Tag: technological and industrial development

Oil spills occur when liquid petroleum is released into the environment by vehicle, vessel or pipeline. It is mostly seen in water bodies. Crude oil is released by tankers on land thus leading to oil spills. In water bodies, improper oil extraction due to drilling rigs, offshore oil platforms and well result in oil spills. Thus the correct answer is option B.

Gasification is an efficient means of converting low value fuels and residuals into a synthesis gas (or syngas). Syngas is used to produce power, steam, hydrogen, and basic chemicals such as methanol and ammonia.

Energy plantation means growing selected species  of  trees and shrubs which are  harvestable in a comparably  shorter time and are  specifically meant for fuel. The fuel wood may be used either directly in wood burning stoves and boilers or processed into methanol, ethanol and producer gas. These plantations help provide wood either for cooking in homes or for industrial use, so as to satisfy local  energy  needs in a decentralized manner.

Two major types of biofuels are bioethanol and biodiesel. The former is produced from crops like maize, sugarcane, wheat, sorghum, sugar beet, potato, and the latter from oil-seeds like rapeseed, soybean, palm and  Jatropha curcas. Among the biodiesel-yielding plants,  Jatropha curcas  has attracted a lot of attention in recent years because of the positive energy balance of its oil and its ability to grow in a annual rainfall ranging from 250-3000 mm.

The government of India has mandated blending of 5% of ethanol in petrol in order to reduce vehicle exhaust emissions and also to reduce the import burden on account of crude petroleum from which petrol is produced. The practice of blending ethanol in petrol started in 2001 and as ethanol is a by-product of sugar industry and is expected to be procured at low rates. further, it reduces the petroleum use in transportation and greenhouse gas emissions.

Dalbergia latifolia is an economically important timber species native to low elevation tropical monsoon forests of eastern India. Some common names in English are blackwood, bombay blackwood. Wood from Dalbergia latifolia tree is used in premium furniture making and cabinetry, as veneer, as plywood, for outdoor furniture.

Dalbergia sissoo is a highly valued hardwood timber species, providing an additional income source in agroforestry systems, mostly in India and Pakistan. The establishment of D. sissoo plantations for wood production can be an attractive proposition in economic terms. Most plantations are managed primarily for timber, with fuelwood as a secondary product. For fuelwood production in short rotations, several other species may give higher financial returns.