Conservation of fossil fuels : Biodiesel, an emerging renewable source.

Conservation of fossil fuels :

Biodiesel, an emerging renewable source.

-------- Leena Mehendale

Twentieth Century saw an extensive use of fossil fuels all over the world. The innovations of hundreds and thousands of different uses for petroleum & natural gas has led to a significant increase in the need for fossil fuel in the world. A growing number of scientific researchers and political leaders have urged prompt conservation of fossil fuels by investing immediately in energy-efficient vehicles, machinery, and structures and by gradually shifting to alternative sources of energy.

The reason most commonly given in support of fossil fuel conservation is that “Petroleum Resources are finite” and “the need to prevent future global climate change”. Most of these arguments say, “fossil fuels provide about 95 percent of the commercial energy used in the world economy”..... “Combustion of those fuels constitutes the largest source of emissions of climate-altering greenhouse gases”. Most scientists agree that such emissions cannot be continued indefinitely at current or increasing levels without causing devastating effects on ecosystems and on people. Electricity generated from fossil fuels such as coal and crude oil has led to high concentrations of harmful gases in the atmosphere. This has in turn led to many problems being faced today such as ozone depletion, global warming and destruction of useful rain cycles .

The consumption of non-renewable sources of energy, thus, has caused more environmental damage than any other human activity. Therefore, locating alternative sources of energy has become very important and relevant to today’s world. These sources, such as the sun and wind, can never be exhausted and therefore are renewable. They cause less emission and are available locally. Their use can, to a large extent, reduce chemical, radioactive, and thermal pollution. They stand out as a viable source of clean and limitless energy, as a source of non-conventional energy. Most of the renewable sources of energy are fairly non-polluting and considered clean.

In Indian context, “Bio-diesel”, as a source of alternative and renewable source of energy has started gaining momentum in a big way. Biodiesel (fatty acid alkyl esters) is a cleaner diesel replacement, made from natural, renewable sources such as Tree Borne Oilseed and Animal Fats. Just like petroleum diesel, bio-diesel also operates in compression-ignition engines, in fact the first ever such engine invented by the German scientist Diesel used peanut oil for fuel. Blends of up to 20% bio-diesel (mixed with petroleum diesel) can be used in nearly all diesel equipments and are compatible with most storage and distribution equipments. These low-level blends (20% and less) generally do not require any engine modifications. Bio-diesel can provide the same payload capacity as diesel.

Jatropha Curcas has been identified for India as the most suitable Tree Borne Oilseed (TBO) for production of bio-diesel both in view of the non-edible oil available from it and its presence all throughout the country. The capacity of Jatropha Curcas to rehabilitate degraded or dry lands, from which the poor derive their sustenance, by improving land’s water retention capacity, makes it additionally suitable for up-gradation of land resources. Presently, in some Indian villages, farmers are extracting oil from Jatropha and after settling and decanting it, they are mixing the filtered oil with diesel fuel. Although, so far the farmers have not observed any damage to their machinery, yet this remains to be tested by research institutes and agro-mechanical divisions of various agricultural universities. They need to start working on it.

Despite the lack in research, fact remains that for use in modern machinery as well as for mixing and storage in large proportions, this oil needs to be converted to bio-diesel though a chemical reaction, called “Trans-Esterification”. This reaction is relatively simple and does not require any exotic material. The R&D Division of IOCL has been using a laboratory scale plant of 100 kg/day capacity for trans-esterification. In past, some attention has been paid for designing of larger capacity plants in Anand Univ. Gujrat, Delhi Univ, IIP Dehradun and PCRA. With their initiative, suitable technology & equipments for esterification of bio-diesel on small & medium scales have also been developed. A few industries have done experimental production even at 50 tonnes a day. Such larger plants are useful for centralized production of bio-diesel though production can be continued in smaller capacity plants of half kg to 20 kg per day at decentralized level in villages, till the optimum levels are worked out. These kind of small plants can be a way out to provide energy security to our remote and rural areas, while it would also contribute towards employment generation.

As such, all kinds of Tree Borne Oilseeds, be it edible or no-edible can be used as a raw material for production of bio-diesel. From the Indian point of view, however, we are yet to meet our current demand of edible oils, hence the option left out for India is non-edible oilseeds.

