Saturday, 31 October 2020

Standardizing Vaccination Registration Process

Here is some welcome news :

Covid vaccination drive may span over a year, group-wise / Times of India – 31 Oct 2020

Extract :

Ø “In all likelihood, the Covid-19 vaccine introduction will span over a year with multiple groups being included sequentially starting rom Healthcare Workers ( HCWs ). Therefore, it is important to create strong advisory and coordination mechanism at state and district levels to guide the process of Covid-19 vaccine introduction……

Ø “It is anticipated that initially the supply of vaccine will be limited in view of huge demand hence, prioritization of socio-economic groups will be done for vaccination and subsequently other groups will be included for vaccination “ the ministry said

Ø As per the ToR ( Terms of Reference ), the steering committee to be led by te state chief secretary will monitor the creation of a database of healthcare workers ( HCWs ) on Covid-19 Vaccination Beneficiary Management System ( CVBMS ) who will be prioritized for vaccination in the first phase

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Central Government directive for creation of State-level steering committees, is a very welcome step

“ Creation of a Database“ for the purpose of “ Prioritization of socio-economic Groups “, would comprise of two steps , as follows :

LONG BEFORE VACCINATING :

Ø “ Registration “ of each and every citizen, ( using an online FORM having only the ESSENTIAL data fields ), to assign “ Priority / Date / Timing / Venue of vaccination “ to each citizen, with provision for “re-assigning “ if concerned citizen cannot make it for some reason

IMMEDIATELY BEFORE VACCINATING :

Ø Collecting “ additional demographic data “ about the citizen, in somewhat detailed manner , as described at :

Rationing of Covid Vaccine ?...............................[ 06 July 2020 ]

Extract :

# For vaccine , each bottle / vial , besides carrying Batch Number must carry UNIQUE bottle number / vial number .

# Vaccine Manufacturer will record which bottle got dispatched to which drug

store / when

# Data will get automatically transmitted to Govt’s Central Server

National Clinical Registry on Covid………………………….[ 29 Sept 2020 ]

This data MUST be compiled BEFORE vaccinating because once a person

gets vaccinated, he may not stick around to furnish the “ additional

demographic data “ !

Health workers cannot be made to run after thousands of absconding citizen !

HOW WILL SUCH COMPILATION OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA HELP ?

Ø Applying AI ( Artificial Intelligence ) to the ever-growing National Health Data Vault, will enable us to PREDICT, which SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUPS are most VULNERABLE now ( for getting infected with Covid in the near future ) and which groups are most susceptible later on to some other unknown future pandemics )

Any compromise / shortcut on such MASSIVE DATA COMPILATION ( before vaccination ), will render the entire exercise infructuous ( costing Rs 50,000 crore, for the cost of vaccine + billions of MAN-HOURS spent by 1370 million citizen and health workers ) !

We would fail to “ Reap the Full Benefit “ of the ECONOMIC COST incurred of this ONE-TIME exercise, for PREVENTING future virus outbreaks !

I urge Dr Harshvardhan , to ensure that the steering committees of ALL the States follow ( without compromise ), ONLINE DATA COLLECTION FORMS , hosted on the Central Server , as described at :

National Clinical Registry

Everyone MUST use :

Ø Same FORM , hosted on same CENTRAL PORTAL , (using any device and from anywhere )

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / hcp@recruitGuru.com / 01 Nov 2020

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“ Corona Kavach “ Insurance ………………………………………………….[ 07 July 2020 ]

An Appeal to DCGI – and others ……………………………………………..[ 09 July 2020 ]

Thank You All …………………………………………………………………………..[ 10 July 2020 ]

Probabilities ………………………………………………………………………………..[ 19 July 2020 ]

Congratulations , Sid Chakravarthy ………………………………………….[ 24 July 2020 ]

Thank You , Cabinet Secretary ………………………………………………..[ 07 Aug 2020 ]

Thursday, 29 October 2020

Water from Air ? Or from Sea ?

Dear Shri Aditya Thackerayji

( adityathackeray@me.com )

From news reports , I believe you have directed government officers to prepare a report on setting up a 200 MLD desalination plant on Gorai coast

While appreciating your concern, I urge you to direct the officers concerned to go through this email in order to determine :

Ø Availability of FUNDS ( Capital Cost ) required for an RO plant

Ø Operating costs to produce 1 litre of drinking water

Ø Time ( years ) for construction

Ø Availability of a cheaper alternate technology ( eg : water from air, using solar power )

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecuitGuru.com / 30 Oct 2020

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Context :

BMC revives plan to set up desalination plant for potable water / 27 Oct 2020

Extract :

Ø Later in 2016-17, the BMC had initiated the process to set up two desalination plants….However, later, the project was put on hold due to high cost.

Ø P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner (AMC), BMC, said, “The cost for a desalination plant has been optimised because of evolution of technology. The cost of construction of the plant is the same as that of a dam. It is estimated to cost around Rs 1,800 crore to construct a 200 MLD plant.”

Ø The civic body supplies 3,750 million (m) litres (l) of water daily, as compared to the demand of 4,200 ml.

