Environmental Progress thru Competition!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
Lok Sabha TV is a pleasant surprise. Yeah, they telecast some sessions of the Lower House, but it is far more than a peek in to the hell-house that we elect our representatives in to. And I don't just mean the cultural presentations. Late night this week, I happened to switch in to the Principal Advisor of the Planning Commission, Suresh Sethi, discussing energy policy matters on the channel. For once, I did not switch to the F channel. Believe me, my right hand almost twitched!
Much of what he said was, for want of a better word, relevant, and though I did not see his way at many points along his talk, one sentence caught my attention. Mr Sethi said, and I quote (though not verbatim) “Competition (among producers) will enhance the environmental performance of our industry”. Well, I fervently hope so. Because my training in micro-economics and energy economics suggests an entirely different outcome. So different that I thought it would be a great to elucidate my suspicions in my blog.
An industry's environmental performance is typically measured in the three media – air, water and land - and in indoor and outdoor spheres. Outdoor pollution is regulated by various state and central pollution control authorities while indoor exposure, to the best of my knowledge, is covered under occupational exposure and hazards regulations. Competition needs no definition. It pits the fortunes of one firm against another within an industry, sometimes across political boundaries. The virtues of competition are familiar. Competition among producers stimulates the incentive to innovate and lower costs as a means to undercut competitors. Larger market share translates to larger profits, (and for those executives with stock options, higher stock prices). By the same token, competition is, at least superficially, friendly to consumers who benefit from lower prices and choice. All hunky dory. Right?
Wrong! Competition is also a fight for survival (though, I suspect our bureaucrats and regulators will never permit annihilation of any firm of any significant size). The fight for survival engenders various competitive and anti-competitive strategies - from advertisements, product differentiation by branding, positioning in niche markets, pricing wars, to monopolistic and switching regimes strategies and more. It may be that competition in service industries begets practices that are considered internationally acceptable, thus enabling domestic firms to reach out to the international client̬le for their business. But competition in basic industries is not the same as competition in the IT industry. Consider the iron and steel industry. It is entirely raw-material intensive. From applying for environmental clearance, environmentally sustainable mining, transportation, to benefication, refining and pollution control Рevery step is resource-intensive. In other words, it costs money. Money reflected in the bottom-line of the quarterly report submitted to SEBI that drives many an investor frenzy. Despite the scale of production, pollution control costs are a significant fraction of total variable cost. Introduce competition in these industries and what happens is that the firm at once seeks to further lower its cost of production (wary as it is of its competitor's richer ores or closer mines). It seeks lower-priced raw material inputs, higher labor productivity, ...., and to cut corners environmentally. If its hands are tied with regard to iron ore and coal supply (gotta apply for fresh licenses and 'linkages' from the Steel and Mines Ministry), and the labor union leader has a permanent scowl on his face (who could those guys on motorbikes waiting outside the factory gate be?), then can one be sure that all pollution control procedures were followed? (Why, the workman assigned to that task took paternity leave!) When the going gets tough in the market, the squeeze is inevitably on activities that do not add to the bottom line of the firm. Is it then any wonder that firms under competitive pressures are hard-put to abide by the resource-draining environmental obligations? I half-suspect environment regulators and the commerce ministry officials are all-to-ready to look the other way if the firm's management is smart enough to suggest production cut-backs or 'labor-shedding'. And the Competition Committee would not look kindly about plant closures either! (And need I say anything about where the bull-runners stand?)
Pray what chance the environment has under these extremely 'competitive' times?
Come my friend, compete with me
Times are tough, input prices rising
The unions seek more, always
Where else do we cut corners
but of course environmentally
(The Minister did attend our luncheon
And did we not pay in to the Rehabilitation Fund?)
Times are tough, the market's rising
Oh no!, our shorts have failed
Who'd have anticipated
a government so friendly overnight!
Not a pie have we to spare
Where are the margins to justify
pollution treatment beyond the cursory?
Yes, our waste-water is clarified
(it sort of pooled up in the ditch)
Besides, the village well is more polluted!
(Hydrologist? No, we have none!)
Be ever my competitor,
but do complain 'bout competition
Yes, it is the bane of this industry
Compete, lest the consumers complain
Compete, lest they break me up!