With sky rocketing crude oil prices, what is required now is to spread the knowledge of this system and debug some crucial fiscal issues like taxation policy, tax holidays and subsidies, import concessions to palm crude oil. One major apprehention expressed by willing producers is the taxation. Unless govt comes out with a positive statement that non-edible seeds brought in for bio-diesel production will be treated on par with agricultural farm product and hence standard tax exemption will be available for it, no entreprenuers will be attracted towards it. Some large scale production experiments in Maharashtra (by Garwares) and MP were stalled in past because govt was not ready to come out with such a statement.

With a change of guards at the level of Union Govt. and a change in political ideology, it appears worthwhile to once again take up this issue. In addition, more attention is needed on projecting these practices as earners of carbon-credit through CDM mechanism, so that this source of alternative energy can be exploited to its fullest extent in our country.

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This is modified as above -- 10-10-2017

Conservation of fossil fuels :

Biodiesel, an emerging renewable source.

-------- Leena Mehendale

Principle Secretary, GAD,

Maharashtra

Twentieth Century saw an extensive use of fossil fuels all over the world, the innovations of hundreds and thousands of different uses for petroleum & natural gas has led to a significant increase in the need for fossil fuel in the world. A growing number of scientific researchers and political leaders have urged prompt conservation of fossil fuels by investing immediately in energy-efficient vehicles, machinery, and structures and by gradually shifting to alternative sources of energy. The reason most commonly given in support of fossil fuel conservation is that “Petroleum Resources are finite” and “the need to prevent future global climate change”. Most of these arguments say, “fossil fuels provide about 95 percent of the commercial energy used in the world economy”..... “Combustion of those fuels constitutes the largest source of emissions of climate-altering greenhouse gases”. Most scientists agree that such emissions cannot be continued indefinitely at current or increasing levels without causing devastating effects on ecosystems and on people. Electricity generated from fossil fuels such as coal and crude oil has led to high concentrations of harmful gases in the atmosphere. This has in turn led to many problems being faced today such as ozone depletion global warming and Tsunami.

The consumption of non-renewable sources of energy, thus, has caused more environmental damage than any other human activity. Therefore, alternative sources of energy have become very important and relevant to today’s world. These sources, such as the sun and wind, can never be exhausted and therefore are renewable. They cause less emission and are available locally. Their use can, to a large extent, reduce chemical, radioactive, and thermal pollution. They stand out as a viable source of clean and limitless energy, as a source of non-conventional energy. Most of the renewable sources of energy are fairly non-polluting and considered clean.

In Indian context, “Bio-diesel”, as a source of alternative and renewable source of energy has started gaining momentum in a big way. Biodiesel (fatty acid alkyl esters) is a cleaner burning diesel replacement, made from natural, renewable sources such as Tree Borne Oilseed and Animal Fats. Just like petroleum diesel, bio-diesel also operates in compression-ignition engines, in fact the first ever such engine invented by the German scientist Diesel used peanut oil for fuel. Blends of up to 20% bio-diesel (mixed with petroleum diesel) can be used in nearly all diesel equipments and are compatible with most storage and distribution equipments. These low-level blends (20% and less) generally do not require any engine modifications. Bio-diesel can provide the same payload capacity as diesel.

Jatropha Curcas has been identified for India as the most suitable Tree Borne Oilseed (TBO) for production of bio-diesel both in view of the non-edible oil available from it and its presence all throughout the country. The capacity of Jatropha Curcas to rehabilitate degraded or dry lands, from which the poor derive their sustenance, by improving land’s water retention capacity, makes it additionally suitable for up-gradation of land resources. Presently, in some Indian villages, farmers are extracting oil from Jatropha and after settling and decanting it, they are mixing the filtered oil with diesel fuel. Although, so far the farmers have not observed any damage to their machinery, yet this remains to be tested and PCRA-like institutes alongwith agro-mechanical divisions of various agricultural universities must start working on it.

The fact remains that for use in modern machinery as well as for mixing and storage this oil needs to be converted to bio-diesel though a chemical reaction, called “Trans-Esterification”. This reaction is relatively simple and does not require any exotic material. The R&D Division of IOCL has been using a laboratory scale plant of 100 kg/day capacity for trans-esterification and designing of larger capacity plants is being worked out in Anand Univ. Gujrat, Delhi Univ and IIP, Dehradun. PCRA has developed institutional linkages for research & development with these R&D Institutes. With this initiative, suitable technology & equipments for esterification of bio-diesel on small & medium scales have also been developed. A few industries have done experimental production even at 50 tonnes a day. These larger plants are useful for centralized production of bio-diesel though it can be continued in smaller capacity plants of .5 to 20kg/day at decentralized level in villages till the optimum levels are not worked out. These kind of small plants can be a way out to provide energy security to our remote and rural areas, while it would also contribute towards employment generation.