Ø Initially, a pilot project will be undertaken, which will cater to 5% of Mumbai’s drinking water needs, and later the capacity will be successfully augmented to 200 MLD { 200 / 4200 = 4.76 % ! }

Ø “An Israeli company has been tasked to submit the feasibility report, which was involved in a similar 650 MLD-capacity plant in Israel. It will take around three years to construct the plant,” said Velrasu.

Ø Dubai is the first city in the world to construct a desalination plant.

Ø Chennai, which has three such plants, had constructed its first project in 2003 that supplies 90 MLD of water to the city.

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Context :

Solar System Can Pull Drinkable Water Directly From The Air / 14 Oct 2020

Extract :

Ø By contrast, the new system can work at humidity levels as low as 20 percent and requires no energy input other than sunlight or any other available source of low-grade heat.

Ø The present production rate of about 0.8 liters of water per square meter per day may be adequate for some applications,

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My earlier blog / email on this technological break-through :

Water above our heads ………………………………………………….. [ 29 Mar 2019 ]

Extracting Water from Air : Now Electricity from Air ?......[ 18 Feb 2020 ]

Water Water Everywhere ? Even in Latur ? [ 15 April 2017 ]

Deja Vu ? [ 28 Feb 2018 ]

Indian Water Warriors ? [ 24 Mar 2018 ]

Water Wars Are Looming ! [ 09 June 2018 ]

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Here is what Gujarat had planned 2 years ago :

A Desperate Measure ? ……………………………………………………… [ 18 Nov 2018 ]

Extract :

Using Reverse Osmosis technology, plant will produce 100 million liter of drinkable water per day [ 100 MLD ]

At what cost ?

My guesstimate :

Capital Cost ……………………………….. Rs 1,000 cr

Interest @ 15 % ………………………….. Rs 150 cr

Depreciation @ 10 %..................... Rs 100 cr

Operating Expenses @ 20 % ………… Rs 200 cr

Total annual cost …………………………… Rs 450 cr

Per day cost ( 365 days ) ………………. Rs 1.23 cr ( Rs 12.3 Million )

So , per liter cost …………………………… Rs 0.10 ( approx. )

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NOW STUDY THIS REPORT : The Cost of Desalination

Extract :

Ø The average costs, represented by the best fit line in the data shown, are

about

> $ 0.70/m3 ($2.65 per thousand gallons = approx.. Rs 0.05 / litre )

for very large plants (325,000 m3/day) and rise to

> $ 1.25/m3 ($4.75 per thousand gallons) for small plants (10,000

m3/day).

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Find “ per litre cost of desalination “ of several plants around the world , at :

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Exceptional-Cost-Efficiency-of-Israels-Desalination-Facilities_fig1_263468292

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As to the desalination plants of Chennai , here are some interesting facts :

Rs 1.36 crore a day for just 200 million litres of water; can Chennai really afford desalination plants?( 07-03-2019)

{ ie: 6.8 paise per litre }

Data shared by Chennai Metrowater Supply and Sewerage Department (CMWSSD) specifies the breakup of the expenditure on various modes of procuring water as in the table below:

Source	Capital Cost per MLD (in Rs)	O & M Cost per MLD (in Rs)
Desalination plants	15.30 crores	68,000
Surface Water resources	7.70 crores	6000-23,000 (average of 14,500)

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Wednesday, 28 October 2020

A Tale of Two States

Here are two tales

One from South Australia and another from Maharashra ( India )

First Tale :

South Australia 100% Powered by Solar Energy Alone in a World First

Extract :

Ø Solar energy is mustering speed and advancements in many parts of the world, this includes the state of South Australia that saw 100% of its energy needs met thanks to solar energy alone.

Ø Moreover, the majority of the power was generated from home rooftop solar systems, giving 77% of the needed energy output, per the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

Ø So it's no wonder that one in three homes in the state sports solar panels on their rooftops.

Ø Just this year, around 2,500 homes have been kitted out with their personal solar panels, per New Atlas

Ø In total, around 228,000 rooftop systems in South Australia already exist, and these assisted in providing 992 megawatts (MW) during the hour of pure solar energy use on October 11th.

Second Tale :

Less than 0.5% households in Maharashtra have solar home system: Report

Extract :

Ø Only 41% households in Maharashtra are aware of the solar home system while only 0.43% have installed it in their homes, a survey by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) reveals.

Ø The report also stated that only 7.29% households have considered buying a solar home system

Ø Sunil Mani, programme associate at the CEEW said, “Most of the households who are aware of the system said that it is expensive and also requires more space which is not feasible.

Ø The survey reveals that 91% of the households use liquified petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking and 5% of the households utilise electricity for cooking.

Ø A large number of rural households - 36% - still use traditional cooking fuel.

Ø “People in rural households still have a preference for the traditional cooking fuel as it is available cheap

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MY TAKE :

Ø Indian cities are full of high-rise ( 5 – 20 stories ) buildings , having very small terrace area for installing rooftop solar panels – may be just enough to power the staircase lights. There is not enough area for larger installations which can supply any meaningful power to 20 – 100 flat-owners

Ø Under such condition, it becomes very difficult to convince all the flat-owners to cooperate and fork out initial capital costs ( even after 30 % subsidy ) , which would only light up staircases !

