{"id":122356,"date":"2022-01-23T17:57:48","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T00:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=122356"},"modified":"2022-01-23T17:57:48","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T00:57:48","slug":"the-three-fuels-miracle-the-only-solution-to-the-energy-crisis-in-sri-lanka-and-to-keep-sri-lanka-alight-even-if-the-whole-world-that-depends-of-fossil-fuel-goes-dark-after-2050","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2022\/01\/23\/the-three-fuels-miracle-the-only-solution-to-the-energy-crisis-in-sri-lanka-and-to-keep-sri-lanka-alight-even-if-the-whole-world-that-depends-of-fossil-fuel-goes-dark-after-2050\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Three Fuels miracle\u201d the only solution to the energy crisis in Sri Lanka and to keep Sri Lanka alight, even if the whole world that depends of fossil fuel, goes dark after 2050."},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Sudath Gunasekara<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

(\u0db8\u0d9f \u0dc4\u0ddc\u0db3\u0da7 \u0dad\u0dd2\u0db6\u0dda\u0db1\u0db8\u0dca \u0dba\u0db1\u0dca\u0da7 \u0daf\u0dd1\u0dc3\u0dad\u0dca \u0db4\u0dd9\u0db1\u0dda\u0db1\u0db8\u0dca \u0d9a\u0dd2\u0db8 \u0db6\u0dd0\u0daf\u0dd2\u0dc0\u0dbd \u0dba\u0db1\u0dca\u0db1\u0dda \u0db8\u0db1\u0dca\u0db8\u0dd4\u0dbd\u0dcf\u0dc0\u0dd4 \u0d91\u0d9a\u0d9a\u0dd4 \u0dc3\u0dda\n\u0dc3\u0dd2\u0db1\u0dca\u0dc4\u0dbd\u0dba\u0d9a\u0dd4\u0d9c\u0dda \u0d9a\u0dd2\u0dba\u0db8\u0db1\u0d9a\u0dca) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka is geographically located almost\nright at the center of the globe (bet 5-10 degrees N of equator and 80-82\ndegrees E) and at the middle of the tropics. It is also blessed with the vast\nexpanse of the Indian Ocean, the third biggest body of water in the world covering\n1\/5th<\/sup> of the total ocean area of the world right round it extending\n7000 miles from N-S and 4900 miles from W-E, East Africa to West Australia. It\nis being traversed by seasonal Monsoons that sweep the vast Indian Ocean that\nbring unlimited rain to this Island. It is also favourably located within the\ntrajectory of The Inter Tropical Converging Zone in relation that brings both\nsurface and upper atmospheric effects such as the burst of the monsoon and\nseasonal monsoon rain to the Island. Furthermore, its insularity and its small size\n(65,610 km2) and its peculiar and unique physical topography characterized by a\ncentral hill country at the center of the Island, rising abruptly from the surrounding\nlowlands and going up to 8281 ft msl at Pidutalagala This peculiar topography\nproviding for cascading rivers right round the hill country with an annual mean\nrainfall of 2000 mm has made Sri Lanka the richest country in water resources\nin the world.  Regular seasonal winds that\nbring alternatively, SW and NE monsoon rain for 11 months in the year with\nconvectional rain in April, 12 hours daily sunshine right throughout the year all\nover the country resulting evergreen tropical rain forests has made it the blessed\nevergreen resplendent Isle on earth from the dawn of history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With such a high volume of perennial river\nwater cascading down the hills, abundant 12hour uninterrupted sunshine\nthroughout the year all over the Island and howling and blowing winds at our\ndisposal and at no cost, I wonder why we go after and fully depend on imported fossil\nfuel, coal, natural gaze and dangerous atomic energy spending trillions of\ndollars making the nation poorer every day, as the only way to provide energy\nto this small Island nation. I ponder as to what are the reasons for this\nunfortunate situation?  Is it because of\nthe lack of brain or commitment to nation building on the part of politicians,\npolicy makers and scientists in the relevant fields?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following data announced over the\nTV on today tells the present pathetic situation in relation to power\nproduction and development in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Oil, Coal and gaze 73 %<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Hydro                      25%<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 renewable              2%<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my view this should have been just\nthe rivers way about after 73 years of so-called Independence and 71 years\nafter the inauguration of Hydro power by Wimalasurendra in 1950. Doesn\u2019t this\nshow how the country had been developed by our politicians, policy planners and\nscientists in the relevant fields. No wonder today, we, a country that had the\nsecond highest per-capita income at Independence, have to go right round the\nworld with the begging ball on our heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, in the same way, is it not the\npoverty of vision and