Perpetual motion machines

The sun won't stop shining, the wind won't stop blowing, the rivers will not stop flowing, the Earth will not stop rotating, the oceans will not stop boiling, well, at least not too soon. But we will surely run out of oil very soon.

The demand for energy is increasing with the rapid growth of the Indian and Chinese economies, and this energy is not just needed for running cars, but for running factories, offices, and homes for a growing population as well. I love President Kalam who has commisioned the set up of a 5 MW solar plant at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, the largest in the whole of Asia, and is calling out to researchers to develop better solar and other forms of renewable energy. And then there is President Bush who has instead cut off research funding of the NSF by 100 million $ because he feels that the world (or, is world = USA) will have enough oil once the middle east is brought under control. It is amazing how differently people in different parts of the world think!

Anyhow, the bottomline is that renewable energy with standalone small power plants can be the answer to the problem of energy in rural areas. Power brings in automation, which improves quality and scale of production, and gives more time to the people to invest in other activities.

Some interesting green-energy projects going on in the UK:
- Solar powered CIS tower in Manchester who have set up solar panels all along on the walls of the 25 floored building.
- Balcal biofuels who use waste wood and shavings from furniture construction to do biogas energy generation.
- WaveHub that will harness ocean energy.
- Kentish Flats offshore that will establish a wind turbine farm.
- London Mosque that will support over 40,000 worshippers during the 2012 Olympics, and will be completely green with water recylying and solar/wind/tidal power.

And another interesting project to harness the temperature gradient in the ocean waters to generate energy through the reverse refrigeration cycle.