central and South American Centers of Diversity, physic nut, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate Slope. There is an endemic species in Madagascars J. mahafalensis, with equal energetic promise. (2n = 22) Distribution Though native to America, the species is almost pantropical now, widely planted as a medicinal plant which soon tends to establish itself. It is listed, e.g., as a weed in Brazil, Fiji, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Salvador (Holm et al, 1979). Ecology Ranging from Tropical Very Dry to Moist…

Utilization of Jatropha The jatropha plantation creates a positive correlation between energy production and food production. It promotes following main aspects of development whick combine to help assure a sustainable way of life for rural kishan and the soil that supports them. *EXTRACTION OF BIOFUELS-the renewable energy:- It was successfully introduced as fuel for simple engine-driven oil presses,grain mills and water pumps. *EROSION PROTECTION AND INCREASE OF SOIL QUALITY:- Jatropha hedges reduce wind erosion of the soil and keep off animals.The press cake,by-product of the oil…

Jatropha curcas L. EuphorbiaceaePhysic nut, Purging nut   Uses According to Ochse (1980), "the young leaves may be safely eaten, steamed or stewed.". In India, pounded leaves are applied near horses' eyes to repel flies. The oil has been used for illumination, soap, candles, adulteration of olive oil, and making Turkey red oil. Mexicans grow the shrub as a host for the lac insect. Ashes of the burned root are used as a salt substitute (Morton, 1981). Nuts can be strung on grass and burned like candlenuts (Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk, 1962). Agaceta et al. (1981) conclude that it has…

  Jatropha farming on common land has begun in Andhra Pradesh  India. FES has been working with state governments to help communities achieve legal recognition for the wasteland commons. It has already assisted communities in six states to establish long-term leases over the areas they depend on and is promoting investment in land restoration through the NREGS. The organisation is also working with the South Asia Pro-Poor Livestock Programme to document the value of the commons to poor livestock keepers, to protect the land and to help other communities diversify…

One of the larger topics concerning international security and science is the nuclear proliferation among states and potentially non-state actors. The genie has been let of the bottle so to speak. For this entry I'll discuss two forms of proliferation: dual use and modification. The issue of dual use has been most prevalent with the Iranian nuclear issue. (time line here) The argument from the Iranian perspective is that nuclear material, fuel, and power is needed to bolster a petrol based economy that is faltering and doesn't provide cheap energy for all.  Adding to this argument is…

“But to focus on combat vehicles is to miss the more important usage and dependency trends. In a study of fuel use in Iraq, the Marines found that only 10 percent of their consumption was by armed vehicles. The remainder was consumed by logistics vehicles. For the Army, only two of its top ten fuel consumers are combat vehicles. Ironically, three of the four least fuel-efficient Army vehicles are trucks that haul fuel. As a Rocky Mountain Institute report noted, the current situation echoes “shades of Civil War logistics, when mule teams hauled wagons of supplies, half of whose tonnage was…

  1. COMPARISON OF BIOENERGY  WITH OTHER Renewable Energy 1.1. Advantages · Sufficient competitiveness of biomass as energy resource in comparison with hydrocarbon · High potentiality (large areas of crop-land ­ marginal land - semiarid land) · Possibility to penetrate all energy market (heat    power - transport - chemicals) · Possibility of bioenergy systems on very small scale (few KW) - or very large scale (hundred of MW) · Significant environmental benefits as far as pollution concerns · Positive effects on employment in rural areas for the biomass…

"One year later, the China National Petroleum Corporation has struck oil at the Ahdab field in Wasit Province, southeast of Baghdad. And while the relationship between the company and the Iraqi government has gone smoothly, the presence of a foreign company with vast resources drilling for oil in this poor, rural corner of Iraq has awakened a wave of discontent here." The above passage is quoted from this story.  It is important to realize that the pursuit of energy is within everyone's interest in the international community. The important issues here are that not only is the other…

Bacteria that generate significant amounts of electricity could be used in microbial fuel cells to provide power in remote environments or to convert waste to electricity. Professor Derek Lovley from the University of Massachusetts isolated bacteria with large numbers of tiny projections called pili which were more efficient at transferring electrons to generate power in fuel cells than bacteria with a smooth surface. The team's findings were reported at the Society for General Microbiology's meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. “Putting Microbes to Work” is the Society for…

India’s Jatropha Tussle The Indian government has welcomed biofuels with open arms. Faced with a rapidly growing economy, the world’s second-largest population and an eye-watering fuel import bill, finding a renewable domestic power source has become a top priority. The country’s recently-revised national biofuel policy, announced in September 2008, sets out the government’s intentions in black-and-white: to produce 20 per cent of the country’s diesel from crops by 2017, primarily from plantations of jatropha (Jatropha curcas). This means that the oilseed-bearing shrub, already introduced in…