Biodiesel and gniF
GoodNewsIndia Foundation [gniF] grew out of my experience with
publishing goodnewsindia.com since June,2000. The interest in Pongamia
grew out of a conviction that it's the nearest thing to a panacea for
most of India's ills.
You can read more about it at the gni site:
One of the earliest reports
A update in 2003
Since Dec,04 my work with fishermen in tsunami relief has suggested
that use of pongamia oil as the fuel for their fishing engines will
lead to long-term sustainability.
To demonstrate the project, gniF has chosen to fund a 1000+ trees
plantation of pongamia in the village of Nainar Kuppam, a fishing
hamlet of the Uthandi panchayat on the East Coast Road, outside
Chennai.
The pilot project offers a good opportunity to marshall and present all information about this approach to biofuels in India.
publishing goodnewsindia.com since June,2000. The interest in Pongamia
grew out of a conviction that it's the nearest thing to a panacea for
most of India's ills.
You can read more about it at the gni site:
One of the earliest reports
A update in 2003
Since Dec,04 my work with fishermen in tsunami relief has suggested
that use of pongamia oil as the fuel for their fishing engines will
lead to long-term sustainability.
To demonstrate the project, gniF has chosen to fund a 1000+ trees
plantation of pongamia in the village of Nainar Kuppam, a fishing
hamlet of the Uthandi panchayat on the East Coast Road, outside
Chennai.
The pilot project offers a good opportunity to marshall and present all information about this approach to biofuels in India.
posted by D V Sridharan at 8:49 AM
3 Comments:
am so glad you started a blog...
and i am sure it will generate a lot of interest in 'trees' and their value
something we citiZens of concrete jungles have forgotten
maybe we should start a slogan like
'have you hugged a tree today'
just as two decades ago in the US parents had to be reminded that they needed to hug their kids!
anu
Hi Anu/DV,
Looks like you guys are on to something good. I am for this anyday and wil spread word . I have only one concern that once this finds a market and there are people to buy loads of it ,the cultivators do not replace staple food items to plant these trees . It is by giving up subsistence farming in the first place a lot of poor people became dependant on the market for their food needs. So this endevour shld be along with production of food .....
Devi...
I appreciate your concern. I know Monbiot has written about this. This concern is real especially after the EU has mandated that a certain %age of petrofuels must be blended with biofuels by the year -?
There is widespread concern that biofuel seekers will prowl third world farms. And thereby hangs Devi's fear.
However there is a crucial difference in tree based biodiesels such as the pongamia represents. It's an Indian native, lives long, grown on marginal lands and is cherished for other uses. No average Indian farmer can can practice the brutal-force, one objective growing of soy and rapeseed as the west does.
Of course the corporate wise-guy will always be there. I remember reading recently a smart-ass in Chennai announced an export-oriented biodiesel plantation project with 'British know-how' and collaboration; may his tribe decrease.
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