There is growing realization that environment is going to play a big part in the microclimate of fast growing cities. The trend therefore in some well planned cities is to move transport underground. For example in Stockholm the orbital roads, the equivelant of our ring road, is being built underground for most parts. The new citybanan trains are also going underground. Their blue line is already underground for large parts. This allows the surface to be used for greenery. They are increasing public transit in inner city while increasing capacity to new areas which will take the expanding population.
Bangalore may have already planned overhead metro in the inner city but we need ahead for the next 30 years. It may make sense to start going underground if we are adding people movers. If we have personal and mass traffic projections for the next 30 years based on a GDP and population growth rate, we should be able to plan accomodation and commute options right now and start building mass transport connectivity to the outlier cities.
Forward this Blog entry
Comments
Commuter Rail
It is dissapointing we dont have a dedicated, frequent (15 to 30 mins frequency) commuter rail system from Bangalore to cities within 1 hour distance. IR/SWR wont do it and are also unable to share their lines for this purpose. What options do we have now?
§§§ Tweetenator
Microclimate Vs Global Environment
The meanings of the above two terms are self evident. I think that the present concern is about the global environment. Of course one would like to have good local environment, in the city of Bangalore. However the greater question now facing us is the global one. By transferring transport under ground, I am afraid that the basic threat to global environment is not going to be alleviated. Correct me if I am wrong.
Sustainability is the present day catch word. By 2030 I am afraid mass transportation too will not be the solution for global climate change.
PSA
Not wrong but inapplicable
By transferring transport under ground, I am afraid that the basic threat to global environment is not going to be alleviated. Correct me if I am wrong
No you are not wrong, but you have moved my solution for microclimate, which I am trying to focus on and applied it to the larger global warming which I deliberately avoided. This is NOT a global warming solution. This is purely a method to find balance and create offsets at the surface. The point clearly being, sustainability need not come at the cost of expanding transport solutions.
Greater Bangalore may still have a decent green cover but the inner city microclimate is out of whack. Expressways, corridors and mass transit require larger space that will infringe pedestrian friendly city streets. Going underground helps retain transport options enabling green offsets on the surface in the same areas.
§§§ Tweetenator
My plan - have the cake and eat it too. Innovate or perish..
Talking about solutions? These are for real - Have patience in reading -
- Here are two proposals - one is purely local - micro effort to create more of greenery in urban and rural areas and the other is - micro but can be escalated as a macro innovative idea:
1. Micro - local - In urban areas, local authorities are recovering encroached/ unauthorisedly occupied government lands and are auctioning them for lucre to the government kitty - only to create more of corbon spewing monstro-city buildings. Instead, whatever may be the size of the land recovered, plant herbal, aromatic, fruit and nuts bearing shrubs, trees like nerale, maavu, hippige, bevu, sampige, aala, athi, singapore cherry, etc., for creating carbon sinks. Such species will maintain a normal food chain among birds, bees, animals, insects, butterflies which are the main carriers of agricultural polination chains. This way, India can create benchmarks of its own efforts to earn more of carbon credits.
- Similarly, waste lands exist everywhere
- identify them - test the soil and their ability to grow select species and with a little bio-friendly investigations and minimum effort to suit the climatic conditions, salinity of soil, etc., have a plan of action that is economical, replicable, sustainable and environment friendly.
- agricultural scientists can identify such biological species that can be grown on such soil
- get the seeds
- with the help of cottage industries - tiny industries in a given area, by creating employment opportunity to the locals, arrange to put the seeds inside small mud cakes of good soil mixed with proper manure and pesticides to enable them to safely germinate with proper protection, dry them in shade, pack them and after one or two showers in the waste lands, either arrange to spread them through local tribals or as an on going activity of Gram Panchayats etc. or air drop them over such waste lands
- (I have no idea if this method is obtaining some corner of our little delicate world - I am just putting it here because I visualised something like this is possible)
- Even if 25 out of 100 such seeds germinate, it is a win win situation - close your eyes and visualise a patch of greenery in a place which was dry and desolate.
2. USA is spewing 25 per cent of GHGs - European Union 15 per cent - China 6-7 percent and India 4-6 per cent. The Big brother wants the world to adopt its own dictated terms of universal benchmark of reducing CO2 emissions by 2020. This is being opposed by all including India.
- The Paper on Climate Control published by Government of India during 2008 has cleverly skirted the question of compulsory reduction of GHG and rightly so, has kept the option open depending upon what kind of benchmark the developed nations will prescribe for themselves.
- Transport sector is the worst possible area with regard to per capita emission of CO2. In West, employees travel cross country to reach their work places that are about 150 to 300 kms and most of them use their cars travelling at a speed of 120 - 150 kms. per hour on auto bans/ highways etc., thus gurgling scarce fuel and also rendering disservice to the environment by spewing unlimited CO2. Travel time may be 2 to 3 hours depending upon the traffic.
- There may be any number of other modes of transport like air, road and rail but they are used to comfort zones of own cars for commuting to other places within the city of their work places. They may be right - so, provide them with an opportunity to have the cake and eat it also.