(Standard Oil? Sounds familiar!)
Compete, so the Competition Committee may survive
(We need them too, you do understand?)
Times are tough, do me a favor
Compete with me, won't you my friend?
I'll return the favor and compete with you,
all of next year, infact for ever!
Let's compete and aid the Planning Commission in nation-building
Let's compete to realise their version of environmental utopia!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Zip, Zap, Suuueee me!
Zip, Zap, Suuuuee me!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com
Euro vehicle pollution standards and lead-free gasoline are so much in the news that one can't be faulted to presume the air is getting cleaner around us. But wait before you breathe too deeply! Would you care to walk out of your thickly curtained air-conditioned bungalow? At around 8:30-9 am on a cold morning to be precise. That's when the neighbor revs up his two-stroke scooter releasing a white plume. Now who would protest refreshing some benzene and carbon-monoxide to accompany your cuppa chai?! Join me as we find our way to work through the potholes and the braving the death-defying motoring strategies of the two- and three-wheelers. What's that smell? It can't be....thankfully, it isn't. It's only the foul smell from the rickety diesel-guzzling lorry in front of you. Defying all laws of physics, it seems to exist merely to spout soot and other toxics in to your lungs. Pardon me, how is diesel subsidized? By the age of the vehicle and the inefficiency of its engine? I zip past it only to find the light changing at the intersection. At this distance in the turning lane, it will be the third cycle before I get through. Just as I notice how environmentally competitive our sedans have turned over the years, I notice the phat phatees, those hybrids that seem like scaled-up autos or ultra-mini vans. These were endemic to North India. How and why they migrated to the South is a mystery, perhaps even a conspiracy. So clean in their first few months of introduction, I was half-deceived in to endorsing them. After all, they did take the pressure off the public buses. As time wore by, some of them have turned true rivals of their more polluting cousins on the road. Very likely, vehicle inspection is many months away; besides, all it takes is a tweak of the valve and a few notes in the hands of the middle-man.
Ahh, there's the free stretch of road. Shall I turn the window down for some fresh air? Let me, just a .....What's tha...? Black smoke in my face. Where did that come from? Oh, an SUV. Those macho, muscular 4x4s that were designed for pure pleasure .... to the owner. Why care for those pedestrians in the rear view mirror, black-faced, and gassed out as they are likely to be! And why is the bus overtaking me? Did I say the lorries were dirty? My God, that was nothing, compared to these buses. Rivaling the lorries in age and crowded with subsidized passengers beyond all human limits, these paleolithic buses fulfill their environmental duty unswervingly, everyday – distributing sooty exhaust throughout the urban limits and even into suburbs (Gotta hang on to the bus for dear life and breathe smoke and dust to qualify for HRA at Class I city rate!). With extended hours, they ensure that even the early morning walker is not spared his fresh breath of air! Lorries, buses, phat-phatees and SUVs. Does that cover the whole ambit of polluting vehicles? You didn't forget vans did you? So convenient, and yet, so polluting. The very van that picks and drops your child to and from school also pollutes the road, even your living room. That's the irony of India. To obtain convenience, one must sacrifice health. In the long run, it may not even qualify as a zero sum game!
Come January, new rules are likely to be enforced and the existing ones applied to more cities and towns. Does that herald cleaner air? Despite the government's claims, No. Very likely, the increase in emissions from the entry of new vehicles (Remember, the UTI Auto fund must make money?) will swamp any reduction in emissions from the existing fleet. More vehicles on the road also means more congestion and more time idling at the intersection. That should reduce emissions some. Not! As for the vans, as much I might hate its exhaust, the fact that they are safer than three-wheeled autorickshaws, only portends to their more widespread use, both in the urbs and suburbs. And with many of us 'upgrading' to, or adding an SUV to declare our income to Aayakar Bhavan, the air isn't going to get cleaner, any time soon, claims to the contrary notwithstanding. So, if you are one of those old-timers waiting for fresh cool summer breeze or a cold blast of fresh wintery air for your walk, I have news for you.
Don't wait for packaged Alaskan air!
