In Thomas Friedman's words E2K stands "for all the energy programming and monitoring that thousands of global companies are going to be undertaking in the early 21st century to either become carbon neutral or far more energy efficient than they are today. India is poised to get a lot of this work."
As Indian IT companies are begining to scratch the surface of this wave, what is the Indian Government doing?
This energy / global warming crisis is not just a problem for the developed nations but for every oil dependent nation in the world. (Although only time can tell how well the Brazil's ethanol experiment will form the solution for such oil independency).
But change is in the air!!!!
About one-sixth of the world's population is begining to face a new energy code.
Yes! for the first time in India's history there is a national energy rating system for buildings. Apart from the LEED-India movement, this energy movement from the energy and resource institute of India (TERI) is about to bring a whole lot of change in the Indian Construction industry.
As a result of this, the brain-powered IT industry in India is begining to understand not only the global need for such energy measures but also the local need. It is going to be a WIN-WIN for everybody - a nice boost for the booming construction industry in India.
It's ironic that my dad predicted such boom roughly eleven years ago.
Once I got out of high school, following the mob, I started preparing for entrance exams to get into engineering schools (after realizing rather lately that the entrance exams for architecture schools had already been conducted - - this is where I think... awareness is important... in future every school should have a "career corner" where they can expose the kids to the wide range of opportunities India could offer them... anyways for now this is added to my list of ideas to implement in India :-)).
Indian education system favors caste based allocations to access to education. What does this mean? The assumption being the lower castes are socially challenged to access and means to education compared to their higher caste counterparts. So the government (atleast my state cleverly did this a long time ago - - many states are now going through this huge caste challenge!) reserves certain allocations based on caste. For one to be qualified to get into a good school for education, his/her educational merits (high scores in test etc) is only considered second to their caste heirarchy. So me being in the so called Forward Caste (even though I was from an average Inidan middle class...) am required to score really high in all my exams to get into a decent school and study what I like to study.
Guess what! I some how managed to do that! Pumped up... since I could not get into architecture school, I was good at computers and India then was getting ready to solve the world's Y2K problem -- I was motivated to get into an engineering degree focused on computer science. I got into a decent school for my engineering after a wait for few months. Only during your second year in engineering one decides which specialization he/she will opt for! I was hoping to get into Computer Science. Then came the reality!!
I started slowly hearing that since me being a Forward Caste student will not be able to pursue Computer science and will only be able to pursue the lowest in preference - - CIVIL ENGINEERING. I was rather hopeless. Understanding my state of despair, my dad did some research... again this was 11 years ago... and he predicted that by the time I graduate India will be in need of Infrastructure. He started feeding me news after news on this subject... I slowly started adapting to the notion that CIVIL Engineering is my future and boldly opted for CIVIL Engineering at the end of the first year for all my three preference choices.
Begining of the second year, to my surprise I came to know, that my scores where enough to garner Computer science. Nonetheless, I was focused to learning on how to shape India's future infrastructure! I am glad now that I followed my dad's instincts!
Anyways long story short.... Indian infrastructure boom is a reality and so is the E2K wave!
Lets learn to surf this new wave!
Showing posts with label Better India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Better India. Show all posts
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Meet my hero...
Speaking of the Big Picture... its great timing that my hero happened to give a speech at Scottsdale's 10th annual Green Building Expo.
Ed Mazria - my hero... I won't be surprised if Ed is honored by a Nobel Peace Prize in about a few years when more climate change initiatives around the globe occur ... he has made that big of an impact - an architect who has spent his entire life and still working hard to make his dream of a better, safer and environmentaly sound world - a reality!!
Here is a link to his latest study and this presentation topic - Nation Under Siege
I took the liberty to voice record his speech digitally and I will be more than happy to share it with anybody interested - just send me an email. This is a 1hr 40 min audio clip of his entire speech on October 5th, 2007 at Scottsdale, AZ. This presentation includes, introductory speech from the Mayor of Scottsdale, followed by Mayor of Tempe and finally a few Q&A after Ed's speech.
I don't think Ed will sue me for copyright distribution of this speech... because spreading the word is the most sustainable thing anybody could do - bringing awareness...
Here are some highlights:
(Disclaimer - the following includes excerpts from Ed's speech and some of my own thoughts to augument his notions...)
