Current Affair 1:

Four new Ramsar Sites added

Just read full paragraphs of each site. They have been taken from Ramsar website.

Current Affair 2:

Retreat of Glaciers in Ladakh

 

No need to go in much detail. Just see what all studies are.

Since 2015, the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) at Dehradun, an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology, has been working on various aspects on glaciology – glacier health (mass balance) monitoring, dynamics, discharge, past climatic conditions, speculation for future climate change and its impact on glaciers in this region.

Study found:

1. The Pensilungpa Glacier located in Ladakh’s Zanskar Valley is retreating due to increase in temperature and decrease in precipitation during winters, a recent study has found.
2. The study also found: The study also points at the significant influence of debris cover on the mass balance and retreat of the glacier's endpoint, especially in summer.
3. Furthermore, the mass balance data for the three years (2016–2019) showed a negative trend with a small accumulation area ratio.
4. The study also suggests that due to continuous rise in the air temperature in line with the global trend, the melting would increase, and it is possible that the precipitation of summer periods at higher altitudes will change from snow to rain, and that may influence the summer and winter pattern.

Link: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/ladakh-glacier-retreat-due-to-warming-low-winter-precipitation-finds-study/article35788810.ece

 

Current Affair 3:

What is Permaculture?

Few important points. Read.

Permaculture is a term used to describe an intentional system of agriculture and settlement that aims to reflect the interrelationships and sustainability of natural ecosystems.

Permaculture can be seen in contrast to intensive agriculture, which eventually leaves land unfit for farming, gradually reducing the amount of land suitable for human habitation.

Permaculture was coined as a term in the 1970s by David Holmren and Bill Mollison, two Australians dedicated to the sustainable use of land.

Permaculture tries to look at a piece of land in a holistic manner, integrating every animal and plant living on it, and combining that with social structures designed to foster long-lasting agriculture as well. Each element of a food cycle is broken down into what it requires and what it contributes, and then each element is pieced together to form a dynamically self-supporting whole.

Here are few principles of permaculture as described by David Holmgren:

Observe and interact – by taking the time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation

Catch and store energy – by developing systems that collect resources when they are abundant, we can use them in times of need

Obtain a yield – ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the working you are doing

Apply self-regulation and accept feedback – we need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well

Use and value renewable resources and services – make the best use of nature’s abundance to reduce our consumptive behavior and dependence on non-renewable resources

Produce no waste – by valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste

Integrate rather than segregate – by putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other

Use and value diversity – diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.

Current Affair 4:

India’s Installed Renewable Energy Capacity Crosses 100 GW

Source Link

India’s total installed renewable energy generation capacity crossed 100 GW mark on Thursday and the country is fourth in the world in terms of installed renewable energy capacity.

The country has set an ambitious target to have 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022.

The total installed renewable energy capacity in India, excluding large hydro, has crossed the mile-stone of 100 GW. Today, India stands at 4th position in the world in terms of installed RE capacity, 5th in solar and 4th in wind in terms of installed capacity.

Latest power at glance:

Current Affair 5:

National Hydrogen Mission

 

During his Independence Day speech Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a National Hydrogen Mission and said India will become the world’s largest exporter of green hydrogen in the years to come.

We will look at green hydrogen, how it is made and how it will help India become more sustainable in terms of energy.

Green, blue and brown hydrogen

Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas abundant in the Earth’s atmosphere and is utilized for industrial uses such as petroleum refining, aerospace applications and manufacturing of chemicals, steel, and ammonia fertilizers.

For industrial processes, hydrogen is extracted primarily through two methods, the gasification of coal or through a process called steam methane reformation (SMR).

In SME, methane from natural gas, when heated with steam, produces carbon monoxide and hydrogen that can be used as fuel.

However, these methods aren’t carbon-friendly, which means they cause vast emissions of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide. The hydrogen produced from these methods is called ‘brown’ hydrogen.

 

Another form of hydrogen, known as ‘blue hydrogen’ is also extracted similarly through SMR but is more carbon-friendly because it captures the carbon dioxide released and stores it, as opposed to emitting it into the atmosphere.

Green hydrogen, meanwhile, proposes to extract hydrogen without releasing any emissions at all.

The primary method of production is through electrolysis, a process that uses electricity to separate water into oxygen and hydrogen. If the source of electricity is renewable, the hydrogen production can also be considered renewable.

Green Hydrogen infrastructure in India

1. India’s interest in producing hydrogen was cemented in the 2021-22 Union Budget, when the National Hydrogen Mission was first announced.
2. In April this year, Dharmendra Pradhan, then petroleum and natural gas minister, had said that the country was focusing on producing blue and green hydrogen along with blended hydrogen in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for various purposes, including transport.
3. Earlier this year, the Indian Oil Corporation Limited announced it would set up the country’s first green hydrogen plant. Reliance Energy followed, saying it would invest Rs 600 billion in building factories to produce green hydrogen among other carbon friendly technologies.

Wait for more in coming year.

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