To pollute is my birth right
To protest not yours
Be a patriot, look away and ignore,
any transgressions of the commons
Remember, a developing nation are we,
can't put on the airs of the developed
We must lay to waste this air, water and land
to reduce cost this generation
(Why, the lung is a regenerable organ!)
so we may make money cleaning up in the next (or the one after)
Those are the lessons of Indian capitalism,
learn it, forgive it, live it!
(psst: Tried Johny Walker with Kurkure? Kya majha aata hai bhai!)
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com
Euro vehicle pollution standards and lead-free gasoline are so much in the news that one can't be faulted to presume the air is getting cleaner around us. But wait before you breathe too deeply! Would you care to walk out of your thickly curtained air-conditioned bungalow? At around 8:30-9 am on a cold morning to be precise. That's when the neighbor revs up his two-stroke scooter releasing a white plume. Now who would protest refreshing some benzene and carbon-monoxide to accompany your cuppa chai?! Join me as we find our way to work through the potholes and the braving the death-defying motoring strategies of the two- and three-wheelers. What's that smell? It can't be....thankfully, it isn't. It's only the foul smell from the rickety diesel-guzzling lorry in front of you. Defying all laws of physics, it seems to exist merely to spout soot and other toxics in to your lungs. Pardon me, how is diesel subsidized? By the age of the vehicle and the inefficiency of its engine? I zip past it only to find the light changing at the intersection. At this distance in the turning lane, it will be the third cycle before I get through. Just as I notice how environmentally competitive our sedans have turned over the years, I notice the phat phatees, those hybrids that seem like scaled-up autos or ultra-mini vans. These were endemic to North India. How and why they migrated to the South is a mystery, perhaps even a conspiracy. So clean in their first few months of introduction, I was half-deceived in to endorsing them. After all, they did take the pressure off the public buses. As time wore by, some of them have turned true rivals of their more polluting cousins on the road. Very likely, vehicle inspection is many months away; besides, all it takes is a tweak of the valve and a few notes in the hands of the middle-man.
Ahh, there's the free stretch of road. Shall I turn the window down for some fresh air? Let me, just a .....What's tha...? Black smoke in my face. Where did that come from? Oh, an SUV. Those macho, muscular 4x4s that were designed for pure pleasure .... to the owner. Why care for those pedestrians in the rear view mirror, black-faced, and gassed out as they are likely to be! And why is the bus overtaking me? Did I say the lorries were dirty? My God, that was nothing, compared to these buses. Rivaling the lorries in age and crowded with subsidized passengers beyond all human limits, these paleolithic buses fulfill their environmental duty unswervingly, everyday – distributing sooty exhaust throughout the urban limits and even into suburbs (Gotta hang on to the bus for dear life and breathe smoke and dust to qualify for HRA at Class I city rate!). With extended hours, they ensure that even the early morning walker is not spared his fresh breath of air! Lorries, buses, phat-phatees and SUVs. Does that cover the whole ambit of polluting vehicles? You didn't forget vans did you? So convenient, and yet, so polluting. The very van that picks and drops your child to and from school also pollutes the road, even your living room. That's the irony of India. To obtain convenience, one must sacrifice health. In the long run, it may not even qualify as a zero sum game!
Come January, new rules are likely to be enforced and the existing ones applied to more cities and towns. Does that herald cleaner air? Despite the government's claims, No. Very likely, the increase in emissions from the entry of new vehicles (Remember, the UTI Auto fund must make money?) will swamp any reduction in emissions from the existing fleet. More vehicles on the road also means more congestion and more time idling at the intersection. That should reduce emissions some. Not! As for the vans, as much I might hate its exhaust, the fact that they are safer than three-wheeled autorickshaws, only portends to their more widespread use, both in the urbs and suburbs. And with many of us 'upgrading' to, or adding an SUV to declare our income to Aayakar Bhavan, the air isn't going to get cleaner, any time soon, claims to the contrary notwithstanding. So, if you are one of those old-timers waiting for fresh cool summer breeze or a cold blast of fresh wintery air for your walk, I have news for you.
Don't wait for packaged Alaskan air!