- God said -
- Let there be hi speed rail system between major cities - but with a difference - This rail system does not have compartments - its bogies are open platforms - Those who want to travel in their own cars can drive upto the nearest railway head, go up the ramp and settle down on the open wagon and start working with their lap tops by sitting inside their cars - wheels get automatically locked in the slots on the wagon platforms.
- Regular running of such superspeed trains at 300/400 kms per hour will deliver their cars to their destination in one hour/less than one hour as against 2 to 3 hours of driving dangerously - after reaching, wheels get unlocked, drive down the ramp and head for your work places and use the car happily for short journeys in the cities where your work place exists. Get back in the same manner and save yourself and the world.
- Advantages: Less fuel consumption, Less CO2 emission, Saves money, life risk reduced, waste of time in driving can be productively utilised, you are always on time, your family will not be worried if you are late and have to drive late hours - with one for the road?!!
- Brickbats welcome - Innovate or perish
- Vasanthkumar Mysoremath
You cannot have the cake and eat it too
Quoting some excerpts from VKMs comment above:
God said-
“…………”
Going at 300 400 kmph with your normal car on top of a train. Yet save fuel with less CO2 emission!!! It is not innovation but qualifies to be magic or super power.
Pardon me if I am wrong. I wish I am wrong.
PSA
Konkan example..
maybe piggybacking on trains may really not be a far fetched idea..I have heard this with our own konkan railway that E. Sreedharan built..
Trucks dont want to do anymore the hazardous journey in the ghats and instead sit on trains!
Here is a very good video of whats in place today!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNwy9cNsULk
Thank you
Saw the video. It is really a nice one. I am sure the idea of piggybacking is workable other wise it would not have come this far. However I am curious to know whether the truck owners really bothered about environment. However I concede that there may be some saving in the carbon credit in this special case. Thank you srinidhi for the nice video.
PSA
Got confused between micro and global terminology
Idontspam,
Thank you for the clarification. However I think the micro idea is complementary to the global. Yes, by having the major traffic underground the surface road area is available for planting trees. This adds to the better global environment too (not only local/micro). We should have no cars. Only under/above ground Metros in a rectangular grid pattern. At ground level there should be provision for only Pedestrians. The walking link can be minimized to say within 3km?
PSA
Counted 32 trucks on RORO video
Srinidhi - good video- thanks. I had not seen this but only visualised - now I have a clear picture on how my 'nothing new' idea can be implemented.
PSA Sir,
Let me explain - counted 32 trucks on RORO video - means about 50 cars can be accommodated piggy back on one RORO
- If these cars were to travel from point A to B - 200 kms (work place) and back it means 400 kms X 50 cars = 20,000 kms of road rash can be reduced on auto bans / express ways - by paying some paltry sum to the RORO for regular passes. Wear and tare of the car can be reduced in addition to other -
- Savings - as enunciated in my post above. We are not talking about the truckers knowledge about climate conditions - we are talking about car owners who are mostly knowledgeable people and are worrying about 2030.
- We need to cultivate innovativeness/fantasizing/imagination and when an idea comes to my mind and want to moot it for public sonsumption, I visualise the end product first and then work backwards to make it happen - you may call it a fantasized reverse syndrome. But so far as I am concerned, it has worked.
- With these few words, I request your kindself to close your eyes and visualise, sitting in your A/C car on top of a safe running train, travelling at 300 kms per hour, reaching your work place safely on time and keep up appointments, save fuel, save CO2 emission that would have been spewed had you travelled in your own car 400 kms, strain of driving, utilising travel time productively by working on your laptop or listening to your Subbulakshmi Classical or making calls for planning your day or talk to your grand children/wife on your cell or simply stretch back in your seat and enjoy the country side roll by, do pranayama, meditate and get back home safely in the evening.
- You can also earn carbon credits and trade them in the near future. Try this carbon credit calculator at
http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm (E&OE)
- I wish somebody is listening to all these positive thinkings.
- Vasanth Mysoremath
Piggy Backing
VKM Sir,
I congratulate you on your idea of piggy backing, which you had articulated earlier on Praja. I thought about your idea when I saw the video which is really impressive. The truckers are business people who depend on their business success for their lively hood. So when I saw the video I did not feel the necessity to verify whether it is a good or foolish idea. Sir, I am a very lazy person that way.
However I am not with you for generalizing or concluding that the idea of piggybacking is an innovative idea in general. If you consider the idea in depth my point is that:
1. The energy spent in propelling a car by it self is less than propelling the same on another vehicle. If this is wrong then I am wrong.
2. Carbon spewing is proportional to energy spent in the case considered.
Hope I have made my point.
I have also missed an innovative idea (Spread sheet) like you. It is not the idea what counts but how you capitalize on it. Every day we keep getting ideas.
I appreciate your enthusiasm and hard work.
PSA
few thoughts
1) Is the idea of travelling 200 km to work on a daily basis a good one ?
2) A much more efficient way of transporting people is to sit in a high speed train. In the space and energy taken by 40 cars, at least 400 people will be able to travel in comfort.