- Currently CO2 levels are at 385 parts per million
- Projected to reach 450 ppm by 2035
- By then it might be too late to reverse the effects - a point of no-return might happen
- Ok.. seriously what the heck will happen if the globe's CO2 level reaches 450 ppm?
- Predictions are based on historical data dating back centuries...
- The earth had such levels reached some 125,000 years ago... ya! thats right... so long long ago...
- Based on carbon dating and other known methods and measures to mankind... when such levels reached, half the species in the world vanished due to rising sea levels and change in eco systems etc...
- So you might ask... how does that affect me and my house in Phoenix, AZ
- Go to the internet and search for New Orleans Diaspora - displacement of 200 to 300 thousand people due to hurricane Katrina... this is just because one part of ocean near New Orleans got upset with climate change and blew the fuse...
- Such a discplacement causes several problems to the un-prepared country (even the mighty US) from rescuing the survived... to providing them safe and secure place temporarily and eventually permenantly... to building a new safe and secure place for them to return... to creating safe and secure lives for the ones that doesnt want to return... the list goes on...
- Imagine such a displacement of lives, economy, culture... and then multiply this effect by several cities around the globe and now add the fact that not all countries have the means and resources like the US... HAVOC RIGHT??? that's what might happen if we let the CO2 levels rise to 450 ppm...
- Again... this is science based on data and conventional prediction / projection methods accepted as reasonable world wide from not so biased institutions like NASA, NOAA and so... the left and right in any country can blow this situation upto what ever scale they like for their political advantages...
- So weaving through the plethora of biased and non-biased information is completely upto you readers!!
- I strongly believe in this and also believe that I could do something to help the situation... as explained at the later part of this highlight!!
- Ok now.. what is causing all these!!
- Burning of Fossil fuels contribute to these Green house gas emmissions and in-turn causing global warming - climate change
- Oil and Gas have reached their peak in terms of resource availability and usage thus far
- Oil and gas are likely to be used less in the forth coming years since they are depleting and would cost more
- So oil and gas together cannot push the world over 450 ppm within 2035 - The culprit is COAL
- Coal reserves are plenty enough for another 200 or so years based on the rate of current usage
- Every nation from US to Canada to China to India is dying to add more conventioanal coal plants within the next two decades
- Conventional coal plants are the worst when it comes to green house gas emissions
- So is there a silver bullet for this problem?
- Yes, says Ed - NO MORE CONVENTIONAL COAL
- Then what about CLEAN Coal technology - asked the audience
- Carbon Sequestration is the clean coal technology - which is essentially capturing CO2 from the coal during power generation process and dumping it else where - either under the ocean, under the earth very deep... or do something else with it...
- Ed and many scientists believe that this is still a pre-mature technology and to fully figure this out and make it commerical it might take a decade... by then if there is no law in place, any country with money will start mushrooming Coal power plants the conventional way
- The projection is, even when Clean coal technology materializes, it might not comapre in cost with conventional coal power... so what would all the coal lobbyist with trillions of dollars in their pocket would do???? hmmm never go clean coal!! - Ed didn't say that... this is me :-)
- OK.. so we take measures to stop the supply side of this big chain reaction by stopping the mushrooming of conventional coal plants... is that enough?? asks Ed...
- No... We should control the demand side...
- Of all the major sectors in the US... the building sector is the worst..
- 76% of the electricity produced in the country goes to operate buildings...
- hence... reducing the need or demand for energy from the building sector could drastically reduce the need or supply of coal power plants...
- as an architect... I feel I can do my part to help this movement!!
- But can we do that - reduce demands from the building sector?
- Is this rocket science??
- NOOOOO! Says Ed... he and several others have done it during the oil crisis in the 70's... why can't we do it now????
- With more technology than the 70's we should be able to do it... all we need is the commitment... from all the players in this game....
- many feel like unless the codes change and require a minimum reduction in energy consumption for all new and renovated buildings... nothing can change the culture and approach of design and related services...
- I agree with that!!
- Leaders like Ed are rightly doing so - making the feds to adopt such a code and then allow the states and counties to catchup in 1.5 yrs or so...
- so the urge here is to take action now... we may not have enough time as we thought we had - 10 yreas... no we might have only a few years say 6 or 7 before reach a point of no-return...
- I will keep you posted on what else I learn and how could I be a change!!
Enjoy!
