The myth of zero emission vehicle

While studying "Environment Law" I came across the term "Zero Emission Vehicle"  (ZEV). The first question that came to my mind was, is it even possible? Can we consume energy without emitting anything? What happens to the energy that we consume? At least, the energy that we use needs to be converted into some other form of energy. The overhyped advertisement of ZEV's created a question in my mind, is "zero-emission" just a catchy phrase like "chemical-free" to attract customers, or does it really mean what it says? It seems that the main purpose of using this phrase is to create an impression in the consumer's mind that the vehicle they are driving is not emitting any harmful gases, that is, it is not doing "any" damage to the environment. These so-called zero-emission vehicles run on some type of batteries. Technically when we use energy stored in a battery they do not emit any harmful gases the way fossil fuels do (for example, carbon monoxide). However, if we analyze it carefully, batteries need to be manufactured and then recharged every time they get discharged. Each of these processes consumes electricity or some other type of energy, they use different chemicals to manufacture batteries, and these chemicals are manufactured in different process plants that use conventional energy sources. The electricity used by batteries might be produced by the process which results in some kind of emission of the very harmful gases which the battery purports not to emit. Therefore, indirectly these batteries do cause emissions which we do not see while driving these vehicles but they do impact the environment. Emissions caused by the use of batteries may be comparatively less than the emissions of fossil fuels, but this does not mean that there is a zero-emission. This means the phrase zero-emission vehicle is an advertising gimmick, just a catchy phrase with no real meaning behind it, designed and used to grab the customer's attention.

Thanks for reading and please share your opinion about this topic. 

City on steroids - is this a real development?

During my recent visit to India, I saw great enthusiasm among people about the issue of development. One reason for this can be the issue of development was also debated during the recent general election for parliament. This also had a backdrop of phenomenal economic development in the last decade or so, people in India have experienced phenomenal economic growth in the last few decades and this has created a lot of enthusiasm about more economic development. I don't think anyone will disagree that economic development is necessary for India to generate more jobs for its youth. This is the reason many cities in India are growing very fast, but the main question is are they growing in the right direction? 

My home town Pune just a couple of decades back a small city with a beautiful climate and was surrounded by beautiful hills. Since the last decade or so it has grown very fast, so fast that if someone who visited this city 8-9 years back visits it now they may not recognize that it is the same Pune. It hosts a large number of software and other companies, industrial and economic growth of this city in the last decade or so has been phenomenal. This growth has also resulted in a real estate boom in this city, prices of properties and lands are skyrocketing, and there is some type of construction work going on on every empty land. This has resulted in a lot of unplanned growth in Pune. Even the hills are not spared from the construction. Many hills are now occupied by some sort of construction (legal or illegal). It is hard to imagine that the place on which these structures are standing was a beautiful hill just a few years back. Development as such comes with some side effects which are manageable if handled properly but unplanned and uncontrolled development comes with many serious side effects. These side effects can have serious consequences like flash floods, and they affect the lives of the people who live in them. As expected, pollution levels are going up in each and every city in India, and there is no proper mechanism to monitor this or any serious efforts made to handle these issues. The unplanned growth of cities is putting a lot of stress on the already overburdened infrastructure of those cities. Traffic conditions are horrible in many places which causes a lot of inconvenience to travelers, and people's habit of not following any traffic rules makes it worse. 

Currently, Pune looks like a city on steroids, growing uncontrollably in all directions wherever it can find empty space. Definitely, economic growth is happening and people are getting richer, one can see economic prosperity coming in families but at the same time, quality of life in terms of proper infrastructure, school system, and government services, is not improving for everyone. Government offices are still very crowded with rampant corruption, and economic development has not been able to check corruption. The public school system is still in horrible condition and it is a tough task to get your kid admitted to any good private school without any political influence or paying heavy donations. There is an upper middle class who can afford to do all these things as they earn enough money to support this type of lifestyle. But at the same time, there is no change in the lives of many lower-middle-class people who are somehow stuck in the same vicious cycle of poverty and lack of proper education. Stress on the city's infrastructure is immense. Pune really needs a properly planned metro, monorail, or some reliable public transport system that can reduce the number of vehicles on its roads. The current public transport system is not able to satisfy the requirements of the growing population which needs a reliable alternative to commute in the city. I think this is the story of more or less all growing cities in India. Some cities like Delhi and Mumbai managed to modernize their public transport system but even there also still there is huge gap between demand and supply.

I wish that concerned authorities take into consideration the consequences of this unplanned growth very seriously and take appropriate steps. Once the city grows with many illegal and unorganized constructions it is really difficult to get rid of them just because so many people occupy these places and it is impossible to take any action against them. This has happened in the past and it seems the administration has not learned any lesson from these incidents. I only hope that economic or real estate growth happens with proper planning and according to available resources in that city. This will allow people to enjoy a comfortable life without being worried about whether they can reach the hospital in time during any medical emergency because of heavy and undisciplined traffic on the roads of the city. People of Pune also should play an important role in this, they need to follow traffic rules and try to keep their city clean. If Pune can show that a growing city can be disciplined and well-organized, it can become an example for all other cities to follow. A city on steroids will grow for sure but that growth is not healthy and natural and I think the people of Pune prefer their beloved city to grow naturally retaining its beauty and natural climate. Let's see if people choose planned and organized growth or if they are fine with this unorganized rampant growth which might create more problems than solutions.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Please recycle and reuse

I consider myself a recycle freak. I try to recycle as much as possible. If I see something in a trashcan that is recyclable I try to remove it from there and put it in recycle waste containers. It makes me really uncomfortable to watch recyclable waste dumped in normal trash. Many countries have recognized the need to recycle most of the waste generated by humans. Consumerism is at its peak in our society, because of the easy (and cheap) availability of a lot of stuff we are using more than required and then generating a lot of waste, and we don't bother to recycle it. So, we make two mistakes at the same time, we overuse the stuff (which is totally avoidable) and then don't even efficiently recycle the stuff. In many countries, especially in developed nations like the USA, they have made it very easy to recycle many things but still, I see that many people are not aware of these things or they don't care and dump all things in the trash. It's really bad to dump things that can be easily recycled in normal trash. People think that just one person doing all this recycling and other climate-friendly activities will not make any difference, so why do it. I agree with this to some extent but if everyone starts thinking like this then no one will do it. Someone has to start doing this and why can't that someone be us? Actually, many good things always start with one person, and then others follow.

