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IGCS BULLETIN VOL 3: ISSUE 3 July 2014 Dear Readers, Sustainable Management of Re- Contents sources with a structured pro- This issue of the IGCS Bulletin gramme comprising lectures, student contains an interesting student projects, field visits and cultural trips. project: ‘Transportation and Mobility 2 Going by the feedback, the two week IGCS NEWS Issues in Thyagaraya Nagar, programme was a hit with the twen- Chennai’, a vibrant commercial 5 ty five Indian and German student PROJECT REPORT: centre in Chennai. The article is participants. Kudos to Prof Kranert written by Ms Sonam Sahu and TRANSPORTATION AND MOBILITY and his team for the successful fellow team members of IGCS Winter ISSUES IN THYAGARAYA NAGAR, event! A Steering Committee School held in IIT Madras in March meeting was also held in Stuttgart. CHENNAI 2014. It provides a good portrayal of traffic concerns, lessons learnt and If the first quarter of 2014 was FEATURE: 9 suggestions for improvement. eventful with visits by short-term professors, the second quarter was SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT Solid waste management has equally Gemütlichkeit (sociable). Two IN CHENNAI become a major environmental German students joined our IGCS concern in the country. Chennai, the family in July and two more are fourth largest metropolitan city in expected to join us in August. India is facing an uphill task in Wholeheartedly…Welcome to IGCS! keeping the city clean with its growing solid waste generation. This This issue also contain the regular is the topic of the feature article section on Forthcoming Conferences titled: ‘Solid Waste Management in Happy Reading!! Chennai’, written by Ruben Sudhakar and Ajit Kolar. The article presents Thanking you, coherently the challenges and key drivers for implementing effective Ajit Kumar Kolar & P. Sasidhar solid waste management practices in Editors Chennai. Come June…It was Summer School time at University of Stuttgart. IGCS Prof. Ajit Kumar Kolar Dr. P. Sasidhar organized the Summer School on Volume 3, Issue 3 July 2014 IGCS NEWS A one day seminar on “Exploring the Current Issues in Sustainable Energy” A one day seminar on “Exploring the Current Issues in Sus- Systems); Prof. Sreenivas Jayanti, Department of Chemical tainable Energy” was organized by the Indo-German Cen- Engineering, IIT Madras, (on Role of Fuel Cells in Sustaina- ter for Sustainability (IGCS) at IIT Madras on June 5, 2014. ble Transport); Prof. Sudhir Chella Rajan, Coordinator, This coincided with the World Environment Day. Also, IGCS IGCS and Professor, Department of Humanities and Social took this opportunity to felicitate Prof. Ajit Kumar Kolar, Sciences, IIT Madras (on Stabilizing Carbon while Meeting Energy Area Coordinator, IGCS (Chairman, Centre for Con- the Energy Needs of the Poor: A scenario-Based Study for tinuing Education and Founder- Convener, Energy Forum, India) and Prof. Ajit Kumar Kolar, Energy Area Coordinator, IIT Madras) who has retired after an illustrious career IGCS and Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineer- spanning three decades at IIT Madras. ing, IIT Madras (on Advanced Coal Technologies: An Essen- Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurti, Director, IIT Madras presided tial Component of a Sustainable Energy System). A total of over the inaugural function. The chief guest and the key 85 delegates (faculty and students from IIT Madras and note speaker for the seminar was Dr. Ajay Mathur, other institutions) participated in the seminar, and the Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of deliberations were active and lively. There was a student Power, Govt. of India. He delivered an excellent talk titled poster presentation on sustainability issues in energy. A “Innovation and the Challenges in the Wide-spread Adop- total of 14 students made the poster presentations. Two tion of Energy-Efficient Technologies”. There were very of these were selected for award of best posters. The sem- interesting and informative lectures by five invited speak- inar ended with felicitations to Prof. Ajit Kumar Kolar. ers: Dr.Deepa, Scientist , Centre for Wind Energy Technol- Many speakers talked about the significant contributions ogy, Govt. of India (on Issues of Wind-Solar as India's Fu- made by Prof. Kolar to the IGCS, to the cause of sustaina- ture Energy); Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Forbes-Marshall ble energy on the campus, his role at national level in the Chair Professor, Department of Energy Science & Engi- energy sector and about his pleasant and helpful nature. neering, IIT Bombay (on Modeling and Analysis of Energy Dr.Ajay Mathur delivering the key note address Prof. Sreenivas Jayanti speaksing on Fuel Cells Prof. Ajit Kumar Kolar delivering a talk Prof. Ajit Kumar Kolar receiving a memento on Advanced Coal Technologies from Prof. S.C.Rajan during the felicitation function 2 Volume 3, Issue 3 July 2014 IGCS Summer School 2014 at Stuttgart University The Summer School titled “Sustainable Management of The program also included a visit