The Hindu 04.04.2013
New concepts and products
With more than 12 hours of power cut a day, consumers,
including students, are looking at ways that will improve power
availability.
Be it industries, students or the
common man, many are coming up with new concepts and products that will
reduce the dependence on conventional electricity, improve energy
conservation and generation.
The State-level science
expo organised in Coimbatore a couple of months ago by the Department of
School Education saw a significant number of entries related to energy
conservation and generation of power from alternative sources.
This included off-shore wind mills and an improvised pedal-operated generator to power home appliances.
On
the industrial front, two companies went in for bio-diesel production
using non-edible vegetable seeds. Though awareness is high, production
of bio-diesel is not viable in this region at present because of
non-availability of seeds. If there is an assured supply of the seeds
and support from the Government, production and use of bio-diesel can
increase, says an industry source. The plants require nearly three kg of
seeds to produce one litre of diesel and the total cost works out to
Rs. 40 a litre. The cost varies according to the availability and price
of the seeds. The diesel can be used to run generators and in
industries.
Similarly, a product that has found a market here is terracotta refrigerator manufactured buy a Gujarat-based entrepreneur.
The
50 litre refrigerator does not require electricity to keep vegetables,
fruits, milk and water cool. According to Mansukhbhai Prajapati, who
makes “Mitticool” from 2004, he entered the Tamil Nadu market recently
by appointing dealers. In Coimbatore and Erode Districts, over 50 have
been sold in the last two months. Mr. Prajapati is now working on
“Mitticool house”, which is an environment-friendly air-conditioner.