India should tap solar energy: Berkeley prof

KOLKATA: India receives nearly 600TW of solar energy over its land every year. Even if the country were to tap a tenth of this, it would be the end of power woes, believes Graham R Fleming, VC for Research, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
On his maiden visit to the city to deliver the 22{+n}{+d} S N Bose Memorial Lecture on 'Grand Challenges in Energy: Supply, Demand and Consequences', the internationally acclaimed professor of chemistry said there is need to work on the development of a battery that would be thrice as powerful as anything available at present and four times less expensive.
"Nearly half of the energy generated in the US is wasted. It is the same in India where nearly 42% of the fuel used in coal or peat. Given the situation, India would need to import nearly 80% of her fuel needs by 2030. India has great potential in solar energy though tapping this would involve very large investment. The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) has set up a 10-year goal to demonstrate a manufacturably scalable solar fuel generator, using earth-abundant elements that, with no wires, robustly produce fuel from the sun, 10 times more efficiently than crops. This will use the same theory as plants that rely on common elements," Fleming said.
According to him, the biggest challenge is to manufacture cheaper batteries that are several times more powerful and to reduce wastage of energy. He pointed to how only 12.6% of the energy in a car is utilized while nearly 62% is wasted.
"Trouble is with the confusion that emerges. As W S Jevons spoke about the 'confusion of ideas', we have noticed that as car engines become fuel efficient, people go in for extra powerful vehicles and the advantage is lost. It is also a matter of concern that the transistor count is going up every year. With more disposable income, people are purchasing gadgets and consuming power. The science of nanotechnology can help here. Nanoelectronics are working on a semi-conductor milli-volt switching system that will consume much less power," Fleming said.He sounded happy with the progress being made by students of University of California, Berkeley, working at IIT, Kharagpur. Students of the two institutions are working towards the development of alternative energy fuels on a large-scale, cost-effective basis. The idea is to create energy crops that are suitable for various parts of the world and appropriate to the local socio-economic, land, water and climate conditions.