Current Affair 1:

Why producing CBG, LBG, hydrogen, methanol from biogas can be beneficia?

 

1. Biogas, a renewable fuel produced using the anaerobic digestion process from organic feedstock, is primarily composed of methane (50-65 per cent), carbon dioxide (30-40 per cent), hydrogen sulfide (1-2.5 per cent) and a very small fraction of moisture.
2. It was predominantly thought of as a rural economy product. With the advancement in research and the tremendous urge to shift to greener fuels, however, biogas came back into the picture to supplement the rising global energy demand.
3. The removal of unwanted components like carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and moisture from raw biogas yields pure methane (over 97 per cent content). Some of the common methods to purify biogas include water scrubbing, membrane separation, pressure swing adsorption and adsorption.
4. This upgraded or high-purity biogas compressed at 250 bar pressure results in a fuel called compressed biogas (CBG). This has properties similar to compressed natural gas (CNG) and could be directly used to power CNG engines.
5. One major drawback of CBG is its existence in the gaseous form, which demands bigger volumes for transportation. Therefore, it is considered more suitable to power small-sized vehicles, though heavy engines have been used for short-distance driving.
6. In the case of heavy vehicles, it has primarily been used to run public transportation in a city due to its need to refuel within a 500-kilometre distance.
7. On the other hand, if the biogas-derived methane is liquefied by cooling it at -162 degrees Celsius, the fuel thus obtained is liquefied biogas (LBG). It has a higher energy density that lowers storage space requirements.
8. At atmospheric pressure, the energy density of liquid methane is roughly 600 times more than that of gaseous methane and 2.5 times greater than that of methane at 250 bar.
9. LBG has become a viable alternative fuel for heavy-duty road transportation since it has a comparatively high energy density (1 litre of LBG against 2.4 litres of CBG), low sulphur content and lower life cycle greenhouse gas emissions than diesel.
10. Long-distance distribution in places without an existing natural gas grid can also benefit from it. Due to air pollution legislation, LBG is also becoming attractive to the shipping industry in addition to being utilised in heavy-duty vehicles.
11. In addition to being used directly as fuel, biomethane can also be transformed into other fuels such as hydrogen and methanol. The primary method for producing hydrogen encourages the reforming of light hydrocarbons, particularly methane, which makes up a significant portion of biogas.
12. Gasification is performed by limiting the amount of oxygen and steam present in the reaction and heating the bio-methane to high temperatures (usually over 600°C). Syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, is created as a result of this process. The hydrogen produced after the removal of carbon monoxide could be used in fuel cells to generate power.
13. Additionally, methanol can also be generated from syngas. Direct methanol production from biogas is also an option through methanotrophy or partial oxidation. Methanol is an effective fuel with an octane rating of 100. It emits less particulate matter and NOx than gasoline and doesn't produce SOx because it doesn't contain sulphur.
14. It can be used also as a transportation fuel by blending or entirely replacing gasoline. Methanol, which is more affordable than LNG or marine oils with virtually no SOx or NOx emissions, has attracted a lot of interest from the maritime community. Presently, China leads the methanol-based automobile sector with vehicles running on different blends of gasoline and pure M100.
15. In the Indian context, CBG is the only transportation fuel from biogas for which commercialisation efforts have been made.
16. The Indian government has been encouraging private businesses to set up CBG plants and provide CBG to oil marketing companies for sale as automotive and industrial fuels under the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme launched in 2018.
17. Currently, LBG, hydrogen and methanol are not produced from biogas in India. The main reasons are the unavailability of biogas in bulk for such derivatives, the absence of infrastructure to generate and market these fuels, the deficiency of modified automobile engines as well as the lack of effective research and development push to improve process economics.
18. The Indian government and Niti Aayog have outlined roadmaps to hasten our transition towards green fuels and promote LNG, hydrogen and methanol. But a renewable source like biogas that could be used to produce these fuels, still remains untapped.

Current Affair 2:

The Global status report on physical activity 2022: WHO

 

News:

Almost 500 million people will develop heart disease, obesity, diabetes or other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) attributable to physical inactivity, between 2020 and 2030, costing US$ 27 billion annually, if governments don’t take urgent action to encourage more physical activity among their populations.

