In brief – November 2022
India’s first solar village
Modhera, a village in Mehsana district, Gujarat, known for the beautiful Sun Temple has been declared India’s first 24×7 solar-powered village. Along with a ground-based solar power plant, 1,300 rooftop solar systems have been installed on top of residential and government buildings and integrated with a 15Mwh battery energy storage system.
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The ‘Maa’ robot
Bipin Kadam, a daily wage worker from Goa, has built a robot from scratch to feed his specially-abled daughter. The robot has an inbuilt bowl and spoon attached to an arm that helps in feeding her. The Goa Innovation Council will provide financial assistance to further develop the robot.
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Thermal energy dance floor
A Scottish night club SWG3 has a dance floor that absorbs body heat from the dancers and converts it to thermal energy, which can be between 250 and 600 watts depending on the intensity of the music. The energy is channelled via a fluid carrier to a 650ft deep borewell where it is charged before being sent up to provide heating/cooling to the club.
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Save the Date
Iraqi families under the initiative Adopt a Palm, are trying to preserve Iraq’s palm trees and boost the date industry. Over 70,000 palm trees have been planted in Baghdad, Karbala, Najaf and other parts of southern Iraq. Families are offering their trees for adoption in return for the harvest of the dates.
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Dance events to fix Ukraine
In Ukraine DJs are combining dance events with fixing up bombed-out buildings under the initiative ‘Repair Together’. At a recent event 200 people danced among the debris in Yahidne village, north-east of Kyiv. The initiative has so far hosted nine clean-up events in three villages, carrying out repairs to homes damaged by shelling.