As I said things are available so easily and cheaply nowadays that it's hard for people to think before they use them or throw them. Whether to print or not is not a very big decision nowadays, printers and papers are available everywhere (home, office, anywhere you go). Many organizations are trying to reduce the use of paper by switching to e-statements and e-bills rather than traditional printed format but still, many prefer traditional printed format. There is nothing wrong with it but at least make sure that to recycle that stuff. We teach many good things as part of our tradition and culture to our kids and I think we need to include the habit of recycling and using things more efficiently (so that we generate less waste) as a part of our cultural training. Our planet and environment are everyone's property, we all own it and use it and that's why we all are responsible for protecting it and taking good care of it. There is no single owner of this planet that doesn't mean no one should care for it. Rather we all are owners of this beloved planet so it should be treated with utmost respect and care by all of us but this is not happening. People care a lot about their own religion, country, family, and home but don't care much about their planet which is actually the reason for the existence of everything around us, it's very strange but true.

If we can't stop ourselves from overusing things then at least by recycling we can reduce the impact of our consumerism on the planet. This can also generate a lot of jobs in the recycling industry. There is no negative or side effect of this activity. This is a simple habit we need to incorporate into our lifestyle. Most of us are already very careful about not dumping any trash outside, we make sure that we throw it in a trashcan, and this is how we try to keep our surroundings clean. We need to do exactly the same thing but next time whenever we throw trash we need to make sure to throw it in the "proper disposal bin," that's all. It's not that difficult. Most of us are in search of many good habits to incorporate into our day-to-day lives and I feel the habit of recycling and reusing things as much as possible is one of the good habits which can make us better people and help our planet. Think about it, one simple habit can help our planet and future generations, so why not give it a shot.

Thanks for reading and please share your views about this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)

Why Should We Care About This Planet?

Nowadays, we hear a lot about the impact of humans on this planet. Humans are the largest consumers of the natural resources of this planet. We benefit immensely from the things produced by nature; we are heavily dependent on some of them, like sunlight, natural gas, air, water, etc. Any living entity needs to consume at least a few things from its surrounding environment to survive. If consumption is matched with the regeneration of consumed stuff, then life is in perfect balance. But for some reason, if we cannot maintain this balance, then also nature adjusts as much as it can, but there is a limit to how much abuse it can take, and when things go beyond a certain limit results can be catastrophic. Because of recent developments in science and technology, we have seen tremendous improvement in the quality and longevity of human life. This has also resulted in an increase in the consumption of natural resources at an unprecedented level.

We need to learn how to reduce our carbon footprint so that we can minimize the harmful impact of consumerism on our planet. There are many environmental problems, like air, water, and land pollution, global warming, depletion of non-renewable natural resources, etc. They are all related to the heavy use of natural and human-made resources. Because of tremendous progress in the area of science and technology, we have achieved many things that were considered impossible a few decades ago. This has resulted in heavy consumption of natural resources such as water, land, trees, fossil fuels, etc. Instead of using these natural resources, we are misusing them; nature can not take this abuse endlessly. We are seeing some early signs of warning in the form of climate change, unpredictable weather, and natural disasters. Right now, we have all the necessary technology, resources, and the required capability to address most of the issues on our planet. Never before in the history of humanity have human beings been as capable as we are today.

At present, this is the only planet in the entire universe on which we can survive without any artificial aid. We are still trying to find proof of the presence of life on other planets. Even if we find proof of life, it's very unlikely that we can find any other planet that will be as suitable as this one for our habitat. We know the problem, we even know possible solutions, and we have all the resources and capabilities to control the damage, but still, why are we not doing it? What is stopping us from taking those steps? Is it that difficult? Are we so selfish that we don't want to think about the well-being of our future generations? It's not that we have to make huge sacrifices to control global warming; people who don't want to stop excessive consumerism paint the picture as if global warming advocates want people to stop breathing because they emit carbon dioxide. It's not like that; small steps can bring very effective change. A few things that everyone can do are to save electricity, limit the use of vehicles (walk wherever possible, it's healthy also), and try to use renewable source products (like paper, bio-based fuel, etc.). These are very easy steps to follow. It's not the responsibility of governments alone to ensure the well-being of this planet; we all should contribute. If we care, we must show by our actions that we really care; just thinking about it or talking won't help.

The quality of our lives is directly related to the health of our planet. There can not be a good life without a good planet. Currently, we can't create a new planet, but we definitely can maintain and preserve the planet that we have. We are not doing any favor or social work for others by preserving this planet; we have to do it for our own lives and our own fellow beings. We all breathe the same air and live on the same planet; if anything goes wrong with his place, we all will suffer. We can enjoy a good life because our ancestors didn't destroy the ecological system of this planet, and they didn't disturb the natural balance that is required for the smooth functioning of our ecosystem and environment. Are we doing enough to make sure that we pass on a similar healthy planet to our future generation? 

Thanks for reading, and please share your views.

Related References:
1. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
3. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)