The Global status report on physical activity 2022, published today by the World Health Organization, measures the extent to which governments are implementing recommendations to increase physical activity across all ages and abilities.

Data from 194 countries show that overall, progress is slow and that countries need to accelerate the development and implementation of policies to increase levels of physical activity and thereby prevent disease and reduce burden on already overwhelmed health care systems.

• Less than 50% of countries have a national physical activity policy, of which less than 40% are operational
• Only 30% of countries have national physical activity guidelines for all age groups
• While nearly all countries report a system for monitoring physical activity in adults, 75% of countries monitor physical activity among adolescents, and less than 30% monitor physical activity in children under 5 years
• In policy areas that could encourage active and sustainable transport, only just over 40% of countries have road design standards that make walking and cycling safer. 

Whilst national policies to tackle NCDs and physical inactivity have increased in recent years, currently 28% of policies are reported to be not funded or implemented. To help countries increase physical activity, WHO’s Global action plan on physical activity 2018-2030 (GAPPA) sets out 20 policy recommendations – including policies to create safer roads to encourage more active transport, provide more programmes and opportunities for physical activity in key settings, such as childcare, schools, primary health care and the workplace.

Current Affair 3:

National Credit Framework (NCrF) for public consultation

 

Indian Government launched the draft of National Credit Framework (NCrF) for public consultation here today.

Taking the vision of the new National Education Policy (NEP) as envisioned under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the Government of India has developed the National Credit Framework (NCrF)

1. to enable the integration of academic and vocational domains to ensure flexibility and mobility between the two.
2. NCrF would be a game changer by opening numerous options for further progression of students and inter-mingling of school and higher education with vocational education and experiential learning, thus mainstreaming skilling and vocational education.
3. NCrF will also enable students who have dropped out of the mainstream education to re-enter the education ecosystem.

NCrF will seamlessly integrate the credits earned through school education, higher education and vocational and skill education by encompassing the National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF), National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) and National School Education Qualification Framework (NSEQF).

Abhi you should know itna hi.

Current Affair 4:

Fundamental Duties Statutes

 

Basics.

It was by the 42nd amendment in 1976 that the 'Fundamental Duties' part was incorporated in our Constitution. The concept of fundamental duties was taken from the 1936 USSR Constitution, following the recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee.

The new Part IV-A consisted of a single Article i.e., 51-A and laid down ten fundamental duties for citizens. Later, by the 86th Constitutional amendment of 2002, an eleventh duty was added.

Now,

As already mentioned, the constitution itself does not prescribe a legal sanction against the breach or the non-performance of a Fundamental Duty in Part IV-A of the constitution. It doesn't even ask the state to make laws in conformity of the fundamental duties.

Under the Constitution, neither is there a provision that enforces fundamental duties nor is there any specific prohibition to their enforcement. Nevertheless, the legislature has incorporated some fundamental duties in certain statutes. These statutes lay down frameworks for enforcement of duties and set sanctions in the event of a failure to adhere with the prescription of the law.

A table of some fundamental duties which are backed by statutory frameworks is given here under:

 

 

Current Affair 5:

Adaptation fund under united nations framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC)

 

The Adaptation Fund (AF) was set up under the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It was established in 2001 and officially launched in 2007 at CoP 7 in Marrakech, Morocco.

1. It aims to finance concrete projects and programmes that help vulnerable communities in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol to adapt to climate change.
2. The Fund is financed in part by government and private donors, and also from a two percent share of proceeds of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) issued under the Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects.
3. The Adaptation Fund headquartered in Washington, USA is supervised and managed by the Adaptation Fund Board (AFB).
4. The AFB is composed of 16 members and 16 alternates and holds periodic meetings throughout the year. The World Bank serves as trustee of the Adaptation Fund on an interim basis.
5. Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India is the National Designated Authority (NDA) for Adaptation Fund and proposals are submitted with endorsement of NDA.
6. NABARD has been accredited as National Implementing Entity (NIE) for Adaptation Fund in July 2012 and is the only NIE for India.

The NIEs are those national legal entities nominated by Parties (to the Kyoto Protocol) that are recognized by the Board as meeting the fiduciary standards established by the Board. The NIEs bear full responsibility for the overall management of the projects and programmes financed by the Adaptation Fund and have all financial, monitoring, and reporting responsibilities.

 

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