General Comprehension (UPSC) (Part-IV)

In general, religious traditions stress our duty to god, or to some universal ethical principle. Our duties to one another derive from these. The religious concept of rights is primarily derived from our relationship to this divinity or principle and the implication it has on our other relationships. This correspondence between rights and duties is critical to any further understanding of justice.

But, for justice to be practiced; venture, rights and duties cannot remain formal abstractions. They must be grounded in a community (common unity) bound together by a sense of common union (communion). Even as a personal virtue, this solidarity is essential to the practice and understanding of justice.

1. Lack of sustainable supply of biomass.

2. Biomass production competes with food production.

3. Bio-energy may not always be low carbon on a life-cycle basis.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Biomass as fuel for power, heat, and transport has the highest mitigation potential of all renewable sources. It comes from agriculture and forest residues as well as from energy crops. The biggest challenge in using biomass residues is a long-term reliable supply delivered to the power plant at reasonable costs; the key problems are logistical constraints and the costs of fuel collection. Energy crops, if not managed properly, compete with food production and may have undesirable impacts on food prices. Biomass production is also sensitive to the physical impacts of a changing climate.

Projections of the future role of biomass are probably overestimated, given the limits to the sustainable biomass supply, unless breakthrough technologies substantially increase productivity. Climate -energy models project that biomass use could increase nearly four-fold to around 150-200 exajoules, almost a quarter of world primary energy in 2050. However the maximum sustainable technical potential of biomass resources (both residues and energy crops) without disruption of food and forest resources ranges from 80-170 exajoules a year by 2050, and only part of this is realistically and economically feasible.

In addition, some climate models rely on biomass-based carbon capture and storage, an unproven technology, to achieve negative emissions and to buy some time during the first half of the century. Some liquid biofuels such as corn-based ethanol, mainly for transport, may aggravate rather than ameliorate carbon emissions on a life-cycle basis. Second generation biofuels, based on lignocellulosic feedstocks such as straw, bagasse, grass and wood hold the promise of sustainable production that is high-yielding and emit low levels of greenhouse gases, but these are still in the R & D stage.

1. Using agricultural and forest residues as feedstock for power generation.

2. Using biomass for carbon capture and storage.

3. Promoting the cultivation of energy crops.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Biomass as fuel for power, heat, and transport has the highest mitigation potential of all renewable sources. It comes from agriculture and forest residues as well as from energy crops. The biggest challenge in using biomass residues is a long-term reliable supply delivered to the power plant at reasonable costs; the key problems are logistical constraints and the costs of fuel collection. Energy crops, if not managed properly, compete with food production and may have undesirable impacts on food prices. Biomass production is also sensitive to the physical impacts of a changing climate.

Projections of the future role of biomass are probably overestimated, given the limits to the sustainable biomass supply, unless breakthrough technologies substantially increase productivity. Climate -energy models project that biomass use could increase nearly four-fold to around 150-200 exajoules, almost a quarter of world primary energy in 2050. However the maximum sustainable technical potential of biomass resources (both residues and energy crops) without disruption of food and forest resources ranges from 80-170 exajoules a year by 2050, and only part of this is realistically and economically feasible.

In addition, some climate models rely on biomass-based carbon capture and storage, an unproven technology, to achieve negative emissions and to buy some time during the first half of the century. Some liquid biofuels such as corn-based ethanol, mainly for transport, may aggravate rather than ameliorate carbon emissions on a life-cycle basis. Second generation biofuels, based on lignocellulosic feedstocks such as straw, bagasse, grass and wood hold the promise of sustainable production that is high-yielding and emit low levels of greenhouse gases, but these are still in the R & D stage.

1. Biomass as a fuel for power generation could meet all the primary energy requirements of the world by 2050.

2. Biomass as a fuel for power generation does not necessarily disrupt food and forest resources.

3. Biomass as a fuel for power generation could help in achieving negative emissions, given certain nascent technologies.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Biomass as fuel for power, heat, and transport has the highest mitigation potential of all renewable sources. It comes from agriculture and forest residues as well as from energy crops. The biggest challenge in using biomass residues is a long-term reliable supply delivered to the power plant at reasonable costs; the key problems are logistical constraints and the costs of fuel collection. Energy crops, if not managed properly, compete with food production and may have undesirable impacts on food prices. Biomass production is also sensitive to the physical impacts of a changing climate.

