Mumbai students guide the way to an energy efficient future
Highlighting the need to use more renewable sources of energy, about 75 students from 25 schools in Mumbai presented projects during a day-long science exhibition on Saturday, focusing on energy conservation.
As 13-year-old Vedant Dev presented his energy efficient model of a smart city at MVM educational campus at Andheri, his only aim was to make viewers understand the importance of different kinds of renewable energy.
“If India as a country can launch over a hundred satellites into space at one go, it will not be a difficult task for converting our cities to become energy-efficient,” said Dev, Class 8 student from Children’s Academy, Malad. “My model comprises of solar, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric power sources and after making it I realised how careless we can be when we waste electricity. If we just remember to switch off the light when we leave the room, a lot of energy can be saved.”
Highlighting the need to use more renewable sources of energy, about 75 students from 25 schools in Mumbai presented projects during a day-long science exhibition on Saturday, focusing on energy conservation. Seventy five unique models, handmade by children, using the concepts of solar, wind, hydroelectricity, tidal, geothermal and even microbial fuel cells were on display at the exhibition.
Organised by Reliance Energy, the power distribution company of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd and powered by Hindustan Times, the initiative Young Energy Savers (YES) spread the message of the importance of saving energy and moving away from using non-renewable energy forms such as oil, coal and natural gas. The initiative that began in 2009 has brought 245 schools and about 2 lakh students under its ambit, uses interesting and interactive methods to sensitise kids about the need to save energy.
“After we were told about the benefits of renewable energy, along with other students, I developed a model of a city that lights up when vehicles move on roads,” said Arjun Balveer Singh, a class 7 student from DN Nagar Municipal Marathi School, Andheri (West). “We wired the model from its base and connected it to a wind turbine. When our toy vehicle moves on the road, the pressure allows the turbine to move and produce electricity.”
The topic of energy conservation was divided by Reliance Energy through two phases – school awareness phase and a science expo. In the first phase, students from Classes 5 to 8 were explained about energy conservation through interactive audio-visuals, presentations and flip charts while the second phase was the science exposition held on Saturday.
“The students have put on a good show and it clearly shows that they understand the need for renewable energy. Their efforts will be reflected through better energy conservation at the household level. The expo comes at a time when the government’s target to reach 175 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy by 2022 is in the making,” said Debasish Banerjee, chief executive officer, Reliance Energy.
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