Bio-diesel in India: from the tree to the tank!

A Spanish/Latin American blogger friend of mine has a blog dedicated to alternate fuels called Jatrophaonline. He invited me to share links and posts about alternate energy sources. I am delighted to join him in his mission to write blog posts about alternate fuels. This post is the first one in a series dedicated to alternate sources of energy.

The prime sources of bio-fuel are bio-ethanol extracted from molasses used in Spark Ignition engines that use petrol/gasoline as fuel and bio-diesel extracted from Jatropha curcas used in Compression Ignition engines that use high speed diesel as fuel. There are many other promising and sustainable sources from which bio-fuels can be extracted. One of them is the Pongamia pinnata tree.

Flowers of the Pongamia pinnata . . .

Image:Wikimedia commons

Pongamia pinnata is the binomial name for a tree that one may have come across daily, especially if you live in South India. It is known by many common names but let us use the genus name Pongamia for ease of understanding. This tree is a part of folklore in South India. According to South Indian lore, if you have a pongamia tree in your backyard and sit under it every day, you will receive the nourishment and vitality you need to overcome problems caused by extremes of wind, water, or fire.This bit of folklore may prove to be prophetic.The pongamia tree has the potential for transforming the struggling villages of today into tomorrow’s havens of prosperity and tranquility, and at the same time, restoring their rich heritage of rural self-sufficiency. I provide some more information about the Pongamia tree, its characteristics and the traditional uses of the tree. The information has been taken from Wikipedia.

Pongamia is a deciduous tree that grows to about 15-25 metres in height with a large canopy that spreads equally wide. The leaves are a soft, shiny burgundy in early summer and mature to a glossy, deep green as the season progresses. Small clusters of white, purple, and pink flowers blossom on their branches throughout the year, maturing into brown seed pods. The tree is well suited to intense heat and sunlight and its dense network of lateral roots and its thick, long taproot make it drought tolerant. The dense shade it provides slows the evaporation of surface water and its root structures promote nitrogen fixation, which moves nutrients from the air into the soil. Withstanding temperatures slightly below 0°C to 50°C and annual rainfall of 5–25 dm, the tree grows wild on sandy and rocky soils, including oolitic limestone, but will grow in most soil types, even with its roots in salt water.

Known by many names, it is a leguminous tree that’s well-adapted to arid zones and has many traditional uses. It is often used for landscaping purposes as a windbreak or for shade due to the large canopy and showy fragrant flowers. The bark can be used to make twine or rope and it also yields a black gum that is used to treat wounds caused by poisonous fish. The flowers are used by gardeners as compost for plants requiring rich nutrients. Although all parts of the plant are toxic and will induce nausea and vomiting if eaten, the fruits and sprouts, along with the seeds, are used in many traditional remedies. Juices from the plant, as well as the oil, are antiseptic and resistant to pests. In addition the Pongam tree has the rare property of producing seeds of 25-35% lipid content. The seed oil is an important asset of this tree having been used as lamp oil, in soap making, and as a lubricant for thousands of years. This oil is rapidly gaining popularity as an important source of fuel for diesel engines.

It is obvious from the above information that, like Jatropha curcas, Pongamia pinnata has a great potential to be used as a sustainable source of extracting bio-diesel. Pongamia does not have to be grown on agricultural land at all. It can be cultivated on a large scale in areas that are unfit for cultivating food crops. It can also be grown on the margins of roads and fields and in backyard gardens. This hardy tree not only provides shade from the harsh sun, but also has been used for so many other purposes traditionally. And with the rising global oil prices caused by peak oil demand and depleting mineral oil sources, trees like the Pongamia that were always there could find a new use.

Rudolf Diesel, the German engineer who invented the Compression Ignition engine that was named after him, actually designed his engine to run on vegetable oil and not mineral oil. Now, with mineral oil sources getting depleted at a fast rate, it looks like diesel engines will have to go back to the very oil that Herr Diesel used to run his first engine. I salute the great visionary, Herr Diesel, an engineer who was far,far ahead of his times.

Mother Nature always has an answer to our prayers! Our beautiful Earth has more than enough to satisfy the need of everyone but not enough to satisfy the greed of even a few!

You can download and read a wonderful article in pdf format called Seeds of Hope by Ishan Tigunait.

