Energy Diagnosis: How renewable energy sources influence human and environmental health

Entry #4: September 19-23, 2011

          India is a burgeoning Nation. As its economy continues to grow and its already dense population base continues to expand, India’s energy requirements are going to increase as well. India’s immense energy usage in 2008 made it the fifth-largest consumer of energy, responsible for 3.8% of the world’s total consumption (Arora, 2010). With no signs of slowing down, India needs to expand its power-generating capacity. It is projected that in order to meet the energy needs of all of its inhabitants through 2031, India will need to increase its primary energy supply by 3-4 times and its electricity supply by 5-6 times (ICLEI, 2007). However, India must be responsible for the way in which it goes about meeting its additional energy needs. Currently, India relies predominantly on fossil fuels like petroleum and coal for the majority of its energy. It is well documented that the byproducts of the combustion of these fuels are harmful for the environment and human health. Thus, in order to mitigate the effects of continued fossil fuel consumption, India may need to turn to renewable sources of energy like solar power, wind power, hydroelectric power, which are less harmful to the environment. Although these sources of renewable energy are frequently touted as environmentally friendly, each of these energy sources has side effects that may end up actually harming the environment and/or negatively impacting human health.  Thus it is important for the Indian government to weigh the pros and cons of each energy source before financially committing to a single method of energy generation.

          Solar power is an alluring renewable energy source. With an average of 300 sunny days per year, India definitely has the climate to benefit from solar power (Arora, 2010). This amount of solar radiation is equivalent to 5,000 trillion kWh (ICLEI, 2007). Although this is a large quantity of energy, not all of it can be harnessed due to inefficiencies in the technology used to capture the radiation. Photovoltaic solar panels are currently used to convert energy from the sun into an electric current. Since these solar panels are inefficient, they must be installed over large surface areas, which means that areas that would otherwise be used for things like crop production need to be sacrificed for the installation of large photovoltaic cells. Additionally, mining to obtain the large amount of silicon and other trace element such as cadmium used to construct the solar panels is taxing on the environment and results in carbon emissions (Tsoutsos, 2005).

          Wind power is another renewable energy source that is receiving increased attention. India has actually already invested substantially in wind power, possessing the fifth largest installed capacity in the world. Wind power is responsible for 70% of India’s renewable energy output, generating 12,009 MW in 2010 (Arora, 2010). Wind turbines take up less surface area than solar panels and thus do not inhibit land usage nearly as much. However, windmills are harmful to biodiversity, since the blades of the turbines are responsible for killing many bats and birds as they fly through areas populated with wind turbines (Env. & Health Impacts, 2002). Humans may also be affected by the blades of the turbines in a more subtle way: sound generation. It has been shown that the incessant hum of turbines can cause psychological stress due to annoyance, especially in otherwise quiet, rural areas (Pedersen, 2007). Additional research needs to be done to determine the long-term effects of sound exposure from wind turbines.

          Another renewable energy source option is hydroelectric power. In a hydroelectric system, water is stored in a large reservoir where it is then forced to pass through the turbines of a hydroelectric plant. It is estimated that India is able to produce 84,000 MW of power at 60% load factor (ICLEI, 2007). Although hydroelectric power is an ostensibly green method of energy production, like most forms of renewable energy, it too has its cons. One of the biggest downsides of hydroelectric power is that in order to build the large reservoir necessary to contain the water, large tracts of land need to be acquired. Unfortunately for the residents nearby, this often means that they are forced by the government to pack up their belongings and relocate to a different area. This obviously creates large amounts of social stress for the people who end up getting displaced. Additionally, hydroelectric power can lead to environmental problems. A stagnate body of water like a reservoir is able to collect large amounts of nutrients, which leads to eutrophication, decreases the dissolved oxygen content of the water, and negatively impacts aquatic creatures in the area (Env. & Health Impacts, 2002). The anaerobic conditions created by a eutrophic body of water causes decaying organic matter to convert to methane. Methane, a gas with a greenhouse gas potential 21 times higher than carbon dioxide, is thus generated in the reservoir and allowed to escape into the atmosphere. Another serious side effect of hydroelectric power is the way in which reservoirs enhance the proliferation of vector-born diseases. A reservoir located in a country with a warm climate like India provides an excellent breeding ground for malaria spreading mosquitoes (Env. & Health Impacts, 2002). An interesting development in the realm of hydroelectric power generation is the increased use of smaller plants. Although they produce less power than their larger, reservoir counterparts, they do not block the flow of water as much and thus will hopefully not lead to ecological problems caused by water stagnation (Arora, 2010). However, if these smaller hydroelectric stations are found to cause environmental degradation, a large percentage of water bodies will be impacted since these stations are typically located in first or second order streams, which have a significant impact on higher order streams.  