As such, all kinds of Tree Borne Oilseeds, be it edible or no-edible can be used as a raw material for production of bio-diesel. But from the Indian point of view we are yet to meet our current demand of edible oils, hence the option left out for India is non-edible oilseeds.

With sky rocketing crude oil prices, what is required now is to spread the knowledge of this system and debug some crucial fiscal issues like taxation policy, tax holidays and subsidies, import concessions to palm crude oil. In addition more attention is needed on developing agro-economic practices and CDM mechanism, so that this source of alternative energy can be exploited to its fullest extent in our country.

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Role of Bio-Gas.in Energy Security and Efficiency

Energy Security and Efficiency : Role of Bio-Gas.

 

                                                                   Leena Mehendale

         

The question of energy security has become a major important agenda of the Government.  With far higher cry for rural power, and high fluctuations in the international crude prices, the search for alternative fuels has become more urgent.

           A real boost to the solution for energy security however, lies in efficiency, rather than in higher supply.

           This aspect struck me greatly when recently I had a chance to look at the Integrated Energy Policy - a document prepared by Planning Commission of India. Let us look at some of the numbers mentioned therein.

           Our annual consumption of energy is nearly 450 Million Tonnes of Oil Equivalent (Mtoe).  Out of this 110 Mtoe, that is, nearly one fourth, comes from non-commercial resources and only 340 Mtoe is commercial, in the form of electric power, Petroleum and Coal. The non-commercial sources are wood, biomass and cowdung cakes.

                              ----------------- X -----------------

 

       

   For the urban elite, it is rather difficult to comprehened that the highest use for domestic fuel is still wood & cowdung cakes.  Out of our 135 Mtoe domestic fuel, only 5% is clean fuel, namely, LPG and a miniscule of electricity. Another 15% comes as Kerosene and coal. About 20% is cowdung cake and nearly 60% is wood.  We use annually, 80 Mtoe of wood and 30 Mtoe of cowdung cake, while Kerosene is nearly 10 Mtoe.

 

          Programs like India Shining or Bharat Nirman are creating rosy pictures of India becoming world super power by 2030. This is not possible without energy security. Our growth rate of economy which is 8% for last 3 years and which we want to take to double digit will require tremendous amount of energy inputs by 2030. Our electricity demand will rise from 1.2 L Megawatts to 4 L Megawatts, However out of our indigenous coal stock of 100000 crore tonnes, only 50,000 crore tonnes is extractable and at an increasing cost.  This whole coal will also be sufficient for only 30% of our need for electricity generation.

 

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          It is therefore high time that we relook at these fuels and also at our methods of burning them. Much higher burning efficiency can be brought in our methods by spreading proper education and providing services to the rural areas.

         

Let us start with gobar. We use 133 Million tonnes of gobar in rural areas and 8 Mt. in urban areas totaling to 141 Mt (which is Equivalent to 30 Mt of oil).  The standard method is to make dry cowdung cakes which are then easy to store or transport if need be and use them in traditioned Chulhas for daily cooking.  Efficiency of these Chulhas is very low - only 8%.  This means that most of our precious fuel is wasted - not to speak of resulting smoke, pollution and innumerable diseases suffered by women folk. Asthama, bronchitis and eye problems are the most common.

 

 

          Improving chullha efficiency can give good dividend.  The burning efficiency can go upto 22%.  However converting gobar in usable gobar gas can increase fuel efficiency upto 50%.  Thus the same fuel can perform 6-7 times better job.

 

          Cost of putting up a domestic size gobar gas plant of 2 meter cube size comes to nearly Rs.20,000.  In last 40 years programs for subsidized gobar gas plants were taken in surges when agencies pushed for targets but without any program for maintenance of the assets which have been created.  Sufficient emphasis was on constructing gobar gas plants - but the equally important emphasis on creating trained manpower who could repairs or make improvements was completely missing.  When the plants went into disuse for lack of even minor maintenance, no attention could be paid to them.  The farmer whose family women were the real beneficiaries was himself not too concerned.  Rather he was reluctant for paying money for repairs and the women had practically no voice.  The food could always be cooked one way or other.

