Reenita's Wisdom

Who says that San Francisco is about hippie fashion? Thanks to Yetunde Schumann and the Innovative Fashion Council of San Francisco, the Pacific metropolis is rapidly becoming identified with sustainable and environmentally conscious fashion. Indeed, Sixth Street is going the way of Seventh Avenue.

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Every year on October 2nd, I am take back to my comfort zone of being a child of India. It is a very personal thing but those of you who grew up with a constant reminder of Gandhi-ji as the Father of the Indian Nation, will know what I am talking about.

Gandhi-ji symbolizes more than peace, non violence or an Independent India. Gandhi-ji symbolizes hope, sustainability and economic progress. Every October, and certainly in times as troubled as these, the thought of the loin-clothed man spinning for hours upon a wheel in perfect silence, provides meditation in itself.

Jennifer Lance of Ecochildsplay, put together some beautiful quotes of Gandhi-ji last year. Click here to read them.

And If economic progress and sustainability was truly his objective, then I think we all have cause to celebrate. Click here to read about how Gandhi’s charkha or spinning wheel has inspired a way to power villages across India.

Happy Gandhi-ji’s birthday to you all

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Happy Late Birthday Gandhi

Photo credit: Finickypenguin.com

India’s new biofuels policy has been the talk of the town.

Biofuels Policy

First the Indian government releases its new biofuels policy setting a target of 20% ethanol and 20% biodiesel blending by 2017. The policy is questionable because as we all know, India is already suffering an inflation in food prices. While the new policy requires fuel crops are to be grown only on “waste lands”, we all know that Indian farmers work in their own economic interest. If they get more money from oilseeds, then that’s what they will look to cultivate.

Companies Milk the Biofuels Policy

Then companies like Bharat Petroleum and the Khaitan Group decide to get in on the act. Although jatropha has been recognized as a ‘toxic’ plant for years, it is suddenly in vogue and every big renewable energy player wants to invest in jatropha plantations. Now you tell me…which way are those farmers going to turn?

Tata To Make Sweet Sorghum Ethanol

The Tata group is taking a different approach by investing in sweet sorghum for ethanol. According to International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), based in Hyderabad, said that sweet sorghum is ideal as a “food and fuel” crop for India, based on the plant providing 8 units of energy for every unit of fossil-fuel energy invested. Unlike jatropha which is grown on contentious wastelands, sorghum is grown in hilly and semi-arid areas where food crops have low yields that are not commercially viable.

Investing in biofuels is fast becoming a new fashion statement for renewable energy players? Who will come walking down the ramp next?

Related Article:

Does India’s New Biofuels Policy Spell Sustainability?

With the U.S. Presidential elections less than two weeks away, both candidates are heavily focused upon the economy as their chief task. The declining economic situation propelled by the fall of Lehman Brothers has certainly worked in Obama’s favor.

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