          India is facing some difficult questions in terms of energy supply. Enough energy needs to be produced to meet the needs of the population, but at the same time, the integrity of the environment must be taken into account. As we have seen, there is no perfect energy solution, and India must use discernment in selecting renewable energy sources to supplement its supply of fossil fuels.

References:

Arora, D. S., et al., (2010). Indian Renewable Energy Status Report, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Environmental and Health Impacts of Electricity Generation (2002), The International Energy Agency.

Pedersen, E., Waye, K. P., (2007). Wind turbine noise, annoyance and self‐reported health and well‐being in different living environments. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 64(7), 480-486.

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Status in India (2007), ICLEI Report.

Tsoutsos, T., Frantzeskaki, N., & Gekas, V. (2005). Environmental impacts from the solar energy technologies. Energy Policy, 33, 289-296.

Entry #3: September 12-16, 2011

Nutritional issues in India

          This is week in class, we covered information pertaining to nutrition in India. Our class discussions and readings included the history and present implications of the Green Revolution, the cycling of nutrients through the environment, and current trends in urban nutrition. As a large, developing country, India is faced with the challenge of providing enough food to its burgeoning population. Part of this challenge includes not only producing enough food, but also producing quality foods so that the population is properly nourished. Additionally, the pressure to produce large quantities of food can lead to resorting to agricultural practices that can harm the environment. It is interesting to examine how India walks the fine line of providing enough food for its population while maintaining the integrity of the environment.

          The Green Revolution was the brainchild of Norman Borlaug, an agro scientist who developed a new string of wheat in Mexico in the 1940s. This new wheat strain was able to be produced in high yields, resisted disease, and was able to flourish in arid climates. Most importantly, this wheat strain was shorter and more compact than the naturally occurring grains in Mexico. This meant that the new “dwarfed” strain of wheat did no suffer from the weight-induced falling problem of the taller, top-heavy, natural wheat strains. As a result of the development of this new wheat strain, wheat production in Mexico increased by a factor of four. It comes as no surprise that when India was facing nationwide famine in the 1960s, the prime minister of agriculture turned to Borlaug for help.

          In addition to incorporating this new strain of wheat, India initiated an overhaul of the existing agricultural system by establishing fertilizer and pesticide factories to produce substances that would help the plants grow and protect them from insect damage and expanding the irrigation system to produce enough water to accommodate the increased plant production (Swaminathan, 2010). As a supplement to the technical changes made in the agricultural system, agricultural universities were also established in an effort to educate farmers on how to obtain the maximum yields from their crops. The new technologies and strategies of the Green Revolution was able to ameliorate the effects of the food shortage of the 1960s by substantially increasing food production throughout the nation. Eventually, the rate of agricultural production outpaced the rate of economic growth, and the government accumulated a surplus of food.

          Although the Green Revolution was instrumental in alleviating the food shortage problem, this agricultural explosion was not without its negative side effects. One of these side effects was the alteration of the cycling of nutrients. As it turned out, the same fertilizers that were responsible for such a marked increase in agricultural output were also to blame for ecological damage and increased health risks via excessive nutrient input into the environment. The fertilizers used in to spur the intense agricultural growth of the Green Revolution were rich in nitrates and phosphates. As I discussed in my second blog entry, nitrates cause a host of health problems for humans. The nitrates in the fertilizer applied to the crops enter the soil, interact with irrigation water, and make their way into the ground water, which is then consumed by humans and can lead to health issues (Townsend et al., 2003). The increased nitrate and phosphate input into the environment by fertilizer use also results in the eutrophication of bodies of water, which results in algal blooms that are harmful to animals living in the area and thus results in the reduction the biodiversity of the region (Filippili, 2008). The continual use of nitrate fertilizers has also reduced the fertility of the soils by increasing the acidity of the soil (Townsend et al., 2003).

