The Uncertain Future of India-Pakistan-Iran Pipeline

... i am pleasantly surprised at the interacts on this thread which are not only relevant but informative too...i wish all interacts in future will be relevant to the articles and i do not have to remind chowk editor of guidelines... ;)

soysauce #15:

{{It`s very strange that india is willing to sacrifice much for the sake of nuclear ENERGY technology from a country that has very few functioning nuclear power reactors.}}

I can sympathise with your misgivings regarding the Iran vote. Nevertheless, as far as the nuclear angle is concerned, I don’t think you’ve understood this issue – but then you are no worse than many of those who’ve commented on this angle here. It’s true that the US hasn’t been commisioning new power reactors of late – though they have a very large number still in operation. There is no requirement to buy reactors or equipment or fuel from the US – it could just as well be Russia or France, and those might very well be far better options for India. The point is that the US has the NSG – a cartel for control – ie.e denial – of nuclear technology and fuel – under its thumb. The deal if it goes through – a very big if - would - in theory - allow India to purchase power reactors or equipment from NSG members such as Russia and France, and uranium from other NSG members such as Australia.

The biggest current roadblock in India’s path to long-term energy independence via nuclear power might not be technology – as in reactors, associated equipment etc, but fuel, or even more specifically neutrons. This needs to be understood before any sensible discussion can proceed.

dost-mittar #52

{{I have been reading about the ``Thorium breakthrough`` for as long as I can remember.}}

dm-ji, do you understand how thorium utilization is to be achieved, and why it will unavoidably take time (quite apart from the engineering problems to be overcome)?

Re: # 77

tahmed32: Our city has also been in the fore front of providing wind powered energy, called Green Power. Customers who signed up for Green Power a few years ago started paying an extra for fuel cost. Some five years ago, this extra cost was slightly more than the normal fossil fuel cost. However, nowadays we have noticed that the fuel cost charge for fossil fuel has gone above those who have green power fuel cost. It seems that those customers who signed up for the green power fuel cost are saving money.

Also, education classes for solar power system for installers has already started quite extensively. One of my Pakistani friend is taking these classes, so that we can start a small enterprising business. With all these large convenience stores and restaurants in our city and in our state, hopefully we will be able to save our customers some on utility bills.

Our city is also considering water harvesting technology, where we collect rainwater for general use. We are having major conventions where vendors are pitching their technologies and systems. It seems that good times are just now arriving where we would remain positive to mother earth and enjoy the fruits of life, as it should have been to begin with.

Re: # 55

Dost-Mitter:

The issue of security one doubt cannot be solved as it is a separate issued. However, through private consortium and their lobbyists in DC, politics can be eliminated or reduced to manageable extend. You may recall China buying planes from McDonald Douglas, St. Louis to the woe the congress man and senators from that state. In fact, you may recall that China had received some of the aerospace technology and products which were prohibited to export to China. Clinton administration let McDonald Douglas let go with a slap on the back of hand.

Besides if the Iranian government changes, like Iraq, all bans will disappear overnight. India and Pakistan will be dealing with American companies any way in that case. Otherwise the U.S., Europe and Japan have bigger headache to tackle oil price increases. Therefore, start lobbying now for interest among the U.S. companies now, in the constituencies of the senators and congressmen who oppose.

Anil Kapuria

#76 by mohar11 on February 3, 2006 3:18pm PT

paving an area 100 miles² would cost a real bundle...A solar cell array that size = 100 times that.

behram: I googled on solar energy as well, and you are right - solar energy is big in california. And california being a bellwether state, where california is today the rest of the nation can be expected to be in the future. In fact, in California, they are getting ready to approve $3.2 billion investments in solar energy!!

California to adopt a $3.2 billion plan to install solar electricity panels on homes and buildings

Hopefully these alternative fuels will pick up in time - now they are no longer talking about global warming (which has already started) but about ``tipping points``, whereby environmental damage is so severe as to be beyond human capacity to fix. Although that is still expected to be a few decades away.

74/ from the link

[....In fact, a solar farm 100 miles by 100 miles could satisfy 100% of the America’s annual electrical needs....]

This is what they say in the FAQ section. This seems doable - how come there is no planning on this?..... would that be too costly?.....

Dost Mittar: I googled on the subject, and found as follows:

1. As I thought, alternative fuels are in fact significant in many european nations. Some years back, I was in Denmark and saw these windmills and recall reading about how more investments are planned. Same in Germany. This link shows, even today wind power supplies 20% of total Danish electricity demand!!

Denmark world leader in wind power

Wind power supplies 20% of the total Danish electricity demand. This covers the demand of 1.4 million Danish homes, or in other words, the whole energy demand of western Denmark.

#72 there is a different engine called stirling engine..
http://www.stirlingenergy.com/
apparently this company provides electricity to s. cal grid.

Vivek

Sorry - I meant a composite material..... I am no material scientist - but what I am hoping for [rather day dreaming:)] is that someday we would discover/invent a ``miracle`` material that could be used as solar cells to generate energy at a much higher efficiency, say 75%.......

I mean - 30 years ago - who could have thought we could have computers on our laps with GHz speeds and what not?..... If we could cram trillions of transistors into a thin foil of silicon chip - we should be able to find/build materials that could be much more efficient than single crystalline semi-conductors.... No?

mohar11,
The best solar cells in the world today are less than 25% effecient. So they have to go a long way before becoming a significant force.

``may be a composite alloy that could generate enough energy from sunlight ``
What alloy are you talking about? Solar cells are made of semiconductors, and so far the best ones have been single crystalline, which makes them very expensive.

I think solar enrgy is the only way to go - the mankind must have to find a way to use this.... may be a composite alloy that could generate enough energy from sunlight and some advanced storage medium to store the energy for later use.

#68:

Sorry, there is an unfinished sentence in my post. The last sentence is:

In the meantime, India will soon need replenishment of nuclear fuel to run its existing plants.

Re: # 60

tahmed32:

To add to your post about renewable energies. Solar energy is already being used quite extensively within our city where the city is giving upto 75% of the initial cost of installation. I understand that in California, where energy cost is highest in the US, use of solar energy is getting very common.

Then, there are actual savings realized in the type of materials being used for building construction. The Department of Energy is educating people to use energy efficient lights and air-conditioing unts. In lighting, use of LEDs will be make fluorescent and incandescent more or less obsolete. With new technologies, it is estimated that one can easily save upto 30% of existing utility bills.

rsridhar:

Thanks for the links. It seems that thorium things are still in experimental stage. As you know, it`s a long march from the an experimental stage to design and implementation. In the meantime.

tahmed32:

As far as I know, windmills produce only a very small fraction of energy needs of even the Scandanavian countries. They are large, cumbersome and take a lot of space. Incidentally, I saw a large number of such mills on India`s southern coast in Tamil Nadu and in Rajasthan near Jaisalmer.

dost-mittar:

Iran is a sinking ship thanks to its mule-headed leadership. The US is deliberately creating uncertainty about the IPI pipeline with its statements (state of the union, Mulford statement, Condoleeza-Manmohan press conference).

Mani Shankar did a commendable job preparing the ground for IPI pipeline. But now the ground realities have changed. The geopolitical cost of building IPI pipeline exceeds its economic benefits. Until 2008, India and Pakistan must put this project in cold storage.