Title: Climate Change, Energy Swaraj and I
Prof. Govindan Rangarajan, Director, IISc., will preside.
Please use the following link to join the lecture:
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Abstract: Energy is Everything and Everything is Energy. Gandhi’s statement that “Earth has enough for everybody’s need but not for anybody’s greed” is as fundamental as the fact of the Sun rising from the East. However, in contradiction, the world economies are increasingly trying to produce more and consume more. This contradiction is fueled mainly by fossil energy(80-85%), leading to another contradiction wherein increasing energy consumption is required to maintain economic growth, while rampant use of fossil energy is causing climate change.
Climate change is threatening not only sustainable life but the sustainability of life on the planet. We have only 7-9 years left before we reach global warming of 1.5oC (IPCC report). Therefore “drastic” and “immediate” actions are required to mitigate climate change.
The solution lies in adopting Energy Swaraj or generating and consuming energy locally. Adopting Energy Swaraj will also help in skill development, livelihood creation, energy independence, local economy strengthening, and of course, climate change mitigation. To create a public movement and establish Energy Swaraj across, an 11 years long Energy Swaraj Yatra (2020-30) through a solar bus is undertaken by Prof. Chetan S. Solanki, IIT Bombay. Prof. Solanki lives in bus and has pledged not to go home for 11 years.
About the Speaker:Â Dr. Chetan Singh Solanki, a professor from IIT Bombay, brand ambassador of Solar Energy for Govt. of MP, and Founder of the Energy Swaraj Foundation, has pledged not to go home until 2030 and live & travel in the solar bus. Prof. Solanki lives in the bus. It is his mobile home. The bus has the facilities to go through all daily activities. Energy Swaraj Yatra bus will be demonstrated after the talk. The bus is fitted with 3.2 kW solar panels and 6 kWh of battery storage. It has a 3 kVa inverter. Lights, cooler, cookstove, TV, AC, laptop charging inside the bus are all solar-powered. The engine of the bus runs on diesel.
All are welcome