          Ultimately, the Green Revolution was a positive thing for India. This revolution increased food production and alleviated hunger across the nation. However, the liberal use of fertilizers has lead to environmental degradation and the presentation of human health problems. Fertilizers are useful in helping produce food for hungry countries, but they must be used in moderation to prevent ecological and biological issues.

          In present day India, food security remains a major issue. By virtue of its large population size, India is not able to rely on world trade to meet to import sufficient amounts of food and must instead focus on domestic production to meet all of its sustenance needs. However, population size is not the source of India’s current food insecurity; the poor distribution system of produced food leads to unequal distribution of produce and results in pockets of the population suffering from hunger (Swaminathan, 2010). Networks of public distribution centers like those found in Tamil Nadu need to be incorporated across the nation to ensure that everyone in India has readily available access to food. These centers provide communal sources of subsidized food, which can be more readily obtained by members of the vulnerable, low-income members of the population (Swaminathan, 2010).

          There is also an interesting nutritional transition occurring in the urban areas of India. In these locations, an increased consumption of animal products, sugars, and fats has been observed. This transition to eating foods with higher fat content, coupled with the decreased physical activity levels associated with the urban lifestyle, has resulted in a greater prevalence of obesity. The upper class urban residents are more likely to be obese than lower class residents (Shetty, 2002). I found this trend interesting in light of the fact that in the United States, it is the lower class urban residents who are more likely to be obese since the only foods that they can afford are high in fat.

          India is an interesting case study in large-scale food production. This large, growing nation has experienced multiple opportunities to develop strategies for feeding its hungry population. It will be interesting to see whether the nutritional transition will spread from the urbanized center into the rural areas and if India will be able to more effectively distribute food to its population.    

           

          

References:

Filippelli, G. M., (2008). The Global Phosphorus Cycle: Past, Present, and Future. Elements. 4:89-95.

Shetty, P.S. (2002). Nutrition transition in India. Public Health Nutrition: 5(1A), 175-182.

Swaminathan M. (2010). Population and Food Security. In S. Kumar, P. Panda & R.Ved (Eds.). Handbook of Population and Development. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Swaminathan M.S. (2010). Beyond the Green Revolution. In M.S. Swaminathan’s, From Green to Evergreen Revolution: Indian Agriculture: performance and Challenges. New Delhi: Academic Foundation.

Townsent et al., (2003). Human Health Effects of a Changing Global Nitrogen Cycle, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 1(5): 240-246.

September 8, 2011

Entry #2: September 5-9, 2011

Nitrogen: nutrient and contaminant

          This week in class, we examined how environmental nutrients can have an impact on human health. Specifically, we discussed the ways in which nitrogen in the form nitrogen oxides can influence body. Although the element nitrogen is a key building block for living matter, in certain molecular forms, it can also tear life apart.

          In its elemental form, nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, harmless gas that composes roughly 78% by mass of the air in earth’s atmosphere. However, when nitrogen becomes fixed – combines with other elements – it forms more reactive molecules that can influence human health. One such group of reactive, nitrogen containing molecules is nitrogen oxides, which include nitrates, nitrites, and nitrogen dioxide. For human beings, the excessive consumption of or exposure to nitrogen oxides can prove to be detrimental to ones health.

          Nitrogen oxides are formed naturally in the atmosphere with the help of lightning. The electrical energy from lightening causes diatomic oxygen and nitrogen molecules to disassociate. The newly freed oxygen and nitrogen atoms are then able to interact with each other and form nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide. Nitrogen dioxide then combines with water vapor in the atmosphere to make nitric acid, which falls to the earth in the form of acid rain, where it enters the soil. Once in the soil, the weakly acidic nitric acid solution is neutralized and the nitrogen eventually takes the molecular form of nitrate (Nitrogen (N), 2011). As much as 25% of the total amount of nitrate in the environment is comes from the atmosphere (Gupta et al., 2008).