mission, creativity, imagination, lack of patriotism and\nlack of commitment for nation building OR the fat kickbacks and other unlimited\nbenefits for politicians, policy makers and scientists in the relevant fields and\ntheir conventional and blind adherence to the so-called, modern technologies of\nthe West and above all their lethargy, that has given rise to\nthis unfortunate situation? The nation needs men like Wimalasurendara the Father\nof Hydroelectricity in this country He started his struggle in 1923 After his\nproposals were rejected and was obstructed, he resigned his job and contested\nelections and having entered the State Council in 1931 he continued to fight\nand finally completed Luxapana in 1950, the first hydroelectricity project in\nSri Lanka. My question is why can\u2019t the present-day engineers can\u2019t think and\nact like Wimalasurerendara.  Instead,\nknowing that coal is going to be depleted by2050 the engineers of the\nelectricity Board still fight for Sampur coal Project as if they are unaware of\nthe fate of Norechchole and the environmental disaster it will bring about\nusing coal, the most polluting source of power generation. Why do they do so?\nWhere is the Government, policy planners and engineers who are supposed to be\nworking for the welfare of the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hydro Electricity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hydro power combined with Solar and wind\npower; I think therefore should be the best solution to our energy crisis. This\ncombination is also the ideal remedy that can guarantee sustainable power\nsupply at the lowest cost without any pollution as well as CO2 emission is\nalmost nil with these sources. All these three power sources are renewed by\nnature at no cost. and they don\u2019t depend on imported oil or coal. So, we don\u2019t\nneed any foreign exchange either to import any fossil fuel. Even locally we\ndon\u2019t need to pay for the local power sources water  sun shine and wind.as they are provided free by\nnature. This wealth is indigenous and all three will guarantee un-interrupted supplies\nthroughout the year for ever. They will never be exhausted and will last as\nlong as the sun and the world will last. \nThe most important features of these fuels sources is they are available\nat no cost, freely given by mother nature and also pollution free, sans any additional\ncosts like shipping, insurance taxes and breakdown in transport either etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 We need only the turbines,( reservoirs,\ntunnels in the case of water), solar panels. and wind towers to convert them in\nto energy and light. Initially in the short run, we may have to import them.\nBut with the human talent we have within the country we should be able to\nmanufacture all these items in no time. That will give rise to a promising\nindustry that will provide additional employment for millions of people as\nwell. Considering the unlimited availability of these Raw materials\u201d, for power\ngeneration at low cost we may be able to even export excess power generated to\nIndia and neighboring countries like Bangladesh, that will bring foreign exchange\nas well, to jack up our foreign reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these three power sources also are\npollution free and we will have a cleanand Green environment free from\nenvironmental hazards leading to respiratory and other lung related health problems\nas well. It will also save foreign exchange in unprecedented amounts. At the\nsame time if we can convert all vehicles to the electric model, and encourage\nlocal productions with tax relief, a new chain of industries and employment in\nthese fields will boost up.  Meanwhile wasting\non import of fossil fuel also will be saved.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this backdrop hydro power, Solar\nand Wind power combined, is the best solution to the present energy crisis in\nthis country. In the long run this energy producing model might even become a\nworld model that will revolutionize the power industry. Followed by the \u2018Hydro-Solar-Wind\nmodel\u201d even ocean waves right round the country could also be made use of to\nproduce energy. That will give a further boost to the economy. The three  \nmost common sources of energy are Oil, Coal and Atomic power all\nmonopolized by the industrialized countries. They exploit the so-called Third\nWorld underdeveloped countries like ours, not only by selling these items at\nexorbitant prices abut also by tying them up with other means like their\nmachinery, technical advice, shipping, insurance and banking etc, and keep the\nvictim countries ever trapped in their hegemonic exploiting noose, thereby\nincreasing our dependency on exploitive industrialized powers. This is the trap\nwe are caught up with at present. So long as we depend on oil. Coal and natural\ngaze, their machinery and technical advice