Projections of the future role of biomass are probably overestimated, given the limits to the sustainable biomass supply, unless breakthrough technologies substantially increase productivity. Climate -energy models project that biomass use could increase nearly four-fold to around 150-200 exajoules, almost a quarter of world primary energy in 2050. However the maximum sustainable technical potential of biomass resources (both residues and energy crops) without disruption of food and forest resources ranges from 80-170 exajoules a year by 2050, and only part of this is realistically and economically feasible.

In addition, some climate models rely on biomass-based carbon capture and storage, an unproven technology, to achieve negative emissions and to buy some time during the first half of the century. Some liquid biofuels such as corn-based ethanol, mainly for transport, may aggravate rather than ameliorate carbon emissions on a life-cycle basis. Second generation biofuels, based on lignocellulosic feedstocks such as straw, bagasse, grass and wood hold the promise of sustainable production that is high-yielding and emit low levels of greenhouse gases, but these are still in the R & D stage.

1. Some climate-energy models suggest that the use of biomass as a fuel for power generation helps in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

2. It is not possible to use biomass as a fuel for power generation without disrupting food and forest resources.

Which of these assumptions is/are valid?

Biomass as fuel for power, heat, and transport has the highest mitigation potential of all renewable sources. It comes from agriculture and forest residues as well as from energy crops. The biggest challenge in using biomass residues is a long-term reliable supply delivered to the power plant at reasonable costs; the key problems are logistical constraints and the costs of fuel collection. Energy crops, if not managed properly, compete with food production and may have undesirable impacts on food prices. Biomass production is also sensitive to the physical impacts of a changing climate.

Projections of the future role of biomass are probably overestimated, given the limits to the sustainable biomass supply, unless breakthrough technologies substantially increase productivity. Climate -energy models project that biomass use could increase nearly four-fold to around 150-200 exajoules, almost a quarter of world primary energy in 2050. However the maximum sustainable technical potential of biomass resources (both residues and energy crops) without disruption of food and forest resources ranges from 80-170 exajoules a year by 2050, and only part of this is realistically and economically feasible.

In addition, some climate models rely on biomass-based carbon capture and storage, an unproven technology, to achieve negative emissions and to buy some time during the first half of the century. Some liquid biofuels such as corn-based ethanol, mainly for transport, may aggravate rather than ameliorate carbon emissions on a life-cycle basis. Second generation biofuels, based on lignocellulosic feedstocks such as straw, bagasse, grass and wood hold the promise of sustainable production that is high-yielding and emit low levels of greenhouse gases, but these are still in the R & D stage.

We are witnessing a dangerous dwindling of biodiversity in our food supply. The green revolution is a mixed blessing. Over time farmers have come to rely heavily on broadly adapted, high yield crops to the exclusion of varieties adapted to the local conditions. Monocropping vast fields with the same genetically uniform seeds helps boost yield and meet immediate hunger needs.

Yet high-yield varieties are also genetically weaker crops that require expensive chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides. In our focus on increasing the amount of food we produce today, we have accidentally put ourselves at risk for food shortages in future.

What climate change will undeniably do is cause or amplify events that hasten the reduction of resources. Competition over these diminishing resources would ensue in the form of political or even violent conflict. Resource-based conflicts have rarely been overt and are thus difficult to isolate. Instead they take on veneers that appear more politically palatable. Conflicts over resources like water are often cloaked in the guise of identity or ideology.

The man who is perpetually hesitating which of the two things he will do first, will do neither. The man who resolves, but suffers his resolution to be changed by the first counter- suggestion of a friend-who fluctuates from opinion to opinion and veers from plan to plan-can never accomplish anything.

He will at best be stationary and probably retrograde in all. It is only the man who first consults wisely, then resolves firmly and then executes his purpose with inflexible perseverance, undismayed by those petty difficulties which daunt a weaker spirit-that can advance to eminence in any line.

During the summer in the Arctic Ocean, sea ice has been melting earlier and faster. and the Winter freeze has been coming later. In the last three decades, the extent of summer ice has declined by about 30 per cent. The lengthening period of summer melt threatens to undermine the whole Arctic food web, atop which stand polar bears.

Why do people prefer open defecation and not want toilets or, if they have them, only use them so betimes? Recent research has shown two critical elements: ideas of purity and pollution, and not wanting pits or septic tanks to fill because they have to be emptied. These are the issues that nobody wants to talk about, but if we want to eradicate the practice of open defecation, they have to be confronted and dealt properly.