          Nitrogen oxides also enter the environment through anthropogenic processes like excessive application of chemical fertilizers in the agricultural process. Nitrates in the fertilizer enter the soil, interact with water, and end up contaminating the ground water of the immediate area. Developing countries like India are especially likely to utilize nitrate-containing fertilizers on their crops. The irrigated soils of developing countries located in humid, tropical environments facilitate the infiltration of nitrates into the ground water (Singh et al., 1995). Another anthropogenic means by which nitrogen oxides are introduced into the environment is through the combustion of fossil fuels.

          Regardless of the mechanism by which the nitrogen oxides were made, or whether they were ingested through drinking water, eating food, or inhaling air, once the nitrogen oxides find their way into one’s body, they begin to wreak havoc at the molecular level and cause numerous health problems. The primary mechanism by which nitrogen oxides cause health problems is through the ingestion of nitrates. Symptoms of methemoglobinemia are expressed after the consumption of water with high levels of nitrate. Methemoglobinemia occurs when nitrate is reduced to nitrate by saliva microflora and forms methemoglobin via the oxidation of the ferrous ion of hemoglobin into the ferric state (Gupta et al., 2008). This disease reduces the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body (Methemoglobinemia, 2011). Unfortunately, infants are most susceptible to this ailment do to their small body size, which means that they end up consuming more water per unit weight than an adult. Additionally, the fluid in the stomach of infants is less acidic than that of most adults, which results in better living conditions for the nitrate reducing microflora (Gupta et al., 2008).

          Nitrate ingestion can also result in respiratory problems like asthmatic attacks, cause hypertension in the cardiovascular system, foul-up the bowels by inducing diarrhea, lead to type-1 diabetes, and cause goiter. Sadly, infants are not excluded from these nitrate-induced ailments and are also at risk of having a low birth weight, and struggling to gain weight. However, children sometimes do not live to suffer these ailments since nitrate consumption of the mother can lead to stillbirth and spontaneous abortion. Nitrates also function as procarcinogens since they form carcinogenic compounds when they react with other molecules like amines and amides (Gupta et al., 2008).

          Developing countries are especially at risk for nitrogen oxide contamination of the atmosphere. More than half of the populations of developing countries are forced to meet their domestic energy needs through the utilization of coal, wood, and dung. Frequently, these fuels are burned on rudimentary and primitive stoves in the rural households, which results in incomplete combustion and contaminates the air in the household. This phenomenon is known as indoor air pollution and contaminates the atmosphere with many different harmful molecules including nitrogen oxides, which lead to the horrendous health problems described above (Bruce et al., 2000).

          The ingestion of nitrate is clearly a problem, not just in developing countries like India, but also in nations all around the world. Fortunately, measures can be taken to prevent unnecessary suffering from these pernicious nitrogen oxides. The ultimate solution is to purify all of the water for consumptive and agricultural use through the use of the denitrification processes. Unfortunately, this method is very costly and cannot be implemented on a large scale (Gupta et al, 2008). There are other, less expensive alternatives to preventing nitrate health issues. Farmers can fertilize their fields more conservatively and not inject copious amounts of nitrates into the environment. Women also can prevent health problems in their children by breast-feeding until the children are at least six months old. This would limit the child to nitrate exposure in the drinking water used to mix baby formula, and improve the overall health of the child since natural milk contains nutrients and antibodies important for developing a healthy body.

         

References

Bruce, N., Perez-Padilla, R., & Abalak, R. (2000). Indoor air pollution in developing countries: a

     major environmental and public health challenge. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 78(9), 1078-1092.

Gupta, S.K., Gupta, R.C., Chhabra, S.K., Eskiocak, S., Gupta, A. B., &Gupta, R. (2008). Health issues related to N pollution in water and air. Current Science, 94(11), 1460-1477.

Methemoglobinemia. (2011). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/378362/methemoglobinemia

Nitrogen (N). (2011). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/416180/nitrogen

Singh, B., Singh, Y., & Sekhon, G. S. (1995). Fertilizer-N use efficiency and nitrate pollution of groundwater in developing countries. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 20(3-4), 167-184.

Entry #1: August 29 – September 2, 2011

          In 1997, Bina Agarwal of the Institute of Economic Growth in Delhi, India, wrote a fascinating article on the ways in which gender issues, poverty struggles, and environmental degradation are interlinked. Although these three entities ostensibly have little in common, by analyzing state level data, Agarwal was able to illustrate the connections between these three issues. In her research, Agarwal utilized what she terms the Gender-Environment-Poverty Vulnerability index (GEP(V)) to quantify the ways in which gender, the environment, and poverty are related to each other throughout India. Agarwal was able to use this index to illustrate the regional variations between these factors and identify the areas in the greatest need of environmental action and social reform.