3) the idea works for trucks due to the time taken for loading and unloading. I am sure once detachable containers become more prominent, that would become the norm rather than trucks being driven on to the trains. ( loading and unloading taking more or less the same as that of driving a truck on to the train)
ThanQ PSA ... we are all innovators..
My take - I believe that when we ask questions or clarifications on some point, we generally have somewhere in the back of our mind some solution for such queries, but are only seeking confirmation of those assumptions. E & OE
Consider - If your car commutes about 400 kms daily to reach your work place then it consumes 20 litres petrol (assuming it gives an average of 20 kms per litre) - U R working for 22 days in a month - then for 60 cars piggy backing on a hi-speed electric train or a magnetically levitated train, then saving would be .... I will leave the calculations for your expert knowledge.
- We will talk about the economic viability and saving for such an 'not so innovative idea' later.
You might have already seen my other 'not so innovative ideas' at -
- comments welcome
-Vasanth Mysoremath
I really appreciate the enthusiasm
VKM sir,
If you really think your innovation about using Sun light for illuminating houses during day time is good, I suggest you apply for a patent. When any architect wants to use mirrors to illuminate in a particular manner suggested by you, you stand to earn a royalty.
As per my understanding Windows are for both lighting and air circulation. Cross ventilation is an important design consideration. Even in pitch dark underground caves your system of mirrors is not used till date. You should take the challenge and show your Idea works. I am with you. The Kolar gold field tunnel system can be illuminated in day time using your innovation.
It is also important that the idea should be economically viable. This is what an innovation is all about. By 2030 the underground Metro stations (and the tunnels) in Bangalore can be lighted by Sun Light during day time! Why not?
PSA
U-SEE is solution 2 stop daytime misuse of electricity 4 lightn
Sample this:
We are misusing electricity during time for lighting the interiors of our homes (there may be exceptions), commercial ests, banks, offices etc.,
Stats: one bulb/tube light of 40 watts burning for 6 hours during day time, consumes 8 units of electricity. If 10 lakh homes/shops use my suggested method of bringing the infinite free sunlight onto the ceilings, we can save 80 lakh units in a month. One unit saved is 3 units generated - investment-wise - and it is free because southern peninsular India is blessed with minimum of 200 days in a year. We must consider this as a blessing and if we do not use that infinite energy, we will be failing in our responsibility to protect and preserve natural resources that are being over exploited for man's greed for fast life, etc.
- Do not consider the U-SEE suggestion as dirt cheap innovative idea - U-SEE will be the future because it is free, green and does not involve nano technology or billion dollar investment. There are different models for different users for day and evening hours lighting of homes - free.
- Vasanth Mysoremath
office buildings in germany
I had a brief trip to germany a few years ago and what i remember about the office buildings were that they were all narrow in width.
This had to do with german regulation that every seat had to have access to natural lighting and ventilation. I dont remember the exact details but this had ensured that the usage of electric lights in the office was much less due to this during the summers ( when the windows could be opened).
In india the climate is much more friendly and we could use with more ventillation in our huge offices with more natural lighting.
An idea i had on these lines some time back was to use huge reflectors and channel the sunlight through optical fibers into buildings, where a diffuser can spread the light out. These reflectors can be on the terraces. Of course technology has to be developed to efficiently channel the light and send the energy concentrated through the optical fiber and then spread it out.
U-SEE-a world bank honored grass roots level savior..
Thampan Sir,
Please have a look at :http://sunlightexpertvasanth.carbonmade.com/
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/sunlight_expert_vasanth/
Ecofriendly, Natural Light - How about this ?
These are pictures of Berlin Central station ("Hautpbahnhof") :
Germans are in the forefront of tapping solar energy
Naveen
Good.
- Still, they are always on the look out for any possible best practices around the world and document them meticulously - this I observed a German lady Ms.Chistine was videographing what I was practicing and giving a demo of my Project U-SEE at the Centre for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies (CREST) at the National Institute of Engineering a few months ago.
- The occasion was a gathering of farmers and gram panchayat leaders who are members of energy conservation committees at Taluk levels of whom more than 25 per cent members were ladies and had been brought to NIE - a periodical exercise of CREST creating awareness in its campus.
- Ms.Christine later, explained about Germany's implementable best practice solutions like the construction of energy friendly public places as shown in the photo above and captured my demo because it was the easiest implementable and economical solution that costs next to nothing for the masses at the grassroots level, particularly for rural habitats where electricity is a strange word.
- Unfortunately, our policy makers, city planners, architectural / builders, developers and real estate honchos are yet to wake up or make up their minds to the realities around - example: look at various monstruous ill designed buildings being constructed in Bengaluru and Mysoru under JNNURM Projects in the name of improving transport facilities. We have not really seen the actual designs of Metro Stations and whether they can be comparable to the photos show above is a matter of conjencture.
- Only the ground floor, with cluster of ill designed bus bays, no facility for queing up for commuters, hundreds of bulbs burning to light up the interiors but with glitzy mall like facilities in the upper floors for commercial money making.
- Hardly 30 per cent of investment actually goes into providing commuter friendly infrstructure facilities. The rest is for non-transport income.
- Vasanth Mysoremath