Form Waste-to-Energy

The Central Government recently released rules for implementing its waste-to-energy program, opening the door for businesses to produce biogas, bio CNG, and electricity from trash and leftovers from urban, industrial, and agricultural sources.

About the Waste-to-Energy Program:

• The National Bioenergy Program was initiated by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• MNRE has continued the National Bioenergy Programme for the period from FY 2021-22 to 2025-26.
• It consists of the following sub-scheme:

Sub-Schemes:

• Energy from Waste Program: (Programme on Energy from Urban, Industrial and Agricultural Wastes /Residues) to support setting up of large Biogas, BioCNG and Power plants (excluding MSW to Power projects).
• The Biomass Program: Scheme to Support the Manufacturing of Briquettes and Pellets and promote Biomass (non-bagasse) Based Cogeneration in Industries supports the establishment of projects using non-bagasse-based power generation as well as the production of pellets and briquettes for use in power generation.
• Biogas Program: To assist in the establishment of small- to medium-sized biogas in rural areas.

Implementing Agency:

• The program's implementing agency is the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).

• After the plants are commissioned, IREDA will receive a service fee of 1% of the Central Financial Assistance (CFA) to process applications and an additional 1% of the CFA (minimum of 50,000) to execute and monitor the performance.

Financial Support:

• The Center would offer new biogas plants financial support of Rs 75 lakh per MW and existing units financial support of Rs 50 lakh per MW.
• The eligible CFA will be 20% higher than the typical CFA pattern if the waste-to-energy facilities are built in special category states such the North East, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Uttarakhand, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

What are BioCNG and Biogas?

Biogas:

• It mostly consists of hydrocarbons, which are flammable and may burn to produce heat and energy.
• Certain bacteria transform biological wastes into usable bio-gas through a biochemical process, which produces biogas.
• The usable gas is known as bio-gas since it results from a biological process.
• The main component of biogas is methane gas.
• Unlike compressed natural gas (CNG), which is a non-renewable energy source, biogas can be purified to create bio-CNG, a fuel that can be used in place of it. When bacteria break down organic material, such as food, crop residue, wastewater, etc., biogas is created.
• It is a cleaner alternative to fuels like gasoline and diesel and is similar to natural gas in terms of composition and qualities.

What Advantages Do Bio Energy Offer?

Cities with zero pollution

• Our cities may become clean and pollution-free with the help of the biogas solution.
• The groundwater is contaminated by the leaching of harmful materials from landfills.
• Methane, a particularly potent GHG, is released in enormous quantities as a result of the decomposition of organic waste, contributing to air pollution and global warming.

Handling Organic Waste:

• By installing extensive municipal biogas systems, towns can effectively handle organic waste and get past the socioeconomic and environmental problems brought on by overburdened landfills.
• Municipal garbage can be fed into these facilities to produce biofertilizers, clean, green fuel, and other products while maintaining clean, sanitary communities.

Beneficial to Women:

• Women may benefit from switching to biogas because they won't be exposed to hazardous smoke and pollutants.
• Female household members are particularly susceptible to indoor pollution since they spend more time indoors.

Will Change Dependence on Energy:

• Rural and agricultural populations, who mostly rely on burning wood, dung, charcoal, coal, and other fossil fuels for their energy needs, can significantly reduce their reliance on fossil fuels by switching to biogas.
• The main reason for the nation's persistent energy issues is its significant reliance on non-renewable resources.

What are the government's initiatives to support waste management and biogas production?

For Biogas:

The SATAT Plan

• Plans have been developed by the Indian government and Niti Aayog to promote LNG, hydrogen, and methanol to speed up the switch to greener fuels.

For Waste Management:

National Dashboard on Elimination of Single-Use Plastic and Plastic Waste Management:

• India launched a nationwide awareness campaign on Single Use Plastics on World Environment Day in June 2022.
• A mobile app for Single Use Plastics (SUP) Grievance Redressal was also launched to empower citizens to check the sale/usage/manufacturing of SUP in their area and tackle the plastic menace.

Project REPLAN:

• Project REPLAN (stands for REducing PLastic in Nature) launched by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) aims to reduce the consumption of plastic bags by providing a more sustainable alternative.

Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016

Vaccine for Malaria: A New Hope

• After four doses given to young children, the RTS, S/AS01 (Mosquirix) malaria vaccine shows a limited level of efficacy and reduces cases of severe malaria by just 30%.
• It still has a big impact on public health and has the potential to save thousands of lives annually.

Regarding the vaccines

• GlaxoSmithKline created RTS, S/AS01 for the purpose of immunizing children.
• It falls short of the 2015 standard set by the WHO for the effectiveness of the malaria vaccine, which was 75%.
• Another malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix M, created by the University of Oxford in the UK, showed a 77% efficacy in phase 1 and 2 trials among 450 kids in Burkina Faso in September 2021.
• Similarities between the vaccines: RTS, S, and R21 are similar in that they both contain the same part of a major protein that is found on the surface of the liver stage parasite, called sporozoite.
• Both also contain hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg), a protein that has an ability to self-assemble and that helps as the formation of virus-like particles of the CSP antigen fused with it.
• Difference: The important difference between the two vaccines is in the amount of the HBsAg.
• RTS,S has about 20 percent of the fusion protein, with the remaining 80 percent made up of HBsAg antigen, produced separately.
• R21, on the other hand, is made up entirely of the CSP fusion protein moieties, resulting in a much higher proportion of CSP antigen displayed on the virus-like particle surface, which significantly raises its exposure to the immune system of the host.
• RTS, S is formulated with an adjuvant called AS01 developed at GSK;
• R21 employs an adjuvant called Matrix-M developed by Novavax (Sweden).
• Matrix M contains saponin-plant-based material and stimulates both antibody and cellular immune responses to vaccines.
• Efficiency: Both adjuvants have shown high levels of efficacy and safety. Matrix-M has been used in a variety of vaccine formulations against influenza, and more recently in the Novovax Covid-19 vaccine.
• Recent Results: The recent results of a booster dose of R21 have created well-deserved excitement, the results of a larger phase 3 trial of the vaccine will be keenly awaited.
• The first results are expected by the end of 2023.