Ed Mazria - my hero... I won't be surprised if Ed is honored by a Nobel Peace Prize in about a few years when more climate change initiatives around the globe occur ... he has made that big of an impact - an architect who has spent his entire life and still working hard to make his dream of a better, safer and environmentaly sound world - a reality!!
Here is a link to his latest study and this presentation topic - Nation Under Siege
I took the liberty to voice record his speech digitally and I will be more than happy to share it with anybody interested - just send me an email. This is a 1hr 40 min audio clip of his entire speech on October 5th, 2007 at Scottsdale, AZ. This presentation includes, introductory speech from the Mayor of Scottsdale, followed by Mayor of Tempe and finally a few Q&A after Ed's speech.
I don't think Ed will sue me for copyright distribution of this speech... because spreading the word is the most sustainable thing anybody could do - bringing awareness...
Here are some highlights:
(Disclaimer - the following includes excerpts from Ed's speech and some of my own thoughts to augument his notions...)
- Currently CO2 levels are at 385 parts per million
- Projected to reach 450 ppm by 2035
- By then it might be too late to reverse the effects - a point of no-return might happen
- Ok.. seriously what the heck will happen if the globe's CO2 level reaches 450 ppm?
- Predictions are based on historical data dating back centuries...
- The earth had such levels reached some 125,000 years ago... ya! thats right... so long long ago...
- Based on carbon dating and other known methods and measures to mankind... when such levels reached, half the species in the world vanished due to rising sea levels and change in eco systems etc...
- So you might ask... how does that affect me and my house in Phoenix, AZ
- Go to the internet and search for New Orleans Diaspora - displacement of 200 to 300 thousand people due to hurricane Katrina... this is just because one part of ocean near New Orleans got upset with climate change and blew the fuse...
- Such a discplacement causes several problems to the un-prepared country (even the mighty US) from rescuing the survived... to providing them safe and secure place temporarily and eventually permenantly... to building a new safe and secure place for them to return... to creating safe and secure lives for the ones that doesnt want to return... the list goes on...
- Imagine such a displacement of lives, economy, culture... and then multiply this effect by several cities around the globe and now add the fact that not all countries have the means and resources like the US... HAVOC RIGHT??? that's what might happen if we let the CO2 levels rise to 450 ppm...
- Again... this is science based on data and conventional prediction / projection methods accepted as reasonable world wide from not so biased institutions like NASA, NOAA and so... the left and right in any country can blow this situation upto what ever scale they like for their political advantages...
- So weaving through the plethora of biased and non-biased information is completely upto you readers!!
- I strongly believe in this and also believe that I could do something to help the situation... as explained at the later part of this highlight!!
- Ok now.. what is causing all these!!
- Burning of Fossil fuels contribute to these Green house gas emmissions and in-turn causing global warming - climate change
- Oil and Gas have reached their peak in terms of resource availability and usage thus far
- Oil and gas are likely to be used less in the forth coming years since they are depleting and would cost more
- So oil and gas together cannot push the world over 450 ppm within 2035 - The culprit is COAL
- Coal reserves are plenty enough for another 200 or so years based on the rate of current usage
- Every nation from US to Canada to China to India is dying to add more conventioanal coal plants within the next two decades
- Conventional coal plants are the worst when it comes to green house gas emissions
- So is there a silver bullet for this problem?
- Yes, says Ed - NO MORE CONVENTIONAL COAL
- Then what about CLEAN Coal technology - asked the audience
- Carbon Sequestration is the clean coal technology - which is essentially capturing CO2 from the coal during power generation process and dumping it else where - either under the ocean, under the earth very deep... or do something else with it...
- Ed and many scientists believe that this is still a pre-mature technology and to fully figure this out and make it commerical it might take a decade... by then if there is no law in place, any country with money will start mushrooming Coal power plants the conventional way
- The projection is, even when Clean coal technology materializes, it might not comapre in cost with conventional coal power... so what would all the coal lobbyist with trillions of dollars in their pocket would do???? hmmm never go clean coal!! - Ed didn't say that... this is me :-)
- OK.. so we take measures to stop the supply side of this big chain reaction by stopping the mushrooming of conventional coal plants... is that enough?? asks Ed...
- No... We should control the demand side...
- Of all the major sectors in the US... the building sector is the worst..
- 76% of the electricity produced in the country goes to operate buildings...
- hence... reducing the need or demand for energy from the building sector could drastically reduce the need or supply of coal power plants...
