Deforestation

Hiya people! So Slumdog Millionaire has put the Indian shanty on the map of the world eh. May be the next lot of rubbernecks will want to go on a tour of our slums. Anyway, returning to more thought provoking happenings the wide world over. Many have heard the expression ‘crash and burn’. What about this one ‘slash and burn’? For those of us who’ve never heard this before read on.

We know that trees are being felled at alarmingly high rates and can lead to many undesirable side effects. Our tropical rain forests are the natural habitat of millions of organisms and creatures (not using this figuratively). Most species of primates cannot live anywhere else but in these rich rain forests. I know you must have heard this often times but the human race benefits enormously from what the trees have to give. From spices for food to life saving medicines, the rain forests are like the earth’s life support system. An estimate puts the total number of medicines that come from the forests at 25%. This excludes cures that have yet to be discovered or that have been lost forever.

Did you know that when Europe was under the Roman Empire, almost all of it was forest land? The ‘Eternal City’ might have not had its empire forever but has certainly kept the planet alive for longer. This is in sharp contrast to today’s climate in which 500,000 hectares disappear in a single week. And this is not a recent figure at all.

Burgeoning populations to the point of an explosion in developing and third world countries have also aggravated the problem. Displaced or dispossessed peasants are forced to look for land in virgin forests. They practice what is called the ‘slash and burn’ method, notably in countries like Brazil. According to this method trees are felled and the remains are burned. Ash from the burned remains is used as fertilizer. However, the soil is rendered infertile as its nutrients are consumed by surrounding organisms. Some researchers regard slash and burn to be the biggest cause of deforestation.

What about the logging industry? Many million acres are denuded annually for commercial and property industries. McDonald's would require hundreds of square miles of trees to meet the amount of paper required for a year’s supply of packaging. But now with consumers watching keenly, even behemoths have realized they cannot flex their corporate muscles and appear to be arrogantly indifferent. Firms are anxious to advertise eco-friendly material used in their day to day business.

You know, I can go on and on as can you, instances, figures, statistics, etc, to a point where it may sound like a shaggy dog story. A fact of life – we are going to have to make some very fundamental changes to our lifestyle.

Say Hello to the Catalytic Converter

Allo to you all! Hope our concerted efforts to save planet earth finds all of you in good cheer :) I made mention of catalytic converters if you remember my earlier post. Many of us are concerned about our planet.

Hear this - according to a fairly recent report there are 820 million vehicles on the roads today. That’s how serious the problem really is. So, where was I? Ah! Catalytic converters. These first appeared - correct me if I’m wrong - in 1974(?) At a very basic level of understanding this device is meant to reduce the harmful effects of emissions before they exit your vehicle’s exhaust system.

The two types of catalytic converter bodies are honeycomb and ceramic beads. The honeycomb structure is the more commonly used one. In automobile engineering ‘stoichiometric point’ refers to the dream ‘air-to-fuel’ mixture ratio. So in theory, at the stoichiometric point all the fuel gets burned (as unburned fuel is undesirable) using all of the free oxygen available. Ideal combustion. When a car engine is designed to burn fuel carefully, emissions are reduced significantly.

Less dangerous emissions would include nitrogen gas, carbon dioxide (though this does have a hand in global warming) and water vapor. Now we come to the real villains of the peace - carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons or volatile organic compounds. And whom do these villainous fellows have to thank? Imperfect combustion. Yessir! These emissions are the reason why we hear of smog, acid rain and more.

Enter the catalytic converter, designed to reduce their harmful effects. In the catalytic converter the reduction catalyst and the oxidation catalyst are the two types of catalysts. The reduction catalyst converts nitrogen oxide to nitrogen gas. The oxidation catalyst reduces the amount of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.

Am I blinding you with science? Ok. I’ll give it a rest now. :) I hope you’ve learned something from this about the role of catalytic converters unless you already knew this.

Your Individual Carbon Footprint

What are you doing right now? Taking out your car? Using your air-conditioner? Eating out of a brown paper bag? Do you use incandescent light bulbs or florescent light bulbs? You have any idea as to the amount of carbon dioxide your life style generates? That’s what the carbon footprint is all about.

Know what? I am consciously taking steps to reduce my ‘individual carbon footprint’. I’m also keeping tabs on the extent of my contribution to the larger carbon footprint. Right now it stands at 2.4 hectares or 6 acres. In other words 6 acres of land are needed in order to support my lifestyle! This is exactly in line with worldwide average per capita footprint. Compare this to the average footprint for an American which stands at 9 hectares or 22.23 acres! Try this link - http://ecokoncepts.wordpress.com/ to find out just how much of a murderer you really are.

Moving on, only a short while ago my cousin took up residence in the quaint and charming Isle of Wight. She says it’s beautifully clean and the air couldn’t get fresher. That’s how my mother remembers it when she was there on a short visit during her student days.

Last month when chatting with my cousin online, she, in passing referred to her new car. I asked if she had at the time of deciding on her choice of car inquired as to its carbon emission rate.

We’ve all heard of those stringent emission standards like Euro 1, Euro 2, Euro 3, and so on. Vehicles manufacturers who do not comply will not find a market in Europe.

Low emission rates are those which are less than 100g/km. In polluting cars emission rates cross 200g/km. Which means if you drive your car 5,000 miles in a year, and it has a carbon emission rate of 160g/km, your car is giving off approximately 1.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

And if it weighs on your conscience like it ought to, you can offset this abuse by planting a couple of trees each year. What do you think? Your car’s catalytic converter is what I plan to cover in my next post. Until then watch this space.

And oh! I’m not letting you in on what my cousin told me in her 'infinite wisdom' about her car's emission levels. Or may be I just might. Well my dears, I must be going now.