 

          Today can we learn from these lessons when we are so concerned for energy sources and alternatives?  Let us re-draft our gobar gas strategies in such a way where these gaps are taken care of.

 

          Over last 40 years, many plants were built. Many new techniques have been invented and the program can be given a push once again.  This requires first and foremost a change in the attitude and priorities of our policy makers. Our priority cannot be to construct more and more plants - with or without subsidy - small or big, commercial or non-commercial.  Our priority has to be to create trained manpower - equipped to work as a service provider at a cheap cost, when the local gas plant goes into disuse for want of minor repairs.  We need to ensure the ready availability of such a person who can get for himself an annual maintenance contract. Alongwith this it is worthwhile to invest once again in major repairs of some of the revivable plants and a few thosand totally new plants.

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Very early in my service I was associated with scheme for gobar gas. In the years 81-83 when I was CEO in ZP of Aurangabad & Sangli, the GoI had launched a massive program for construction of gobar gas. Since then I have watched the development of various techniques, the good and not so good aspects of program implementation

 

          On the technical side, the very early KVIC models used to have floating domes - later the fixed dome technology came and today we can use both for domestic sizes. To parry the problem of bad smell, water jacket technology was used. There were many experiments about dome material.  As some complaints arose that the cement domes developed cracks, people experimented with fiber – glass and other material and this issue now stands successfully tackled.  Some companies experimented with pre-fabricated ferro cement plants too. All these designs have their own success stories for show-casing.

 

          The common digester sizes started from 2 meter cube for domestic purpose. A farmer having 4 cattle would get sufficient cow-dung for meeting the daily requirement of gas in his kitchen, for a family of 6-8 members.  In 1986 I visited a farmer who used 20% diesel and 80 % biogas in his diesel pump for pumping water in the farm. In 1992, I visited the Anandvan Justitute of Shri Baba Amte where he ran a Leprosy rehab centre.  It had around 500 inmates and 3 gobar gas plants of 35 meter cube each which ran on nightsoil and cowdung  and daily supplied enough gas for the entire kitchen activities.

 

          These are some examples of successful plants.  However a large percentage of gobar gas plants then constructed through Government subsides have gone into disorder.  Some years back TERI conducted a survey which showed that about 80% of plants went into disorder and disuse.

 

          Today, when the need to reassess the situation and once again build up the stock of our assets for renewable resources and revitalize the program, I think we should focus on those 20% plants which are still being used successfully.

           The action plan can begin with an experience sharing seminar of those households where gobar gas plants are still working, and those where the plant failed, those technical experts who are constructing biogas plants and those who are in the job of framing policies.  Such experience sharing will tell us about the do’s and dont’s of the new program.  Another point of action is to start training rural youth in gas plant maintenance. Yet another action is to undertake a survey of gobar gas plants built over last few years and the reasons of their failure or success. Then, a repairs program needs to be taken up in right unrest.

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The question of fire wood is also of crucial importance.  The estimates of IEP state that we burn 180 million tonnes of wood for domestic fuel.  Another estimate states that for all uses put together, we burn nearly 220 million tonnes of wood and 130 million tonnes of bio waste thus taking the total to 350 million tonnes. (Nearly half for domestic and half for other purpose - mostly industrial).

 

          The efficiency of our traditional chullhas is very low - nearly 8%.  It means when we burn 100 kg of wood, we get the real value of only 8 kg.  The rest - nearly 12 times of what is burned - goes as waste.  Hence improving our chullhas and small units of traditional bhattis eg. gur bhatti, is very essential.

 

          Two such experiments are worth quoting. In Udaypur the KVIC developed a new model of chulhas in which a pre-tested iron mould is used as a base material.  The dimensions of the mould have been finalized after lot of trial - errors and improvements. The mud plus cement chullhas are constructed around this mould and the mould is taken out. It can be used over and over again upto nearly 15000 chullhas.  The chullha so made has two compartments connected with a pipe and a chimney is also fitted, which takes the smoke up and away.  With this chullha, the burning efficiency is found to increase upto 22% which means straight saving of at least 25% of our today’s wood consumption and consequential environment pollution. The cost of mould is around Rs. 500 while that of chulha is around Rs. 1500. I was then Executive director of PCRA (Petroleum Conservation Research Association) and we decided to sponser this chulha through an Action Research project. Under this we funded the training of 5 masons, giving them moulds and paying them 50% of wages for the chulhas so constructed. In first phase we sponsored 2000 such chulhas in Rajasthan. In the 2^nd phase some more have been sponsored. In yet another Action Research project we sponsored a lab-to-field trials of fuel efficient Gud-bhattis developed by Indian Institute of Petroleum. PCRA has very good technical video films made on these two subjects (and many more  films relating to energy efficincy). These can be used seminars and to educate the end user.

