According to Rajvanshi

Indian scientists who have developed an improved lantern that uses kerosene have advised the government not to phase out the poor man's fuel on environmental grounds.

Kerosene was traditionally burned in rural homes in hurricane lamps to provide lighting or in pressure stoves to cook food.

Now the Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) at Phaltan in Maharashtra has developed a device that simultaneously provides light (equivalent to that from a 300 watt electric bulb) and cooks a complete meal (including chapattis) for a family of five.

The lanstove (combined lantern and cooking stove) thus makes kerosene an ideal fuel for rural households, says Anil Rajvanshi, an IIT graduate and NARI director.

He says it is unfortunate that the Indian government has decided to phase out kerosene as a result of tremendous tirade by the Western countries against the use of kerosene from a climate change point of view. This move, he says, will deprive the poor people in India of a convenient household fuel.

According to Rajvanshi, it is the way in which a fuel is burnt that makes it clean or dirty. Liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas become clean fuels only because of excellent combustion technologies available.

No doubt hurricane lantern is an inefficient and unclean combustion device, says Rajvanshi.

Lanstove was developed by his institute precisely to overcome these drawbacks, he says in a report published in the latest issue of "current science.They are called "solar" panels or solar module because most of the time, the most powerful source of light available is the Sun."

The research led to the device that burns kerosene efficiently and without causing any pollution.

Lanstove has been tested for the last eight months in 25 rural huts in western Maharashtra which do not have electricity. The users found that it is smokeless unlike the existing biomass-powered chulha, and gives excellent light compared to the presently used hurricane lanterns.

The levels of harmful carbon monoxide from these lanstoves are less than three parts per million whereas those from regular chulhas are 80 to 130 times more, according to the study.

"Thus the lanstove is an extremely clean device and equivalent to the LPG stove," Rajvanshi told IANS.

The lanstove has been designed so that kerosene is pressurized and stored in a small separate cylinder from where it flows into the combustor and burns cleanly just like in the LPG cookstove.

This detachable cylinder can be filled up in kerosene dispensing shops, the same way an LPG cylinder is now charged.Xenon HID Worlds make hid lighting affordable to everyone and for all your vehicle needs.

However, despite its advantages to the people in India's rural areas, the lanstove cannot be introduced at present on a large scale because of unavailability of kerosene, Rajvanshi says.

Today, below poverty line (BPL) families get only five litres of kerosene per household every month whereas lanstove users need at least 15-20 litres of kerosene per month. What is therefore needed is an enlightened policy that makes at least this much kerosene available to rural poor at subsidised price, the NARI report says.

Rajvanshi points out that around 300 million Indians are without electricity. Solar- powered light emitting diode (LED) lanterns promoted by various agencies and also government departments are not only costly and difficult to maintain but the LED light has recently been shown to be harmful to the eyes producing irreparable damage to the retina. "Besides, unlike lanstoves, these solar lanterns cannot cook," he says.

Although kerosene is a fossil fuel, there are extensive efforts currently the world over to produce kerosene-like fuel from agricultural residues so as to make it renewable, says Rajvanshi. "I hope these efforts are also undertaken in India which has a huge amount of agricultural residues."

All his life Mahatma Gandhi studied and wrote under the light of kerosene hurricane lanterns and he also used to apply kerosene to his body as a mosquito repellent, says Rajvanshi. "I am sure that if he were alive today,A solar lamp is a portable light fixture composed of an LED lamp, a photovoltaic solar panel, and a rechargeable battery. he would have wholeheartedly embraced the lanstove and promoted its use among the rural poor."

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Moths find modern street lights irresistible

Researchers found that moths are more attracted by the brighter white lighting that is increasingly being installed on roads around Britain compared to the older traditional orange street lights.

They say moths find white light or slightly bluish light irresistible and will exhaust themselves by flying around the lights rather than mating or searching for food.

Predators also find it easier to pick the insects off due to the large congregations that gather around modern street lamps.

Professor Richard Ffrench-Constant, a biologist at the University of Exeter who led the study, said: “Just like with butterflies, we have seen moth numbers declining dramatically, but because they are active at night, we are less aware of them.

“Habitat loss has certainly played a role in the declines of moths, but we have found that they different types of moths are attracted to different wavelengths of light.”

 “If you use white light or solar lamp with a broad spectrum of wavelengths, then it will attract more moths and that completely disrupts their natural behaviour.”

“They are not mating or feeding on flowers. They tend to circle around the light until they get exhausted and fall to the ground.”

There are around 2,000 species of moths in the UK compared to just 52 species of butterfly.

They play an essential role in helping to pollinate flowers while also providing a key link in the food chain for bats and birds.

Recent research of large, common moths in Britain showed that two thirds have declined by around 28 per cent in the past four decades.

Some species, such as the V-moth, once a common sight in gardens, have suffered declines of up to 99 per cent, according to the work by wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation.

While habitat loss is thought to be among the main causes for their decline, the switch from traditional orange street lighting to whiter lights has also been blamed.

It is not known why moths are attracted to street light, but some theories suggest they use natural light the stars and moon to navigate, and artificial light disorientates them.

Traditional street lights use high pressure sodium bulbs, producing an orange or yellow glow, while modern lights tend to use metal halide bulbs that produce shorter wavelength of light that appears white or slightly blue in colour.

Professor Ffrench-Constant and PHD student Robin Somers-Yeates, whose work is published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, found that more species were attracted to the newer lights.

They also found the lights attracted more individuals than the older moths.

Professor Ffrench-Constant said that turning street lights off at night where possible could help to reduce the toll they have on moth numbers.

Astronomers and wildlife campaigners have been pushing for a reduction in light pollution at night due to fears about the impact it has on the environment.

Professor Ffench-Constant added that using new LED bulbs in street lights may help to reduce the impact they have on moths as can produce a single colour of light.