- as an architect... I feel I can do my part to help this movement!!
- But can we do that - reduce demands from the building sector?
- Is this rocket science??
- NOOOOO! Says Ed... he and several others have done it during the oil crisis in the 70's... why can't we do it now????
- With more technology than the 70's we should be able to do it... all we need is the commitment... from all the players in this game....
- many feel like unless the codes change and require a minimum reduction in energy consumption for all new and renovated buildings... nothing can change the culture and approach of design and related services...
- I agree with that!!
- Leaders like Ed are rightly doing so - making the feds to adopt such a code and then allow the states and counties to catchup in 1.5 yrs or so...
- so the urge here is to take action now... we may not have enough time as we thought we had - 10 yreas... no we might have only a few years say 6 or 7 before reach a point of no-return...
- I will keep you posted on what else I learn and how could I be a change!!
Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The Big Picture...
So.. having a desire to go back to bring a positive sustainable change in India... hmmm... I just threw in two words - sustainability - India... what does that have to do with my life???? Is it just a Desire? Passion? Just Interest? Just maximing a potential opportunity?? Just a thought... so that it will sound cool??? Personal Soul Satisfaction???? what is it??
for those of you who know me... I always want to validate and substantiate what I do - why I do... thats my mode of operation... it just should feel right to me and when I understand it... atleast I would frame my mind around the thought that I understand it... then I will pursue it... and in this case I am in the process of making sure that this is it.. it should be a wanting than just an idea...
Some of my expirements to validate this are very crazy...
I have consciously not prioritized the "small picture stuff" (as I like to call it) when it comes to sustainable living... say for instance using zillions of bottled water... styrofoam cups... not actively engaging in non-profits to offer my service etc etc... I have not prioritized to "not pursue" these currently... I take a lot of crap from my roommates for this though!!
My reasoning is... yes I understand that little drops add up to an ocean... but as much green washing as we all know is going on... I strongly feel that I need to understand the BIG PICTURE!!! what will happen... I mean seriously what really will happen if I dont use a styrofoam cup... how will it affect/effect the planet, how will it change local / global economy... than just blindly following the crowd and saying... "yep it all goes to landfill... so dont do that"... what are the implications...
hence the struggle to understand the big picture...
I am reading a book called "Natural Capitalism" and I feel like I have stepped into this big picture that I am trying to understand... I will keep you folks updated on what I learn!!
for those of you who know me... I always want to validate and substantiate what I do - why I do... thats my mode of operation... it just should feel right to me and when I understand it... atleast I would frame my mind around the thought that I understand it... then I will pursue it... and in this case I am in the process of making sure that this is it.. it should be a wanting than just an idea...
Some of my expirements to validate this are very crazy...
I have consciously not prioritized the "small picture stuff" (as I like to call it) when it comes to sustainable living... say for instance using zillions of bottled water... styrofoam cups... not actively engaging in non-profits to offer my service etc etc... I have not prioritized to "not pursue" these currently... I take a lot of crap from my roommates for this though!!
My reasoning is... yes I understand that little drops add up to an ocean... but as much green washing as we all know is going on... I strongly feel that I need to understand the BIG PICTURE!!! what will happen... I mean seriously what really will happen if I dont use a styrofoam cup... how will it affect/effect the planet, how will it change local / global economy... than just blindly following the crowd and saying... "yep it all goes to landfill... so dont do that"... what are the implications...
hence the struggle to understand the big picture...
I am reading a book called "Natural Capitalism" and I feel like I have stepped into this big picture that I am trying to understand... I will keep you folks updated on what I learn!!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Back to Sqaure One!!
On the way back I arrived in Delhi early morning - it was a Sunday and my flight to Frankfurt was not until the next day morning... so thinking of touring around Delhi the whole day I jumped on the machine that was specially invented for India - AUTO RICKSHAW (commonly referred to as the Auto). It was around the 90's and super hot that early in the morning. The auto passed through the inner governmental complex and once again I felt oh! man!!! Delhi is clean...
I was going to my friend's place in a near by suburb of Delhi called Noida. Noida is one of the sleeping towns of New Delhi and I heard from my friend that several decades back the government started constructing mass housing... learning Le Corbu's mass housing in school... I was pretty excited to see how the central's mass housing deal was gonna be...
there is a bridge that connects Noida to Delhi across the river Noida... and my auto was about to cross the river... I saw in the dim light some multi-storied buildings in the far... was excited to see their architecture up close...