we have no solace and no escape from\nthis dependency trap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only way we can escape from this fatal\nnoose is to shift our energy generation to these Three local\nmiracle Fuels\u201d<\/a>, that is water, wind and Solar heat all three of which are\nabundantly available throughout the year and free. That will also help us to\nsave all foreign exchange spent on oil, coal and natural gaze and the\ndependency on the industrial countries, thereby reducing their interference in\ndomestic politics and economies as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water our most precious wealth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent study on Sri Lanka has\nlisted this country at the top among the six countries that shares one half of\nthe 0,3% drinkable water this planet has and moreover Sri Lanka has been\nrecognized as the only country that will have drinkable water even if there is\ngoing to be a shortage of drinking in the whole world one day, as the result of\nenvironmental damages the countries world over are doing.<\/strong> This news has put\nit on the top of the world and made water its biggest asset and the most valuable\ncommodity Sri Lanka has<\/strong>. The same study has described this country as the\nlast country on earth  that will have\ndrinking water in the world, even if all the rest run dry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The threat on our water resources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But all these sweet talks will\ndisappear in a dream If we don\u2019t protect the geographical heartland (what I\nhave named as GEOGRAPHICAL HADABIMA of this Island) the Central Hill Country,\nthe priceless heritage, nature has given to this nation is not protected from\nthe environmental devastation and destruction going on this nation\u2019s \u2018HEART\u201d from\n1830s onwards. Even after the British vandals who destroyed 600 000 acres of\nvirgin forest that were there from the dawn of history and destroyed the\nphysical instability by uprooting and burning the trees and digging and turning\nthe soil and by various constructions done by the British planters. They also\ndestroyed the entire river system, by reducing their annual flow by 50% as Samuel\nBaker has pointed out and playing havoc by floods in the downstream areas. These\nstreams watered and enriched the whole Island protecting the entire life system\nin the country both flora and fauna and finally preserved the entire life\nsystem and the civilization on this Island from the dawn of history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same process of destruction\ncontinued even after 1948 and continued up to 1972 the year when these estates\nwere nationalized. Since there was no proper management, these watersheds were\nfurther neglected resulting heavy land erosion and degradation almost beyond\nrecovery. It was this forest cover on the central watersheds that protected the\nland, water the bio diversity and the animal world, underground water table and\nthe entire river system that had been protected for millions of years by our\nancestors until 1815.as a Protected and strictly reserved National Forest declared\nby Royal decree. While further neglecting continued by the State the resident\nIndian labour were also mobilized by their trade Union leaders took the law\nunto their hand claiming for land and human rights, which they never agitated\nfor when they were made to suffer like slaves under the British Planters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the so-called national political\nparties gave in to their demands by bribing trade union leaders to remain in power.\nEvery time the Governments change these estate Tamils leaders joined the party\nin power to get their demands, The successive Governments gave in to all their\ndemands without caring a damn for thenative people, land, the environment or\nthe physical stability of the Heartland or the interests of the native Sinhala\npeople especially those Kandyan Peasants who lost everything they had including\ntheir mother land and even their life in battles fought against the colonial\nenemies in defense of the country. Today they have got reduced to a mere set of\npaupers sunk in abject poverty<\/a>[S1]<\/a>  having lost their\nMotherland, once happen to be a paradise of their own. The motherland should be\nput in the hands of the natives who built up the civilization and not\nforeigners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survival of the entire life\nsystem and the civilization, in this Island as I have consistently pointed out\nfrom 1991 as the Head of the Sri Lanka Hadabima Authority Project, created by\nme the same year to cover 1\/3 of the land area of the country was aimed at\nprotection this HADABIMA of the nation. That too has been now destroyed by\nappointing political stooges who are clueless of the broad national objectives\nof this Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In the days of the Sinhala Kings who found and\nfostered the civilization of this country they had protected all land above 3500\nft MSL (except Kotmale , Welimanda and Madaram Nuwara) up to 1815. That was how\nthey got water to cultivate even three seasons of paddy cultivation in this\ncountry. But since 1815, the entire primeval and virgin forest cover has been\nremoved by the white invaders for plantation agriculture and millions of South\nIndian cheap slave labour were brought and  \nsettled on these estates to maximize their profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding insult to injury the native\npoliticians who took over the country from British in 1948 also followed suit\nbuy continuing the same destructions the white men did to make profits. Native Sinhala\npoliticians today do it to consolidate their power. They woo the estate Tamil\nvotes alternatively without any love for the country or the future of their own\nlot Sinhalese, without any regard to the great environmental, ecological or\nhydrological damages done on the neglected marginal tea estates by the alien\nIndian labour force doing day and night. \nAlthough politician talk big of 1948 Independence the criminal\ndestruction of the watersheds continues by south Indian Tamil community as they\ndon\u2019t love this country and their heads and hearts are all in South India. An\nexcellent example of this criminal political party gamble against the natives\nby selfish politicians who have no feeling for the future of the country or the\nSinhala nation is given below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only few days ago Sajit Premadasa Leader\nof the Opposition promised these estate Tamils at Nuwara Eliya<\/strong> Deepawali festival that\nhis government (a day dream only that will never come to power within his life\ntime) will make these Indian Tami labourers, the true owners of small holder\ntea lands. This is how our politicians look at the Heart Land\u201d of the country\nthat keep up the beat of the nation in this Islands civilization. The problem\nwith all our politicians is that none of them know the critical importance of\nthe Central Highlands in guaranteeing the survival of the entire life system\nand the civilization of this Island nation. They also don\u2019t know that we had a\ngreat civilization in the pristine past that was in par with ancient Greek and\nRoman civilizations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 I have written volumes on its importance<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been writing volumes on the\nneed to protect these watersheds since 1991 in vain. From 1991, I have addressed\nmany letters to the President of the Country offering my free services to\nrescue the nations HEART land without a salary,<\/strong> but it is a tragedy I\nhave not got even a reply up to date. None, of these politicians is concerned\nabout the future of the country or the Sinhala nation. They are only worried about\npolitical power and amazing wealth surrounded by equally selfish Kevattayas<\/em>\nwho never make use of the service of those who know the subject. They only know\nthose who collects votes and kickbacks and pay hosanna day and night\n(Vandibhattakayo). None of these politicians realize that the \u2018Death\u201d of the\nheartland is the death of the country and the Sinhala nation. Them are\ninterested only in collecting their votes and perks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if we allow this destruction of\nthe watersheds to continue without arresting it, as early as possible, the day that\nwill make the curtain fall on the Sinale land and the glory of the Sinhala nation\nand the day the whole Island will turn in to a cold sterile desert, sans any\nlife on it is not that far.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One might wonder as to why I dealt in\nsuch length about the subject of protecting the Central hill country above 1000\nfeet in this essay, dealing with the energy crisis. I deliberately did so for\nthe reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 First, Hydroelectricity is the chief component\nof this proposal and the Central Hill Country is the dynamo that gives life to\nthe engine that keeps the civilization on this Island moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second as the watersheds on the\ncentral Hill Country are the only source of the nation\u2019s water resources not\nonly as the nucleus that provides the source for all the country\u2019s rivers but\nalso its role as a rainmaker and as a stimulator for convection due to its\nunusual and abrupt rise from the lowlands to confront the two monsoons when\nthey cross the Island and activate the rising hot air mases when monsoons are\nsilent in April to generate convectional rain in mid monsoons (April) and a\ngiant underground reservoir for the nations underground