Using Hotter Weather To Beat The Heat

Global warming is a major issue for all of us - and something we can no longer debate as something our earth is heading for. June temperatures in Delhi, which broke a 62 year old record is not a one off this year - several other places in the country have had higher than usual temperatures. It is a massive disaster approaching all life on earth and everything we do seems to be adding to the problem. All pointing to just one thing - that global warming is already here.

Though, on the face of it, this is not the macro problem for India alone, and therefore, on the face of it, not a type of problem that can be tackled with micro solutions, I keep wondering - why not?

All big problems usually start small - as did the reasons for the higher temperatures today. If they started small and grew big because countless smalls added up to become big, isn't it possible to devise small solutions, implement them rapidly, and achieve the goal we desire?

Two of the non-conventional ways of producing electricity is the use of wind and solar power. Both of these technologies already exist and are being used in a limited manner. The detractors always stress on the economic non-viability in mass production. That the intensity of both the wind and sunlight is unpredictable, and therefore not suitable for steady production of electricity is another reason for our inability to completely replace the conventional methods with the unconventional ones. So how do we then find a micro solution that can reduce the burden on the environment that our need for electricity causes?

Summer in India means sweltering heat over a period of three months spread over different regions of the country. This is season where the demand for electricity is the highest. This is also the season when power cuts become the only way of coping with the demands for electricity. Those who can afford air-conditioners draw large amounts of power, but just the lowly fan that the majority of folks use is also a major consumer for the simple reason that so many are running nonstop over the summer.

What if we could use the brilliant sunlight and the unbearable heat in simpler ways to directly run these machines, without drawing power from the grid? After all, the use of these machines peaks and matches the periods when the sunlight is brightest and weather is the hottest. If we could answer some of the following questions we might find new ways of powering these fans and airconditioners without adding burden on the power grid....

1. In the physical world, a weight attached to a pulley can be used to lift another. Using a similar principle, can heat not be used to draw out heat?
2. Space scientists have used the slingshot effect to utilize the gravity of a passing planet to propel spacecraft farther into space - using the force that 'pulls' to race past the same pull!
3. What if heat or motion generated by one machine or gadget could be used to power other gadgets or return power to the grid?
4. What if heat absorbed by roads and concrete structures could be used to produce the additional power that these cooling machines require?
5. What if moving traffic, or the sound it produces, could be used to generate power and that power could be utilized to keep public buildings cool?
6. What if high pedestrian traffic areas such as office buildings, railway stations and malls could utilize the energy of walking feet to power part of their electricity requirements?

For a power starved India, these could be the small solutions that not only eased the burden of powering our facilities using innovative means and at the same time preventing an additional burden on the already fragile environment....