Self sustained equipments

 

SELF SUSTAINED EQUIPMENTS

 

Nowadays we are using many machines and electric, electronic and mechanical gadgets. They have become so inevitable and part and parcel of our lives that we can not imagine our lives without them. Everybody cannot have everything and every time because of affordability, usefulness, failure or breakdown or scarcity or absence of fuel/energy for operating them.

 

You will see that before industrial revolution almost all people in the world were satisfied with primitive tools and machines which are mostly hand operated, manual not needing any outside power to run them, such as pulley, winding watch, grinding stone and so on. Now we require electricity, solar energy, LPG, petrol, battery etc., to operate any machine. Now we require petrol to run the automobiles. Automobile is inseparable part of modern world, thus we are dependent on oil. In turn it will lead to our dependence on oil-producing middle-east countries and oil-companies. There comes the political intervention. It is public knowledge that this oil-politics led to American war on Iraq. Rest is history.

 

Even now there are people who believe in the self sustaining or self propelled energy-independent machines. I am one among them. Recently one Transistor/Radio with winding lever for power was invented for rural use. All these cell phones need battery charging, mobile network also uses electricity to back up. It is quite evident that massive power shortage and major crises like earthquake, cyclone, hurricane etc., immediately leads to breakdown of mobile network, Bank ATM network etc. Can we not have alternate source of power to stand by in case of failure of main power supply? Is it not feasible to think that way?

 

I am not advocating retrograde step. Ultimately convenience to human beings matters. It is a very well known phenomenon that in the normal course nothing happens, we are very happy with available equipments which need batteries or electric supply. In the emergency like natural calamities or suppose we are lost in a desert where no mobile signal is available, or battery charging is not possible then there is need to think of independent powered equipment. Entire economy may go haywire if power supply goes off for a few days.

 

Another interesting factor is purchase of any machine or equipment or vehicle is a one time affair and easy. But its day to day maintenance is costlier and we are hooked to the service provider for lifetime. Cost of maintaining vehicle is dependent on cost of fuel. Likewise cost of maintaining cell phone is dependent on network service charges and repeat recharge coupons. Thus it is like we have borrowed capital, ended up paying compound interest thereon for as long as we are using it.

 

Last but not least we are relying very much on petroleum products and hydro electricity. To keep our economy running smoothly we need to explore other non-conventional sources of energy like wind energy, solar power, nuclear power, bio-diesel/fuels etc., to make our country efficient and independent in energy.