India: Weakness and Strength:

• A major gap is in the establishment of safe and scientifically robust control human infection models in India for diseases like malaria or influenza.
• All malaria vaccines under development need to be tested in the safe and scientifically robust Controlled Human Malaria Infection (CHMI) model after completing phase 1 safety studies.
• This has been established in many countries of Europe, the UK, Colombia, and Thailand.
• Both RTS, S and R21 were tested in CHMI before further safety and efficacy field trials.
• Scientists at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) Delhi have carried out phase 1 safety trials of two experimental blood stage malaria vaccines developed and produced in the country.
• But further development of these vaccines has been a challenge in the absence of the CHMI model in India.

Future Prospects:

• The road ahead is long, but R21, alone or in combination with an efficacious blood stage or transmission stage vaccine candidate, can continue to be developed to achieve the ultimate goal of malaria eradication.
• Scientific, long-term continuous funding, regulatory and logistic processes need to be better coordinated to assist scientists in the development of novel vaccines against infectious diseases.
• With a highly successful and deeply committed vaccine-producing biopharma industry and a strong scientific base, India should be able to lead the world in developing and producing vaccines.

Read Also: Types of Vaccines

Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti

The 553rd anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev's birth was recently commemorated.

Guru Nanak Dev: Who was he?

• Birth: In 1459, in the Talwandi Rai Bhoe village, now known as Nankana Sahib, close to Lahore.
• He was the first Sikh guru and the first of the ten Sikh gurus.

Contributions:

• Began interfaith communication back in the 16th century and had discussions with the majority of the then-current religious movements.
• Penned works that were included in the Adi Granth, which Guru Arjan (1563–1606), the fifth Sikh guru, put together.
• As a result of the modifications made by the 10th Sikh leader, Guru Gobind Singh, this became known as Guru Granth Sahib (1666-1708).
• Promoted the "Nirguna" kind of bhakti (devotion to the worship of the formless god).
• Rejected austerities, sacrifices, and ritual baths.
• Create guidelines for communal recitation during congregational worship (Sangat).
• Gave his followers the guiding principle of "Ek Onkar" and preached on treating everyone equally without making distinctions based on caste, creed, or gender.
• Death: In 1539, in Punjab's Kartarpur.

What significance does Guru Nanak Dev have for contemporary India?

• Creating a Society That Is Egalitarian: According to him, the following cutting-edge social structures demonstrate his conception of equality:
• Langar: A communal meal prepared and shared.
• Pangat: Eating without making a distinction between castes of high and low status.
• Sangat: Making decisions as a group.
• Social harmony: In his view, everyone in the world was created equally by God. Ek Onkar Satnam, the sole universal creator, is the only one.
• The foundation of his teachings, aside from that, are forgiveness, patience, forbearance, and kindness.
• Making a Just Society: He told his followers to "work, pray, and share" (Kirat Karo, Naam japo, and vand chakra).
• He promoted the idea that karma serves as the foundation for dharma and converted spiritualism into an ideology of civic duty and social reform.
• He promoted the idea of "dasvandh," or giving one-tenth of one's income to those in need.

Gender Equality:

• He asserted that "women and men alike enjoy the grace of God and are equally accountable to him for their conduct."
• The most significant lesson to take away from his life is perhaps the respect for women and the importance of gender equality.

Promoting Peace:

• In Indian philosophy, a guru is someone who illuminates, allays uncertainty, and illuminates the way.
• The teachings of Guru Nanak Dev can support global peace, equality, and prosperity in this situation.

Read Also: Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur

Xenotransplantation

• In the first-ever transplant of a gene-edited pig heart to a person, the genetically altered pig heart pumped more slowly than usual. Only 61 days passed following the transplant for the human recipient.
• Such transplant attempts in the past have likewise failed.

Describe Xenotransplantation.

• The transplantation of animal tissues or organs into human recipients is known as xenotransplantation.
• Gene editing was used in a recent pig-to-human heart transplant to eliminate sugar from the cells that cause incredibly quick organ rejection.
• A collection of scientific techniques known as genome editing, sometimes known as gene editing, allow researchers to alter an organism's Deoxy-Ribonucleic Acid (DNA).
• Organ rejection is among the largest barriers to transplantation.

Importance:

• This development may help us get closer to finding a solution to the world's organ scarcity.
• Patients in India require between 25,000 and 30,000 liver transplants each year. However, only approximately 1,500 people really get them.
• Pigs are becoming more and more common organ transplant recipients.
• Pigs are easier to nurture and grow to adult human size in just six months, giving them an edge over primates for the purpose of harvesting organs.
• The anatomical and physiological characteristics of pigs are comparable to those of humans, and pig breeding in farms is a common and economical practise.

Read Also: Rising Interest in DNA Testing