 

          In yet another experiment, I visited a small village Odenthorai near Coimbtore. Here, with the leadership of DRDA officials and the village sarpanch, power generation is done from wood.  First the firewood is dried and chopped to small pieces.  They are burned with low oxygen supply in a small scale gassifier.  Carbon monoxide so produced is filtered with water and taken to burn alongwith diesel in a diesel motor where it produces electricity. All the village water pumping is done by using this electricity.  This is a far efficient way of burning wood. This experiment has been repeated in some neighboring villages who are using excess electricity for street lights upto 10 pm in the night.  Thus the villages which used to be in the grip of darkness after sunset are now active and bubbling till 10 pm .  With power cuts having become so common in rural areas, this locally generated electricity opens up new dimensions of enterprise. A video films on this is also made by PCRA and is available in our clip-bank.

 

          Sources like solar energy, wind, bio-diesel are being talked about a lot.  It is high time we also pay attention to the aspect of fuel saving and efficient burning of biomass - be it cowdung or wood or farm waste.

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Author is Principle Secretary, General Administration Department, Govt of Maharashtra and Ex Executive Director of Petroleum Conservation Research Association, Govt. of India.

Interview: Authors by Tapan Das Gupta for Meghdutam.com
Leena Mehendale, born in Dharangaon, Maharasthra, had her schooling at Jabalpur MP, and Darbhanga, Bihar. She studied for M.Sc. Physics in Patna, and her M. Sc. Project Planing in Bradford, England. She works at two levels... she writes short stories, poems and dramas for children; she provokes the adults and nettles society by focussing attention on social issues. She is equally at home with three languages Marathi, Hindi and English and becomes a literary bridge by playing the role of translator. She also gives talks on All India Radio and is a good story teller. She is involved in social reform activities. 
Leena Mehendale, is an IAS officer, presently working as Joint Secretary, National Commission for Women Govt. of India.Tapan Das Gupta had a tete-a-tete with her at her residence. Excerpts from the interview: 
Tapan Das Gupta: How did you begin to write? 
Leena Mehendale: I started writing during 1968-71 while at college. The stories I wrote then were mainly ghost stories and they appeared in the college magazine. During this period, I also translated an one-act play Dole (eyes) by Madhuri Bhide, from Marathi to Hindi, for AIR Patna. Dole has a very good story line and I believe its appeal is eternal. 
TDG: You seem to work in diverse areas of literature. 
LM: I write in four different areas.One -- social writings, I often write in magazines and dailies on women's issues, education, administrative reforms, on socio-political aspects relating to administration, agriculture, health etc. So far, I have contributed more than 300 articles in Marathi, Hindi and English to major publications.Two -- I write short stories, poems, dramas for children. I have a few books for children to my credit. The books are collections of short stories; I am also a nature lover and have written books for children on bird-watching and the flora and the fauna. My perspective is highly individualistic, say my readers. That comment cheers me a lot. Three -- I am a scientists by training and often take time to deliver lectures on scientific topics to college students and adults. My nineteen lectures on 'Atomic Physics' were broadcast over AIR. I also write on Ayurveda, Naturopathy, the holistic theory of health.Four -- I love to translate. I have translated into Marathi, and Hindi from Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, English and Bengali. Sahitya Akademi will soon be publishing my translation of the collection of poems of the famous poet Kusumagra from Marathi to Hindi. I have also translated a book titled "Democracy: Eighty Questions and Answers" from English to Marathi. This is due for publication by the National Book Trust.
TDG: Leenaji, you have a wide range of literary activities. Don't you think the scope of literary creativity is often curtailed by the limitations set by your career as an administrator? 
LM: Well, Mr Gupta, I have been asked this question earlier too. It is my belief that the field of administration is not devoid of opportunities for literary creativity. There is ample scope for it. I try to add a story line on the basis of real incidents. In this connection, I can well recall my experience for the rehabilitation of devdasis (temple maids) in Kolhapur, Maharastra, or my writings on Jalgaon sex-scandals, or the sustainability question of big dams. Very recently, I wrote in 'Janasatta' (Hindi newspaper), highlighting the illogic of allowing the escape of Chota Rajan, the dreaded underworld don of Mumbai on the belief that he could be our best defense against Daud Ibrahim. I think the inherent philosophy and thinking that go into these view points are nourished and nurtured by latent creativity. I strongly believe that underlying philosophy is relevant. In face, it is the essential and permanent aspect of literature and it is not correct to regard such writing as "non- literature".