Serial blasts kill dozens in Jaipur

Seven serial blasts rocked the city of Jaipur after 7 p.m., killing 60 people and injuring more than 150. The explosives were possibly planted on bicycles in crowded market places. Click on this link for the latest news updates.Though investigations are going on, the synchronised nature of the blasts seems to suggest the involvement of a major terrorist organisation that is based in a foreign country. The same organisation is believed to have been behind the serial blasts in the Indian city of Hyderabad last year.

Jaipur, known as the Pink City, is the capital of the state of Rajasthan . . .

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Serial blasts have been occurring in Indian cities with an alarming frequency. The terrorists are cold-blooded murderers as they have deliberately targeted crowded places like markets, public parks, restaurants, public squares and places of worship. The very fact that the places of worship belonged to different communities makes it clear that it is the handiwork of dangerous external elements who want to create communal disharmony in India. I hope the people see through the designs of those external elements and do not let the blasts destroy the peace between different communities. I hope the politicians do not play the blame game but concentrate on utilising the resources at their disposal to bring the culprits to book.

The Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed are believed to be behind many of the terrorist bombings in Indian cities. These groups are believed to have close links with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and many of their cadres are trained by those two terrorist organisations in Afghanistan. Those damned organisations are bent upon destabilising India by creating terror and provoking communal tensions between the two major religious communities in India. They seem to have a loose network of sleeper cells in different cities that are activated by their handlers in foreign countries who supply them with the explosive materials. Investigators have discovered that the terrorists have used mobile phones and SIM cards procured in India to trigger some of the blasts, indicating that they have a crude network of cells, conduits, suppliers and handlers.

The Prime Minister and other leaders have stressed the need to remain calm and not let dangerous elements create trouble by causing communal disharmony. It is important not to suspect the members of one particular community as a whole as everyone is sure that these acts of terrorism are carried out by a microscopic minority of lunatic fringe elements, some of whom are not from India.

I pray for the souls of the innocent people who were killed and for their families and for my fellow citizens who were injured in the blasts and wish them a speedy recovery.

A tribute to mothers and motherhood from a son

Photo:Burl Hays (Japan Today)

Dearest Mother,

From two half cells, I formed within You,
I grew and divided . . . and grew and divided . . . and grew and divided,
I became a bunch of rapidly expanding cells,
I grew in size till I became uncomfortable for You,
I drank Your blood all the while,
Yet You never complained even a bit,
But took care of me to the hilt like any Mother.

I grew so much that I gave You unbearable pain,
I refused to step out into the bad world,
They had to cut You up to take me out,
Yet You did not complain,
I cried because I caused You so much pain,
But You smiled when You heard me cry,
I will never understand why You did that, Mother.

You sacrificed so much of your time to take care of me,
I was selfish enough to think I deserved it,
But You were selfless enough to give up so many things for me,
And when the first word escaped from my lips,
You were delighted beyond what words could describe,
Your Heart must have leapt with joy,
When You heard me say “Mother”.

I grew up to be a boy,
And Your joy grew up with me,
For I was, I am and I will always be Your little bundle of joy,
When I took my first step, I could see the joy on Your face,
And when I fell down, I could see it turn into concern,
When I fell down from my bicycle and injured myself,
I could see the sorrow on Your face, Mother.

When I left home to attend school,
I could never stop thinking about You,
And You could never stop thinking about me,
The day I went missing on my way home, You searched frantically for me,
Along with the man who gave me my Y-chromosome, and when You found me,
You hugged me so hard, that it brought tears to even the eyes of Your companion,
I guess he must have been reminded of his Mother.

When I broke my leg, it must have broken Your Heart,
I was no longer a boy, and You did not want me to remain a Mamma’s boy,
When I bloodied myself, I shouted hard as they stitched me up,
But I heard You sobbing, and I stopped shouting,
Please forgive me if I have hurt You inadvertently, as I do not have that right,
But there is only one person in the world who has a right to hurt me,
Ofcourse, that person is You, Mother.

Besides me, You have made a difference in the lives of many other children and young people,
But why did You go through so much for me?
I know I should not ask You that, for that is what Motherhood is all about,
But how on Earth can I ever repay You?
I think I know the answer too,
And that is to do exactly what Father Time wanted me to do on Mother Earth,
So that when I die, I can happily say, “Thank You very much, Mother!“

I truly love You, dear Mother!

On Mother’s Day, I express my heartfelt gratitude to every Mother. Enjoy Your day, Mothers! The world would be nothing without You! As far as I am concerned, since we live on Mother Earth, every day is a Mother’s Day!