To pollute is my birth right
To protest not yours
Be a patriot, look away and ignore,
any transgressions of the commons
Remember, a developing nation are we,
can't put on the airs of the developed
We must lay to waste this air, water and land
to reduce cost this generation
(Why, the lung is a regenerable organ!)
so we may make money cleaning up in the next (or the one after)
Those are the lessons of Indian capitalism,
learn it, forgive it, live it!
(psst: Tried Johny Walker with Kurkure? Kya majha aata hai bhai!)
Holy Smokes!
Holy Smokes!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
We Chennaites, conservatives and 'traditionalists' to the bone, may have adapted to rap tamil songs to accompany the annual Carnatic music festival, but when it comes to January, reading The Hindu while the cup of decoction coffee is still piping hot is still the 'in thing'. And January brings with it, besides the shrill religious music that interrupts many a tender moments, another traditional festival, Bhogi, the precursor to Pongal, the harvest festival. My ardent love for religion and Hinduism is quite well known. For the same reason, I generally stay clear of religious matters. But this one deserves attention. Over the years, the growing wealth among Indian families has been ostentatiously displayed in many ways including, unfortunately, overt displays of fireworks and the like. Come festival time - and the trend is to celebrate any and all festivals, election victories, five day match victory, ODI victory, Ganguly sixers and Kumble lbws - we are inundated by a mad cacophony of sound and light that serves no purpose than boost the ego of those lighting it. Why I even suspect an informal 'mafia ring' that goes around the localities handing out its 'evaluation' of whether households have spent enough on festival purchases. The more sound and light, and the more firecracker waste strewn around on the streets, the higher you are on their informal ladder of respect (and safety?) !
And whatever festival garbage remains on the streets despite the best efforts of the Corporation (Hey, we are entitled to our lighter moments!), is fuel for the traditional Bhogi fire. Diwali waste, garden waste, sweet boxes, styrofoam packings, plastic wrappings, you name it, the Bhogi fire consumes all. The 'holy smoke' from garbage burning mingles with the fog on the windless Bhogi morning made ever more dreary by the occluded sun to create something uniquely south-indian, the infamous 'Bhogi smog'. How divinely dangerous (and not just to the planes flying with reduced visibility)! Just when you thought your soot and cold-start benzene-exposed lungs could not be damaged more, what have you but the most toxic mix of pollutants in the air to herald the new year. (I guess, it's an early hurdle test. If one is to die from lung disease later in the year, he might as well die before the good times of harvest!).
Time was when nobody noticed but the asthmatics, the environmentalists, and of course, the garbage collectors. Today, environmentalists, meteorologists and pollution experts are ready with satellite readings and GIS software to monitor the direction of the dioxin plume. (I believe there is a way, at least informally, to exploit these trans-boundary transgressions monetarily. I fervently hope that it turns formal and hurts palpably) One also hopes, with so many TV channels, FM and AM stations around blaring public service messages, and the free TVs that were distributed with great fanfare, that the message pervades to all parts of the society, especially down to those elements who light fires with gay abandon. But then, what are the chances they 'd listen? So what does that leave us with? Another, 'I-told-you-so' fiasco? If you ask me, I'd have the mayor fund an annual campaign that doubles or triples the price of (unrecyclable) plastic (and other toxic) waste at recycle marts between Diwali and Bhogi. That would entice the waste-mongers to scrounge for plastic on streets and turn them in for their meal. And we might save a life or two, a few cancers and innumerable visits to the emergency room by asthmatics. You don't suppose the health and life insurance firms want to pitch in???
Shall we burn our waste early
and claim to avoid the Bhogi smog?
Shall we source segregate it
so urchins may light 'plastic only' fires?
Shall we hoard plastic for Bhogi day
knowing it'd fetch a price so high?
Shall we instead walk away
turning the proverbial blind eye?
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
We Chennaites, conservatives and 'traditionalists' to the bone, may have adapted to rap tamil songs to accompany the annual Carnatic music festival, but when it comes to January, reading The Hindu while the cup of decoction coffee is still piping hot is still the 'in thing'. And January brings with it, besides the shrill religious music that interrupts many a tender moments, another traditional festival, Bhogi, the precursor to Pongal, the harvest festival. My ardent love for religion and Hinduism is quite well known. For the same reason, I generally stay clear of religious matters. But this one deserves attention. Over the years, the growing wealth among Indian families has been ostentatiously displayed in many ways including, unfortunately, overt displays of fireworks and the like. Come festival time - and the trend is to celebrate any and all festivals, election victories, five day match victory, ODI victory, Ganguly sixers and Kumble lbws - we are inundated by a mad cacophony of sound and light that serves no purpose than boost the ego of those lighting it. Why I even suspect an informal 'mafia ring' that goes around the localities handing out its 'evaluation' of whether households have spent enough on festival purchases. The more sound and light, and the more firecracker waste strewn around on the streets, the higher you are on their informal ladder of respect (and safety?) !
