Dr Rajiv Desai
An Educational Blog
Defossilization
Defossilization: _ The goal of defossilization is to shift material sourcing away from fossil resources (red) to non-fossil resources, including carbon dioxide, biomass, or recyclate (green path) as seen in figure above. _ Section-1 Prologue: The 2026 Iran war—triggered by US-Israeli military strikes and Iran’s retaliatory actions—has sent profound ripple effects across the globe. The conflict has disrupted one of the world’s most vital maritime chokepoints and reshaped international trade. By disrupting and blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the conflict cut off roughly 20% of global oil & liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies, and 30% of global fertilizer trade. Crude oil prices surged to nearly $100 a barrel, heavily elevating fuel costs for industries and consumers. Fossil fuels—predominantly coal, oil (petroleum), and natural gas—are primarily used to generate electricity, fuel transportation & cooking, provide industrial heating, and manufacture raw materials for plastics and fertilizers. They form the backbone of […]
Cloud Seeding
Cloud Seeding: _ _ Section-1 Prologue: In the 1956 movie The Rainmaker, Burt Lancaster plays a con man catering to the dreams of spinster Katharine Hepburn. And while both stars triumph in the end — the rain does fall, and she comes out of her shell. In Hindu tradition, mortals prayed and performed elaborate rituals to please Indra, the god of rain. Legend has it that musician Tansen’s melodious voice could summon showers from cloudless skies. Humans have long sought to purposefully alter such atmospheric phenomena as clouds, rain, snow, hail, lightning, thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and cyclones. The modern era of scientific weather modification began in 1946 with work by Vincent J. Schaefer and Irving Langmuir at the General Electric Research Laboratories in Schenectady, N.Y. Schaefer discovered that when dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) pellets were dropped into a cloud composed of water droplets in a deep-freeze box, the […]
Critical Minerals
Critical Minerals: _ Tesla would not go out of business if supplies of cobalt vanished. But without it, the current generation of electric vehicles would not be able to drive as far between charges or remain in service as long without replacing the batteries. _ Section-1 Prologue: Archaeologists and historians describe early civilizations and periods of human history using terms such as the Stone Age, the Copper Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. Such descriptions reflect the fundamental importance of nonfuel minerals, metals, and materials technology and applications. Early civilizations were built to a significant degree using the seven metals of antiquity (in order of discovery): gold (6000 BC), copper (4200 BC), silver (4000 BC), lead (3500 BC), tin (1750 BC), iron (1500 BC), and mercury (750 BC). Each discovery led to a range of innovations and applications that provided a marked advantage until such time […]
Solar Technologies
Solar Technologies: Solar is the only renewable energy source which could, in principle, easily meet all the world’s energy needs. _ “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.” Thomas Edison in 1931 ____ Section-1 Prologue: Currently, our civilization consumes around 17.7 Terawatts (17.7 terajoules/second) of power taken from all sources of energy, namely oil, coal, natural gas and alternative energies such as solar, wind, hydropower and others. Fossil fuels—including coal, oil, and natural gas—have been powering economies for over 150 years, and currently supply about 80 percent of the world’s energy. The environmental ramifications of using fossil fuels, combined with their expected remaining abundance on earth places limits on how much longer we as a species can rely on them as an energy source. If […]
Desalination
Desalination: _ The history of water is equivalent to the history of the world and the history of water quality is equivalent to the history of life. —Andreas N. Angelakis _ Section-1 Prologue: All early civilizations were built on the banks of rivers. Whether it was the Euphrates in the Fertile Crescent or the Tiber in Rome, rivers gave early settlements easy access to abundant streams of fresh water, essential not only for drinking but also for irrigating crops. The availability of water was one of the biggest constraints on the growth of settlement and population size. The layout of Ancient Egypt reflected this. It stretched out like a long snake, hugging the banks of the Nile River. The invention of aqueducts by the Romans first enabled water to be carried long distances, providing the crucial utility to remote stretches of its sprawling empire and allowing populations to […]