          According to Agarwal, the ability of India’s impoverished inhabitants to access natural resources is decreased by environmental degradation and the privatization and statization of commercial resources, with the former reducing the overall availability of natural resources, and the latter resulting in the unequal distribution of what little resources are available. Among the more prominent examples of environmental degradation are the excessive use of pesticides on crops, which decreases the health and fertility of the soil, as well as the overdrawing and subsequent lowering of the ground water table as a result of unregulated tube well installations (Agarwal, 24).

          The statization and privatization of natural resources are part of the reason that the environment is deteriorating at its current rate. Natural resources are viewed by the state as commodities that can be exploited to gain a profit at the expense of environmental health. Privatization also is an unfortunate mechanism of environmental degradation and resource mismanagement. Privatization is the process by which resources are taken away from the community and unevenly distributed amongst the people of a region. An example of this is the allowance of farmers to sink as many tube wells into the ground as they want. The effects of this unregulated practice are two-fold: farmers with the funds to build tube wells receive more than their fair share of water, and because there is little regulation on installing these wells and tapping into the groundwater, the water table has been severely lowered in many regions of India (25). Tube well installation and utilization should definitely be more closely regulated by the government to prevent the over pumping. Additionally, it would be beneficial to install percolation tanks in these areas to promote artificial recharge and raise the groundwater level table (Kumar, Singh, & Sharma, 802).

          According to Agarwal, the people most affected by the degradation of natural resources are those living in impoverished, rural areas. In these locations, people live in very close proximity to the environment and are dependent on community resources. As a result, any depletion of natural resources or degradation of the environment will result in widespread suffering in these economically impoverished, rural areas (26).

          Within the rural communities themselves, women are at the greatest risk of suffering from the effects of environmental degradation. Because of the pronounced gender division of labor, women are left with the task of venturing into the forests to find sustenance and walking to wells and rivers to fetch water (28). Women are the ones most closely interacting to the polluted and degrading environment, and are thus at the greatest risk of suffering from water-borne illnesses. This gender division of labor is ridiculous and harmful to the rural communities. Risk of environmentally caused illnesses aside, men and women should equally share the responsibility of gathering resources from the environment. Agarwal brings up an interesting point when she mentions the tendency of men spend their incomes on personal items, while women are more likely to utilize their incomes on items for the whole family (27). Thus, dividing the responsibility of resource management between the sexes should result in healthier, better-provisioned families.

          Ultimately, Agarwal was able to tie together the factors of gender bias, environmental degradation, and poverty by creating the GEP(V) index. With this index, she was able to quantify the regional variation between women’s well being and the environment. Overall, women residing in the Northern part of India are much more economically, socially, and medically at risk than women living in the southern regions of India. According to the GEP(V) index, Kerala is most ideal place for women to thrive. Kerala possessed the highest female to male sex ratio (indicating less than average gender bias) and the highest female literacy rate (indicating that women are being educated). Annual rainfall levels and percentage forest area values for Kerala were both adequate, indicating that the environment was healthy. Kerala had an overall GEP(V) index of 0.28. Conversely, Bihar was identified as the worst state for women to live in. This state had a lower sex ratio and a lower female literacy rate than Kerala.  Bihar’s overall GEP(V) index was 0.88 (37).

          The most interesting discovery of Agarwal’s study was that high levels of prosperity do not necessarily equate to gender equality. The states of Punjab and Haryana were examples of this relationship. Although Punjab and Haryana were found to be agriculturally prosperous and had low levels of poverty, both of these states low female to male sex ratios indicating a gender bias. I am looking forward to seeing for myself how women are treated in India as we travel from the southeast to the north.

References:

Agarwal, B. (1997). Gender, Environment and Poverty Interlinks: Regional Variations and Temporal Shifts in Rural India, 1971-91. World Development, 25(1), 23-52.

Kumar R., Singh, R. D., Sharma, K. D., (2005). Water resources of India, Current Science, 89 (5):794-811.