Floating solar gains importance as land resources in India shrink

Floating solar projects gain importance with shrinking land resources in India

With the Government of India setting a target of 292 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar energy capacity, six lakh hectares of land will be needed. However, scarcity of land and hurdles in land acquisition have made central public sector undertakings (CPSUs), private companies, and state government-run companies exlpore the option of floating solar projects to meet their renewable energy (RE) targets.

Floating solar, or floatovoltaics, are solar panels mounted on a body of water such as a reservoir or a lake and are much more expensive than land-based ones, but they have about 10 percent more generating capacity than land based PV systems. This is because floatovoltaics can achieve higher efficiencies as the water cools the panels.

The Indian government has fixed a target of bidding for 50 GW of renewable energy capacity every year by 2030 and the focus is now on RE projects that can be executed faster. In June, the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) extended its scheme for the Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Park Projects till FY26 and now widened the scope of solar parks to include floating solar and hybrid power. The world’s largest floating solar power project, with a capacity of 600 MW, is now being built in Madhya Pradesh (Moneycontrol.com)

Birdwatchers help science and conservation in Kashmir

People across Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh are showing a growing interest in birds and their conservation. This was triggered since the Covid-19 pandemic that forced people to turn to their immediate surroundings for solace and diversion.

A checklist by the Jammu & Kashmir Department of Wildlife Protection has identified 213 bird species that inhabit wetlands, mountain slopes and forests in Kashmir. Birds such as the Kashmir flycatcher and orange bullfinch only belong to Kashmir and attract birdwatchers every year and are adding to scientific knowledge of the birds that live in and visit the region. 

When birdwatchers spot a rare bird, they post about it on social media and submit records to citizen science apps like eBird and send notes for publication in journals like Indian Birds and the journal of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). Local birdwatchers in Kashmir continue to contribute to historical records and this trend is likely to increase with access to better optical equipment, access to better identification guides and improved access to information sources through the internet (The Third Pole).

Study demonstrates use of AI tools to identify disasters from social media images

Social media often gets flooded with real time images, warnings and calls for help during natural disasters and can be important sources for relevant information from disaster sites and can help understand the progression and aftermath of a disaster. But manually segregating and analysing the data is a time consuming, costly and often inefficient. 

A study has explored the process of automation of information about natural disasters from social media images by using one million photos of natural disasters and other types of incidents that needed human intervention, to train an AI (artificial intelligence) system to recognise similar disasters and incidents automatically.

The multi-label dataset studied had 9,77,088 images collected from the internet that were labelled appropriately as disaster-related or not and then an AI system (deep learning model) was trained to detect disasters from images obtained from social media platforms, such as Flickr or Twitter (currently known as X).

The study found that there was a correspondence between the incidents detected in the images and specific incidents found in the records of Nepal and Chile earthquakes in 2015, or Bangladesh floods in 2017. The new tool can be very useful for humanitarian organisations to be better informed about ongoing disasters, which could improve the management of humanitarian aid in times of crisis (Mongabay, India).

Sikkim's organic farming movement reaps rewards

The organic farming movement in Sikkim state, the first in the country, has improved the lives of around 66,000 farmers who are now reaping the rewards of their rich organic harvests. All this happened through a pioneering movement in Sikkim that started since 2003 and has banished the use of chemicals from cultivation. The state government decided to transition its entire 76,000 hectares of agricultural land into organic sanctuaries. 

The focus was to educate farmers about the detrimental effects of chemical fertilisers. Sikkim Organic Farming Development Agency (SOFDA) from the Sikkim agriculture department gradually convinced farmers who had been heavily reliant on chemical farming to change these practices. Subsidies on chemical fertilisers were steadily reduced by 10 percent each year since 2004 and were completely phased out by 2008. Legislative measures were introduced in 2014 that imposed fines and imprisonment for those who did not follow the chemical-free mandate.

Farmers in the state were educated through hands-on experience, farm visits, training initiatives and a network of organic farming clusters were formed at the level of village panchayats. Organic farming in Sikkim uses cow dung, compost manure, bio-pesticides, earthworm manure, neem cake, lemon grass and fruit residues. 

Organic methods in Sikkim use bacterial cultures and fossil fertilisers that helps the environment, improves production and reduces production costs. It nurtures the land, helping in augmenting groundwater levels and reduces the costs of agricultural production (Village Square). 

Sanchia town in Madhya Pradesh to become India's first solar city

Sanchia town in Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh is known for its ancient stupas and Buddhist pilgrimage sites. The town is now poised to become the nation’s first solar city to meet its power requirements using sustainable energy practices.

Sanchi has a unique geographical location on the Tropic of Cancer, which bestows it with abundant sunlight throughout the year, which makes it perfect for the installation of solar panels and will help in reducing carbon emissions in the future. 

The primary method involves the deployment of solar panels across rooftops. These panels, capable of converting sunlight into electricity, will power Sanchi and its surrounding areas. An 8 MW grid-connected solar plant will be constructed in the city, alongside 3 MW and 5 MW solar plants in Nagauri and Gulgaon respectively, catering to the city’s electrical and agricultural needs.

The city will also have solar street lights, garden lights, and high-mast lights, solar trees will provide shade and clean energy, while solar drinking water kiosks offer filtered, chilled water. Public transport will also use battery-operated e-rickshaws and electric garbage vans traversing Sanchi’s streets.

Households in the town have already adopted energy-saving technologies like LED bulbs, energy-efficient tube lights, and BLDC fans. The town that requires three million units of energy annually, generates 8 MW through its solar plant. Over 300 solar street lights illuminate its paths, while renewable water kiosks cater to both the town’s energy and heritage (SolarQwarter.com).

This is a roundup of important news updates from August 16 - August 31, 2023.