The auto crossed the river and there waited the shock of my life...
ONE word - shambles
Acknowledging that I am in the real India... the environment slowly started to sync in... Here's the picture...
The mass housing is divided based on income levels... UIG - upper income group has nicer flats (condos)and almost everybody here have their own cars and only few of these UIG flats as they call it existed in Noida... the rest were all in inner New Delhi...
then there is the MIGs - medium income group... thousands and thousands of people call these MIG flats their homes - my friend was one among them... most of these people own a two-wheeler and some own a car... some own air coolers (swamp coolers)... others rely on the mercy of the wind... my friend had one in their 3 bed room flat and along with him five of his room mates survived the heat through that one piece of machine that was trying its best... amidst the constant power supply interruption... then there is the water game... water is scarce in India... period!! so everyone had to plan for their turn to take bath... all these are not new to me... I have been through this all my life in India... but here comes the worst...
my friend took me to the LIGs - lower income group flats... just to give you a sense of LIG's nature - take MIG's so called luxuries and divide that by 2... that's what you get in an LIG flat... its rough... but again thousands live here and call these their homes... because this is what they can afford... in an LIG there is no running water.. you get one tank and you have to fill it up at the right time... if not you go water less for a day... (pretty sustainable huh!!) and the condition of the buildings .... lets not even go there..
but that's not the end folks... in this picture that I am trying to portray here... there is one missing piece... people with little to no income group.... this is the part that shocked... these people are the support system for the city... without them nothing will move in New Delhi.. no auto rickshaws... no buses... no clean streets... nothing... yet these people are given the least care when it comes to their daily adobe... believe it or not.. the central government had tried its best... it managed to build them houses... with just brick on brick.. with little bit of mortar in between to keep the bricks in place... no plaster or exterior/interior finish... this is what it came down to after all the money that got robbed as corruption during the process of government sanction to implementation... this is the majority of India - a striking 90+ percent... not the pretty pictures portrayed in Hollywood/bollywood movies...
and this is the place my auto driver took me through first as a shortcut to the MIG's as soon as he got off the bridge..
This shock... again this shock - noticing the richest and the poorest separated by one single bridge... all the fame and glory that I had for New Delhi on my first trip... vanished in a split second... this made a huge impact on how I started looking at India since then... on the way back to the airport - it was way early in the morning and I arranged an auto to pick me up at my friend's place and drop me at the airport... it was super hot again that early in the morning and very dusty too.. reaching the airport and getting into the air conditioned zone... was very painful to the heart... I just couldn't leave New Delhi like that.... felt like I was missing something...
On the day long flight to the US I had a conversation with a fellow passenger - an artist from the US - currently settled in Germany... talking through on my experience in Delhi... I realized how deeply I am rooted to India.. and all along the journey and even still today... I kept thinking on what could I do to improve the standard of living in India... my people deserve better!!
Social reform as a grass roots effort is becoming the next big change in India - many individuals - many non-profit organizations - all stopped relying on somebody else to fix their mess... they started taking care of their own environment... and many good things are happening...
fortunately many among my generation of youngsters who left India for studies or job, feel the same way I feel - it is our responsibility to push the country's progress one more step at the grass roots level... not just the "India is Shining" campaign for the west... I mean social reform... getting back to what India was really all about - a prosperous place that invited anybody of any origin to come take part in its centuries old cultures... a beautiful place that embraced anything foreign to it and adapted itself to the new...
a new form of democracy is shaping up in India - the capitalistic, entrepreneurial friendly democracy - a flavor brought by the west...and so strongly embraced by the current and past governments... and as many experts claim... the chances of "the next big China in the making" is very high... and hence every visionary in India being aware of that is trying to sway the direction of progress towards the peaceful democracy... and I strongly feel I should extend my arms... reach out and be part of the progressive positive change with the knowledge and passion I have been accruing...
(Insert picture - a famous bollywood movie - Swades - meaning 'my country' in Hindi... the story is about one youngster (the hero of the movie) who leaves India for higher studies... and finds himself a comfortable career... and how his one visit to India changes his future... he applies what he learned abroad to one simple effort in an Indian village that helps many at the grass roots... that changes him.. and eventually brings him back to square one - his mother land - India!!)
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