TDG: How do you approach children's literature? Do you believe that all material for children should have 'messages' to convey?
LM: Not all writings need be message-oriented. But wherever possible, I convey the message, directly or indirectly. Often I use a mix of both.
TDG: You often handle scientific topics for children. How do you combine imagination and science in your writings?
LM: I think I can best explain that by referring to two dramas for school children broadcast over Radio Pune. One play brings out the need to preserve the high mountains and greenery to catch clouds for the rains, otherwise mankind shall be doomed. In the second play, a clever teacher unfolds the magic and enchantment of mathematics to children and makes the children enjoy the subject.
TDG: Please comment on the role of translation in a pluri-lingual and multi-cultural country like ours.
LM: Translation is a major unifying force. My experience as a translator is really wonderful. In spite of the variety or plurality of Indian Languages, I found the same meter can be adopted in case of poetry. I found the same types of phrases, sentiments and allegory, conveyed in identical way in different Indian languages. If the translators keep these things in mind, the translated works will surely be novelty for the readers. I would like to highlight one incident in which I was also associated. This came about like this. My son Aditya translated a story from Std 1, Balbharti for the displaced tribal children of the Narmada Valley who belonged to the Bhil-Pawri community. Bhil-Pawri is their mother tongue. They were resettled in a village Somawel and their children were encouraged to attend school but the medium of teaching was Marathi. The children, for obvious reasons felt that they were not coping with the dual task of learning Marathi and also acquiring the skills to read and write the language too. Aditya translated the Balbharti story in Bhil-Pawri language with the help of two Bhil-Pawri students of that school -- Kirta Lalji Basawe and Dilip Thoga Padwi. Later we got the text printed as a book and included in it the alphabets with Bhil Pawri words which Aditya had collected. The copies of the book were distributed to all children of that village and they still enjoy reading it. This was the famous story of the donkey and his burden. The entire book was written using Devnagri script but Bhil- Pawri language. See how one language is integrated to the students with different mother tongue. Here lies the beauty of translated works. 
TDG: What are your suggestions for budding writers, especially writers for children?
LM: Children's literature should be closer to the children's point of view. There should be elements of humor, drama, surprise that capture the child's attention. The writing should be socially relevant too.
TDG: Do you think internet is weakening reading habits among children?
LM: No, but internet can become an alternative to reading. I feel internet should be made available in regional languages, specially in a multi-cultural country like ours.
TDG: Meghdutam organized an online poll on the best authors of the century. Sarat Chandra Chatterjee topped the poll, followed by Bhagwan S. Gidwani and R K Narayan. What is your choice for India's novelist of the twentieth century? 
LM: I dare not name only one single author. There are several authors like Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Amrita Pritam. There are a few authors in Marathi literature like G. N. Dandekar, G.A Kulkarni, Durgabai Bhagwat and P. L. Deshpande. I can name one from Gujarati literature -- Gulab Das Broker. Besides there are authors like Prem Chand, Sankrityayan, Adyeya, Phaneeshwar Nath Renu or the anti-establishment writers like Maheshwata Devi. Of the Indians writing in English, Ilike Vikram Seth. I would name 'The Last Pass' of Prasher which is also an impressive anti-establishment writing and work of Anita Agnihotri, or Laxmi Kannan among the recent writers. Together they reflect the variety that India is, the message of unity in diversity. 
TDG: What are your plans for the future? 
LM: Let me see. I have no particular plan as such but there are possibilities. I don't know how far I will be able to fulfill them. I am preparing a book on star watching -- a guide to the layman who wants to study the sky and the stars at random without telescope. A book on atomic Physics targeting students as support study which will also interest the common man is something that I want to work on. I am preparing a book on dams for the teenagers. I am also planning to write on sericulture and women's issues. 
TDG: Bubbling with plans. May they come true. 
LM: Too many things to work on! Well, that gives meaning to life. 
TDG: Let all your dreams come true.
LM: Thanks. Such good wishes help to keep up the spirit.
TGD: You are welcome to write for Meghdutam.
LM: Great. I would enjoy it.