Tirupati - From Gold to Green

One of the most widely talked about topics these days is global warming. India as a country contributes heavily to global warming, with more awareness being created the country is going back to its roots of using natural solutions to make the country more environmentally friendly. Here is one example of how it is being done in a massive fashion.

Tirupti in Andhra Pradesh receives an annual income of $340 million and is visited by between 50,000 and 100,000 devotes every day. This influx of humanity proves a major strain on the various energy resources. The management has planted trees all around the temple. These trees serve as a carbon sink and provide an offset for the carbon dioxide generated by the visiting throngs.

The temple has a community kitchen which is open all day. Besides vegetable 50,000 kg of rice and lentils are cooked here every day. There 106 solar dishes placed strategically on the roof tops, that move regularly to ensure that they capture the maximum amount of solar energy during the day. This energy is used to convert water into high pressure steam, which cooks the food in the kitchen below.

Besides solar energy the temple also taps into wind energy. Located atop a hill, the temple is positioned in great location to use the wind. Various energy companies have donated a series of wind farms which fulfill almost 50% of the energy needs of the temple. The temple also recycles its water, the recycled water is used to water the gardens round the temple.

Tirupti management is aware that today’s donors are very progressive and also want to see results. This had provided and additional incentive for the temple to go green and be able to show the people who visit the temple how they have done so.

This reasoning being one of the drivers to drive a massive green initiative gives us reason to pause. By being more vocal and forth coming we can encourage various large entities, even religion institutions, to focus their resources on counteracting global warming. What are your thoughts in the matter and do you know of other ways in which global warming is being reversed?

Some Statistics - India currently uses fossil fuels as its major source of energy. Global consultancy McKinsey predicts that the country's carbon emissions will double in the next decade. As India is taking steps to limit its emissions, it's also one of the largest producers of carbon credits in the world. According to a 2010 study by HSBC Research, India's share of the $2.2 trillion market for low carbon goods and services in 2020 could be as much as $135bn. The report further predicts that India's clean technology market could create 10.5m green jobs, and is likely to grow faster than any other country. This is a small step in the right directions and the country has miles to go before it is clean and green.