Pay Heed Leaders of India and China.

India and China, some of the worst polluters of the Environment are making the right kind of noises these days. China is all set to distribute millions of energy saving lamps on a national scale at heavily subsidized prices.
India is planning to create solar power capacity on a massive scale. The Indian Prime Minister has asked the Council on Climate Change to initiate proceedings that would add 20,000 mw of power generation capacity by the year 2020 at a cost of billions of dollars.
Both India and China depend on coal based power generation equipment to a considerable extent. They release massive amounts of carbon into an atmosphere that is already reeling with greenhouse gases.
Many developed countries have stopped mining for coal. India is looking into abandoned coal mines with a view to reopen them. This is a very unwise step. China also is not making any efforts to bring down the consumption of coal to any extent.
While going about looking for alternate energy resources, these countries should scale down the use of fossil fuels in power generation as much as they can. Such fuels may be cheap in the short run, but the harm it does to the environment and the health hazards it poses to its own citizens should guide them into a whole rethink of their present power generation activities.
Energy saving lamps and solar power are okay. But they themselves will not bring down the levels of carbon emissions into the atmosphere substantially. A whole new mindset and a determination to change the order of things should be first and foremost in the minds of the leaders of India and China. Otherwise they will go down in history as villains worse than a Hitler or Idi Amin. Posterity will never forgive them.

A Glimmer of Hope?

According to a recent United Nations report, major investments are being made in renewable energies like solar, wind and such. A whopping 110 billion U.S dollars have been invested against the 110 billion dollars ear marked for power generation using fossil fuel. Some comfort indeed!

It is really heartwarming to know that developing countries like India and China are at the forefront of this very welcome phenomenon. Like many developed countries they too want to bring down the dependence on fossil fuels for power generation. If they do this with sincerity and commitment they will be making amends for the harm they are presently doing to the environment.

It is happy to note that this process is slowly turning the tables on fossil fuels. A lot of capital is brought in to further this activity. Let’s hope that the trend will continue in the face of the prevailing economic depression and diminishing fresh investments.

Investors found wind energy more attractive with bio fuels close at heels. Other forms like solar and wave energies are also getting to be attractive.
All this hectic activity is fine of course, but a word of caution! The time hasn’t come to heave a deep sigh of relief. We are only looking at the future scenario. But many of the prevailing practices continue unabated. Still we can take satisfaction from the fact that a change is slowly being made.

Let’s hope that the trend will continue until renewable energy sources replace fossil fuels altogether or at least to a considerable extent.