Sustainable Development

Shirish Aphale, Green Power Consultant

James Watt invented steam engine & industrial development started all over the world. Various discoveries by scientists across Europe,USA in Physics,Chemistry led to industrial revolution.
Man made progress with help of science in transport, manufacturing, agriculture,power,medicines.
Digital revolution has changed the life of mankind completely. Industry 4.0 revolution has increased the pace of growth phenomenally .
More industrial production means more power,urbanization, rampant growth in cities .
World has abundant coal deposits & technology to produce power with coal i.e. Thermal power is very cheap.so to feed the industrial & urban need of power , many thermal power plants sprung all over .
Rapid urbanization created the shortage of water, cleanliness, waste management.
Municipal corporation could not cope with the dry & wet waste management.
Since use of plastics for packaging, thermacoal increased considerably.
Cement concrete houses, multi-story buildings, IT parks require large central air conditioning units.
Large thermal power plants & central air conditioning units emits poisonous. a. methane, CO,CO2,which are harmful to environment ,slowly the effects of this emission has come to light.
Cities also increased dependence on motorized vehicles on petrol & diesel.
Power back up with diesel generating sets has gone up.since summer & rainy season will have more power cuts due to paucity of water for thermal & hydro powr plants
Ozone layer of the earth which protects mankind from ultra violet rays of Sun from reaching earth has small holes because of poisonous gases, so temperature of earth has increased by almost 3 deg. Unseasonal rains, tsunami , hailstorms in February are all result of unbalance nature.
Mankind has used nature to their advantages. closed natural streams, gutters,rivers to build houses, dispose all poisonous chemicals in rivers from factories. Thus, polluting water & killing of natural species, fishes, mangroves.
Haphazard development & urbanization has taken toll on nature. The time has come to reverse the clock.
We need development, but the development should be in cohesion with nature, keeping in the mind impact on natural resources it is called sustainable development
You cannot change the damage done, butsurely, we can stop further deterioration
There are few thingslisted below which every common man can do
And everyone should do immediately

Increase the use of solar power – We have abundant sunlight and power can be generated from solar modules which is renewable source of energy., every home, industry, mall, hotels& hospitals can have solar plant at their terrace & consume the power generated .& reduce the dependence on thermal power plants
Energy conservation– Saving of 1 unit in house will save generation of 2 units in Power plant, always use energy efficient equipments, lights.BEE(Bureauof Energy Efficiency) has announced the parameters for the equipmentss.a.Refrigenrator,SplitAC’s,Mixer grinders from 3 to 7 stars
Depending on no of stars the equipments said to be energy efficient. The use of these household equipments will reduce the power consumption and ultimately thermal power generation.
Waste management– Manage your wet wate at household will reduce transport of waste to dumping ground by Municipal corporation & ultimately corporation burns it or fill the land with waste .burning of waste emits poisonous gases to environment .instead every household will have kitchen waste to gas plant which will generate cooking gas can be used in kitchen
Water conservation– It is most important to save potable water, already there is tremendous shortage of water in majority of villages. we should reuse water government has also published guidelines to use faucets & taps which saves 30-40 % water. Every household, industry should opt for rain water harvesting
Water leakages, use of recycled water for gardening & car washing is major initiative can be undertaken by citizens.
Government should slowly divert the dependence on thermal power plants which is having 65 % of generation in India. & produce more energy by way of hydro & nuclear.
Erosion of cultivable land – It is serious subject, due to excessive use of chemical fertilizer is eroding cultivable land, use of pesticides is dangerous to human health,it also kills natural habitats like earth worms who are helpful in cultivation.
Green building initiative – IGBC (Indian Green Building Council) has designed the system where buildings can be environment friendly. The material used will not damage nature, use minimum water, power, use natural ventilation.