And whatever festival garbage remains on the streets despite the best efforts of the Corporation (Hey, we are entitled to our lighter moments!), is fuel for the traditional Bhogi fire. Diwali waste, garden waste, sweet boxes, styrofoam packings, plastic wrappings, you name it, the Bhogi fire consumes all. The 'holy smoke' from garbage burning mingles with the fog on the windless Bhogi morning made ever more dreary by the occluded sun to create something uniquely south-indian, the infamous 'Bhogi smog'. How divinely dangerous (and not just to the planes flying with reduced visibility)! Just when you thought your soot and cold-start benzene-exposed lungs could not be damaged more, what have you but the most toxic mix of pollutants in the air to herald the new year. (I guess, it's an early hurdle test. If one is to die from lung disease later in the year, he might as well die before the good times of harvest!).
Time was when nobody noticed but the asthmatics, the environmentalists, and of course, the garbage collectors. Today, environmentalists, meteorologists and pollution experts are ready with satellite readings and GIS software to monitor the direction of the dioxin plume. (I believe there is a way, at least informally, to exploit these trans-boundary transgressions monetarily. I fervently hope that it turns formal and hurts palpably) One also hopes, with so many TV channels, FM and AM stations around blaring public service messages, and the free TVs that were distributed with great fanfare, that the message pervades to all parts of the society, especially down to those elements who light fires with gay abandon. But then, what are the chances they 'd listen? So what does that leave us with? Another, 'I-told-you-so' fiasco? If you ask me, I'd have the mayor fund an annual campaign that doubles or triples the price of (unrecyclable) plastic (and other toxic) waste at recycle marts between Diwali and Bhogi. That would entice the waste-mongers to scrounge for plastic on streets and turn them in for their meal. And we might save a life or two, a few cancers and innumerable visits to the emergency room by asthmatics. You don't suppose the health and life insurance firms want to pitch in???
Shall we burn our waste early
and claim to avoid the Bhogi smog?
Shall we source segregate it
so urchins may light 'plastic only' fires?
Shall we hoard plastic for Bhogi day
knowing it'd fetch a price so high?
Shall we instead walk away
turning the proverbial blind eye?
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Nuclear Devastation via Coal Power?
Nuclear Devastation via Coal Power?
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
If you are an avid reader then perhaps you have noticed how certain articles are 'friendlier' than others, and not merely because they are well-written. I happened to come across one such undated piece on the internet. Authored by Alex Gabbard of the ORNL, it reveals how coal-fired power plants emit many times, repeat, many times more nuclear irradiating particles than nuclear plants. (I forwarded it to the MoEF). And we thought nuclear plants had monopoly rights on human irradiation!
Surprising, yes, but is it a cause for concern? Consider this. In an age of global warming, half the world is unabashedly moving toward coal. India and China have turned coal in to a religion of the 'modern' day industrial revolution. China, as we hear, is adding a coal-fired power plant every week. And, going by the news in business papers, India is no laggard. (Any wonder coal beats other fuels by a mile when power plant are awarded on the basis of bidding 'levelized' tariffs – indexed to fuel price inflation??). With government-sponsored rural electrification, free or almost free power for agricultural pumpsets, subsidized power for residential consumers, unabated population growth and a booming economy, power demand is exploding through the roof. (Don't believe me? Look at the returns in Reliance Diversified Power Mutual Fund). What this means for global CO2 emissions and climate change is the subject of many articles, documents and reports. But, what does that imply for radiation exposure? For now, let's take a giant 'leap of faith' (believe in the divinity of God's followers!) and presume that we manage to stabilize CO2 emissions, if necessary by cooking up afforestation numbers and sequestering carbon. Coal-fired plants will then expand their share of power generation. As we move to coal of incrementally lower quality, radioactive ash emissions will further increase. Will Gibbard's radiation emission numbers stand up? Are they too conservative? Do we risk overshooting his estimates in search of a 'higher growth trajectory'. Does it even matter? Hey, what's a little irradiation for an extra scoop of ice-cream in the stock market?!!!!