to the Ministry of the Resources - Closing the Loop: Solid Waste and Waste Wa- Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector ter Management“ was organized at Stuttgart University Baden-Württemberg. Ministerialdirektor Meinel welcomed from June 16th to 28th and gave twenty five German and the group. The experts of the Ministry presented and dis- Indian students the opportunity to learn about the im- cussed the implementation and closing of material and portance of sustainable solid waste and water manage- water cycles in Baden-Württemberg with relevant practical ment, about their role in resource efficiency and substitu- examples. tion of fossil fuels by closing the loop of materials and wa- The students had the chance to apply what they learnt by ter systems, and by energy recovery of organic residues. working in group projects. One of the groups worked on Professors from IGCS/IIT Madras, German experts and the “cradle to cradle” topic, searching for a solution for lecturers of Stuttgart University participated in the Sum- sustainable waste management in Mumbai. mer School. The keynote speech of Dr. Wuttke from the One group made laboratory experiments on flocculation Umweltbundesamt (Berlin) gave an overview on the devel- while another one researched about the societal aware- opment of waste and waste water management in Germa- ness on anthropogenic trace compounds and conducted a survey among the students in the campus of Stuttgart Uni- ny – a topic that was intensely discussed with the students versity. afterwards. Dr. P. Sasidhar lectured about Waste to Energy in India while Prof. A. K. Kolar and Prof. BS Murty gave an The waste water topic was studied by a group to obtain a solution for sustainable waste management in a residential overview on the solid waste management in India. Prof. M. campus. Non-water toilets were investigated by the last Schneider (Wuppertal) talked about biofuels, lubricants group, searching for options, advantages and disad- and new materials from agricultural land and waste mate- vantages. rials. Dr. Steger, IGCS alumna, explained the role of mi- Visits to the waste incinerator plant and waste water treat- crobes in the degradation of waste and production of en- ment plant in Stuttgart helped the students to get an idea ergy. Dr. Drees (Aachen) talked about the concept “cradle about how Germany is dealing with its solid waste and to cradle” as a possible way towards sustainable waste waste water. The program included a visit to the Institute management and resource autarchy. Prof. Kranert for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste (Stuttgart) presented challenges and solutions for sustaina- Management (ISWA) at University of Stuttgart and its ble solid waste management. Dr. Kuch’s (Stuttgart) lec- waste water treatment plant for teaching and research. ture was about micro pollutants and Prof. L. Philip (IITM) The visit to the water supply treatment plant from Lake lectured on waste water management in India and the Constance was an opportunity for students to know more options and challenges in the waste water treatment. Prof. about one of the largest drinking water reservoirs in Ger- F. Steinbruch (IGCS Visiting Professor, IITM) explained many. ways to protect the water sources. Student delegates of IGCS Summer School with the members of IGCS Steering Committee 3 Volume 3, Issue 3 July 2014 The students had the chance to apply what they learnt by for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste working in group projects. One of the groups worked on Management (ISWA) at University of Stuttgart and its the “cradle to cradle” topic, searching for a solution for waste water treatment plant for teaching and research. sustainable waste management in Mumbai. The visit to the water supply treatment plant from Lake One group made laboratory experiments on flocculation Constance was an opportunity for students to known more while another one researched about the societal aware- about one of the largest drinking water reservoirs in Ger- ness on anthropogenic trace compounds and conducted a many. survey among the students in the campus of Stuttgart Uni- Within the constraints of a two- week intensive work, stu- versity. dents still had time to discover Stuttgart including one of The waste water topic was studied by a group to obtain a the most famous landmarks, The Mercedes Benz museum. solution for sustainable waste management in a residential The Summer School was supplemented by joint intercultur- campus. Non-water toilets were investigated by the last al activities and meetings. The participants learnt about the group, searching for options, advantages and disad- history of the region by visiting Tübingen, Castle Hohenzol- vantages. lern and Pfahlbauten museum in Uhldingen. At the final Visits to the waste incinerator plant and waste water treat- event, the participants praised the good organization of ment plant in Stuttgart helped the students to get an idea the Summer School, the interesting program and the work- about how Germany is dealing with its solid waste and ing on the joint projects.