Monday 13 February 2017

Ratnakka's firestove.

Ratakka's home.
Beauty and sustainability. We need to develop her ? Teach her to use gas and fridges ? And to tear at the ozone hole like we are ?



Sridhar Bhaskarla Madam - No question that it is beautiful.

From the picture I see that she uses fire wood. From the little science I know, burning wood also produces the required gases to punch Ozone layer, if not a lot more. Imagine the whole country resorting to burning wood on a daily basis. I am aware that she may afford gas or ample of electricity and she is doing the best with what she has, but it doesn't mean that we can go rampant on condemning those who use them.  
Aparna Krishnan Local production and local consumption. Growing and using firewood. Yes, smokeless choolas are in order. But to speak for use of fossil fuels - excuse me !
Mark Johnston Burning seasoned wood simply returns the CO2 to the atmosphere that it absorbed as it grew. Also as the tree grew it protected the soil from erosion and from drying out too much, fertilising the ground with its leaves. The products of burning dry wood are not destroyers of the ozone layer. Smoke particles can be an issue but that can be minimised by right choice of and appropriate treament of wood and stove design informed by tradition. Where poverty, desperation and loss of land leads to overgrazing and deforestation rather than planting and protecting trees as a sustainable crop then burning wood can lead to ecological collapse but surely that is more down to the knock on consequences of the fossil fuel fed extravagances of the urban rich than the fault of struggling individuals trying to scrape a living from the land.
Sridhar Bhaskarla Fossil fuels?. Why to put words in one's mouth and then requesting to excuse?. There are multiple ways of producing smokeless energy and particularly producing electricity without damaging the atmosphere, not necessarily fossil fuels. Do I need to elaborate? People live in utopia if they think that people meticulously grow trees and then cut them for firewood thus help the environment?. How much of time it takes to grow a tree and how long it takes to burn it to ashes?. Excuse me there big time. Again, its not about just Ratnakka because that model is not *scalable*. It is about image the whole country going with these hypothetical goody-goody concepts. It's murderous. I am failing to understand projecting people living in Urban areas as demons while those in rural as angels. Can we ever get away from this Fatuous concept? Why don't we just go back to neolithic ages and live peaceful lives?

If people want to ignore the data given in the above chart and believe in their own theories, I am fine. 
Abby FromKodur Just breathtakingly simple
Ganesh Krishnamurthy Aparna, is it possible to adopt the Low Smoke Chulha in your  
Aparna Krishnan Not necessary in our area. Tried and put aside. Any intervention needs to come after living closely and understanding local realities and local perspectives. Many appropriate technologies are provided by people who have not lived in a village for even two years.
Ganesh Krishnamurthy You mean inappropriate?
Ganesh Krishnamurthy I am guilty as charged. I do really appreciate what you do.
Mark Johnston When imposed from outside 'appropriate technology' like 'green revolution' or 'sustainable development' often end up, whatever the intentions, achieving the opposite.
Ganesh Krishnamurthy Would it not help reduce illnesses? Lung diseases may be from exposure to smoke.
Aparna Krishnan Well, we got a couple, but no one took to them. And cooking is always done outside, and so smoke is generally not an issue as such. Dried wood is used, and then it usually burns well sans smoke. As I said local realities and conditions and perceptions need to be understood. I would not dump solutions on any community when I have not had the time and priority to live with them and understand them.

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