On a tangent, we may yet save the polar ice and the disputed island with Bangladesh, but at what cost? Does it matter to the raccoons whether they were killed by warmer temperatures or bulldozers laying landing strips on their humble habitat? Does it matter to the whale whether its low sperm count was caused by warmer temperatures or 'non-toxic water-based/acrylic paint'? Are asthmatics any better off in a cooler world with lower humidity while breathing benzene from high-octane gas emitted by vehicles in the 'start and 'idle revving' cycle by the nasty neighbor? And, would you prefer power plant irradiation while preserving our abundant thorium deposits for a post-scorched earth world? I don't know about you, but I like 'subzi' made from fresh vegetables before they turn stale in the fridge and are cast to the bins!
Choices, conscious and unconscious
Private choices, choices for the family
Choices for today, and those for the 'morrow
Choices this generation, choices for decades and centuries beyond
Choices for humanity, choices for pets, animals and plants
Choices for this earthly life, choices beyond
Choices, choices and Hobson's choices!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
If you are an avid reader then perhaps you have noticed how certain articles are 'friendlier' than others, and not merely because they are well-written. I happened to come across one such undated piece on the internet. Authored by Alex Gabbard of the ORNL, it reveals how coal-fired power plants emit many times, repeat, many times more nuclear irradiating particles than nuclear plants. (I forwarded it to the MoEF). And we thought nuclear plants had monopoly rights on human irradiation!
Surprising, yes, but is it a cause for concern? Consider this. In an age of global warming, half the world is unabashedly moving toward coal. India and China have turned coal in to a religion of the 'modern' day industrial revolution. China, as we hear, is adding a coal-fired power plant every week. And, going by the news in business papers, India is no laggard. (Any wonder coal beats other fuels by a mile when power plant are awarded on the basis of bidding 'levelized' tariffs – indexed to fuel price inflation??). With government-sponsored rural electrification, free or almost free power for agricultural pumpsets, subsidized power for residential consumers, unabated population growth and a booming economy, power demand is exploding through the roof. (Don't believe me? Look at the returns in Reliance Diversified Power Mutual Fund). What this means for global CO2 emissions and climate change is the subject of many articles, documents and reports. But, what does that imply for radiation exposure? For now, let's take a giant 'leap of faith' (believe in the divinity of God's followers!) and presume that we manage to stabilize CO2 emissions, if necessary by cooking up afforestation numbers and sequestering carbon. Coal-fired plants will then expand their share of power generation. As we move to coal of incrementally lower quality, radioactive ash emissions will further increase. Will Gibbard's radiation emission numbers stand up? Are they too conservative? Do we risk overshooting his estimates in search of a 'higher growth trajectory'. Does it even matter? Hey, what's a little irradiation for an extra scoop of ice-cream in the stock market?!!!!
On a tangent, we may yet save the polar ice and the disputed island with Bangladesh, but at what cost? Does it matter to the raccoons whether they were killed by warmer temperatures or bulldozers laying landing strips on their humble habitat? Does it matter to the whale whether its low sperm count was caused by warmer temperatures or 'non-toxic water-based/acrylic paint'? Are asthmatics any better off in a cooler world with lower humidity while breathing benzene from high-octane gas emitted by vehicles in the 'start and 'idle revving' cycle by the nasty neighbor? And, would you prefer power plant irradiation while preserving our abundant thorium deposits for a post-scorched earth world? I don't know about you, but I like 'subzi' made from fresh vegetables before they turn stale in the fridge and are cast to the bins!
Choices, conscious and unconscious
Private choices, choices for the family
Choices for today, and those for the 'morrow
Choices this generation, choices for decades and centuries beyond
Choices for humanity, choices for pets, animals and plants
Choices for this earthly life, choices beyond
Choices, choices and Hobson's choices!
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