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Let`s Innovate

Views 2 Views    Comments 0 Comments    Share Share    Posted by Srinivas 11-12-2008  
With crude oil prices drifting lower and lower there is the danger that a sense of complacency might set in, compromising efforts to realise the potential of alternative energy options. In the Indian context, the economic stimulus package announced recently by the government has, among other things, prompted a fall in price of fuels and motor vehicles. However, cheaper fuel and cars would also lead to an increase in the volume of emissions unless there was a sustained effort to improve consistently the quality and efficiency of these products so that they become less harmful to the environment and public health.

During the 1970s OPEC-initiated oil crunch, most oil-importing countries worldwide were hit badly. However, Brazil and Denmark used the opportunity to train their sights on sustainable alternatives and the rest, as they say, is history. Brazil greened its economy with bio-energy via sugarcane ethanol while Denmark went for wind energy. Today, Denmark meets 20 per cent of its energy requirements from electricity generated by wind turbines and its cost has come down by 75 per cent since the 1970s. The key words were innovation and persistence. Necessity is the mother of invention but sustaining the momentum even when the need is not acute is what achieves durable results.

Research requires not just motivation but resources as well. The Swedish government recently passed a research and innovation Bill that allocates five billion kroners worth of additional resources to enable new ideas and inventions to take shape as well as facilitate their transition from the laboratory to the marketplace. A large portion of Sweden`s official research funds goes to academic institutions, where there is an exciting ferment of ideas both among faculty members and between students and teachers. There are research efforts to develop climate models, generate wave energy, create more efficient solar films as well as green batteries which extract energy from algae.

In India, the government has circulated a draft of the proposed Innovation Act of 2008, intended to address funding and facilitation of research in science and technology through public-private sector partnerships. The new legislation will focus on increasing investment in research, strengthen education opportunities in mathematics, science and technology and facilitate the development of innovation infrastructure. The proposed Act also provides for the setting up of innovation zones. But innovation cannot be just enacted, it requires sustained public will and active facilitation.

Source:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Editorial/EDIT_Lets_Innovate/articleshow/3819
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