Ø Flat owners are vary of signing a 25 year PPA with the DISCOM , especially at (may be ) Rs 6-7 per unit

Ø Rooftop Solar installation capital costs are much higher than GRID level Solar Farm installations

MY SUGGESTION :

Ø Out-of-the-Box Concept :

In my building, we are 10 flat-owners. Each needs 20 KW of solar – total of 200 KW

That would require 20,000 sq ft . But the terrace is no more than 2,000 sq ft . Not enough for all

So, I ask :

Why do we need space in our own terrace in a Mumbai building for getting

200 KW of Solar Power ?

Why cannot we use 20,000 sq ft of space, 500 Km away from Mumbai, in

Kutch desert ?

In a nut-shell, produce solar power in Kutch desert and consume it in

Mumbai !

Or produce power in Ladakh and consume it in Kolkata

Here is a broad / conceptual frame-work :

Ø Introduce “ Co-operative Farming of Solar Power / CFSP “ { call it a kind of “ Contract Farming “ }

-( incorporate this into just released FARM LAWS to encourage setting-up of “

Solar Power Farmers Cooperative Society “, along the lines of Dairy Farmers’

AMUL Milk Cooperative Society )

Ø Under CFSP, provide 30 % Capital Cost Subsidy to companies setting up large ( > 500 MW ) Solar Farms in remote areas ( eg : desert areas of Kutch – Spiti – Lahul – Ladakh etc , which have a potential to generate 315 GW of Solar power )

Read : https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2018/08/from-ladakh-with-love-and-sun-shine.html

Ø 1 MW of ( grid ) solar will need 100,000 sq ft of solar panels ( 1 KW will need 100 sq ft )

Ø The estimated cost of 1 MW solar power plant is approx. Rs 4 - 6 crore.

Ø That works out to approx. Rs 400 - 600 / sq ft of Capital cost for Solar panels

Ø Solar Farm company can “ Sell “ ownership rights of solar panels to individuals in modules of 1000 sq ft, ( costing Rs 4- 6 lakh per module ) . These rights can be sold / transferred to any buyer, only with prior permission of the Solar Farm Company concerned

Ø Each module ( of 1,000 sq ft ) will generate 10 KW of power, which Company will feed into a NATIONAL GRID ( free ) .

Ø Each such Co-operative Company can reserve / own by itself, 30 % of Solar Panels for generating power for sale in free market

Ø My nearest DISCOM will supply me those 10 KW, free of cost ( ie: deduct from my monthly usage ) . Any excess over my actual consumption, to be credited to my account

Ø Depending upon my usage / need , I as an individual CO-OPERATIVE OWNER , can “ buy “ any number of STANDARD MODULES, and from any number of Cooperative Farming companies or other Co-op Owners

Ø This set-up will require NATIONAL SOLAR EXCHANGE in which ALL discoms will be mandated to become members

Dear Shri R K Singhji,

..as of October 15, 2019, only 1,826 MW capacity has reportedly been installed, which means that the achievement is only 11.50 per cent

If we want to achieve 40 GW of Solar by 2022, we need to think “ Out of Box “

I urge you to consider my suggestion ( - no doubt with suitable modifications )

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 29 Oct 2020

Elon Musk Says The Sun Can Power All of Civilization

Tesla Launches Tesla Energy Plan in UK

State of Electricity Access in India

NPAs in the making ?

Look Before You Leap

Is Sun setting on Solar ?

Roof Top Solar : Better Alternative

Transmission Capacity is the Culprit !

This was Expected !

Clean Power ?

Solar Roofs ? Why not ?

Solar Power : Internal Rate of Return

Unsustainable SRISTI ?

“ Rent – a – Roof “ for Solar Power

Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana

Roof Top Solar : Stuck at Plinth Level ?

Green Buildings ? Put Greed to Work !

Solar Power at Rs 1 per Kwh ?

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Added on 22 Dec 2023 :

India Witnesses Soaring Growth in Open Access Solar Installations, Adding 20.6% Capacity in Q3 2023: Report

In the third quarter of 2023, India experienced a notable surge in new open access solar installations, marking a substantial 20.6% increase to reach 907 MW, as reported by Mercom India.

This growth is particularly significant when compared to the corresponding period in the previous year, during which 752 MW of open access solar capacities were added.

The quarterly addition, when viewed on a quarter-on-quarter basis, revealed a remarkable 36% uptick from the 666 MW recorded in the April-June quarter. As of September 2023, India’s cumulative installed open access solar capacity stood at an impressive 11 GW.

Under the open access model, individuals or companies have the opportunity to establish green energy plants, subsequently selling the generated clean power in the open market to distribution companies (discoms) or private consumers.

The attractiveness of this model has been heightened by a decline in solar project costs, prompting a resurgence in the signing of power purchase agreements that were previously delayed.

India concluded the September quarter with 12.5 GW of open access solar projects in various stages of development, indicating sustained momentum in the sector.