Human waste to power US city
In A First, Methane Gas To Be Harvested On Commercial Scale And Turned Into Clean Fuel

San Antonio: The city of San Antonio unveiled a deal that will make it the first US city to harvest methane gas from human waste on a commercial scale and turn it into clean-burning fuel.
San Antonio residents produce about 140,000 tons a year of a substance gently referred to as

High aims: (From left) Ajit K. Gupta, Adviser, MNRE; Deepak Gupta, Secretary, MNRE; and K. Jairaj, Principal Secretary (Energy), at an interactive meet in Bangalore on Thursday.

BANGALORE: Karnataka will unveil a renewable energy policy in a month or two to provide for a focussed effort to boost the renewable energy generation to tide over the power shortage by harnessing green energy.

The highlight of the policy is that it will envisage steps for doubling the renewable energy generation in the State from the present 2,000 MW to 4,000 MW in the next five years.

P. Sudhakar

USEFUL: The Japanese delegation that visited the garbage yard at Ramaiyanpatti near Tirunelveli on Thursday.

TIRUNELVELI: A Japanese team on Thursday visited Tirunelveli Corporation

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) - Sparked by surging oil, a dramatic rise in the value of old plastic is encouraging waste companies across the world to dig for buried riches in rotting rubbish dumps.

Long a symbol of humanity's throw-away culture, existing landfill sites are now being viewed as mines of potential which as the world population grows could also help bolster the planet's dwindling natural resources.

V.R. Krishna Iyer

It is strange to learn that Kerala has no plan to generate power through alternative means.

The municipal corporation in Coimbatore, whose anti-plastics campaign has been de railed by a high court stay order, could learn something from an ongoing initiative across the country, at Guwahati. The two are based on different premises, if aimed at the same end, but this is an issue where any useful thinking is welcome. The Coimbatore initiative, as we have reported, was to ban any use or sale of plastic bags (upto a certain thickness), tumblers, plates and other throw-away items; in a welcome change, the campaign began and got going with strong all-party political backing.

HOTELS and hostels in the Union Territory are saving on LPG by cooking food with bio-gas (Methane) generated from human waste. On an average, eight to 10 LPG commercial cylinders are saved per month, users say . The advantage of bio-gas is that resources required for it are generated locally and the only probable cost is the installation expenses of the plant and the gas stove with modified burners. "The whole process is eco-friendly and there is no odour," says Project Director, Renewable Energy Agency of Pondicherry, D Selvi.