water deposits that\nreplenish the rivers in dry weather like the Central Bank in a nation\u2019s\neconomy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, the critical importance of the\nprotection of the central watersheds in the process of providing water needed\nfor the generation of hydroelectricity<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth no one can ever dream of hydro\npower generation, beside water for survival in Sri Lanka, without protecting\nthe physical stability of the central watersheds  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Just as the man dies the day\nthe heart fails similarly hydro power and water for life in Sri Lanka will also\ncome to an end once the physical stability of the Central watersheds\n(Heartland) is gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the reasons that compelled\nme to give a comprehensive account on this subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wind  Power  .<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is one single name in Sri Lanka\none cannot easily forget when we talk about wind power in this country. That is\nmy good friend and senior colleague who had been once GA Matara and held many\nresponsible posts in SLAS and worked as an  international Consultant on Development in\nmany countries like Bangladesh and an extensive traveler all over the world  now living in retirement who wrote a versatile\npiece in 2019 on Wind Power for Sri Lanka. Anyone interested in what he has to\nsay can contact him on Garvin- <\/strong>Karunaratne@hotmail.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 I don\u2019t think I have to add anything to what\nGarvin has said on this subject except to add three new places with my\nknowledge on the movement of monsoon winds. With distinctive two NE and SW\nseasons  with spectacular wind gaps all\nover the hill country particularly in places like Corbet\u2019s gap Meemure and\nMadugoda (Present Udadumbara) and Uduwaaheena on the Knuckles and Ramboda  and Kadugannawa in the central hills with howling and blowing <\/a>winds turned in to energy  where all \u2018Raw materials\u201d will be local with\nno import. As Garvin points out you have only to install wind turbine in place\nwhere the wind blows and howls and not along the sea shore like Mannar or\nHambantota where it only sea breeze <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Solar power<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone knows that the sun is shining\nover the Islands heavens throughout the year, 12 hours a day. So, the unlimited\npower to generate electricity is there. One has only to make use of this\nnatural wealth at least now. In generating solar power we need only to install\nsolar panels. The government can select few sites in the Island for large scale\ngeneration. Beside that we can also fix solar panels on each and every\nbuilding\/house. Solar power like wind and hydro power are replenishable as long\nas the sun and moon shall last and more over the global position of the Island\nwill remain unchanged and the physiography of the Island will also remain\nunchanged due to tectonic changes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also important to note that\nfossil fuel and coal supplies will also come to an end one day once their\ndeposits get exhausted. Recent studies have revealed that oil deposits will get\ndepleted by 2050 and coal and natural gaze also will be over by 2060. But the\nbeauty with water, solar power and wind is that they will never get exhausted. They\nwill generously serve the world as long as the sun, the sky and the atmospheric\ncirculations are there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if we give top priority to electricity\ngenerated with these three power sources it will not only make us economically\nstronger but also will be enjoying the luxury of electric power even when the\nwhole world that depends on fossil fuels sources goes dark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

 [S1]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Sudath Gunasekara (\u0db8\u0d9f \u0dc4\u0ddc\u0db3\u0da7 \u0dad\u0dd2\u0db6\u0dda\u0db1\u0db8\u0dca \u0dba\u0db1\u0dca\u0da7 \u0daf\u0dd1\u0dc3\u0dad\u0dca \u0db4\u0dd9\u0db1\u0dda\u0db1\u0db8\u0dca \u0d9a\u0dd2\u0db8 \u0db6\u0dd0\u0daf\u0dd2\u0dc0\u0dbd \u0dba\u0db1\u0dca\u0db1\u0dda \u0db8\u0db1\u0dca\u0db8\u0dd4\u0dbd\u0dcf\u0dc0\u0dd4 \u0d91\u0d9a\u0d9a\u0dd4 \u0dc3\u0dda \u0dc3\u0dd2\u0db1\u0dca\u0dc4\u0dbd\u0dba\u0d9a\u0dd4\u0d9c\u0dda \u0d9a\u0dd2\u0dba\u0db8\u0db1\u0d9a\u0dca) Sri Lanka is geographically located almost right at the center of the globe (bet 5-10 degrees N of equator and 80-82 degrees E) and at the middle of the tropics. It is also blessed with the vast expanse […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-sudath-gunasekara"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122356\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}