‘Aditya’ : India’s solar ferry
HEADLINES:
India’s solar ferry sails into global contest
WHY IN NEWS:
‘Aditya’, representing Asia in the Gustave Trouvé Awards event, is from Kerala
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 1:3:Award:Transport
LEARNING:
For PRELIMS go through the award and the personality who is an engineer and his achievements . Though it is of less priority but still ! To be on a safer side , You need to look out each and every aspect of the same !
For MAINS nothing much here .
ISSUE:
Silent performer: It is a winner on costs.
KOCHI
- India’s first solar-powered ferry, Aditya, which became an icon on the Vaikom-Thavanakadavu route in Kerala, is among 12 such ferries that have been shortlisted for the Gustave Trouvé Award.
- It is the sole entrant from Asia.
- There are three award categories: one for electric boats up to 8m in length, electric boats more than 8 m long and electric ferry boats (passenger boats), the category in which Aditya is in the fray.
GUSTAVE TROUVÉ AWARDS :
- Trouvé was a prolific inventor with over 75 patents.
- Back in 1881, he developed a 5-m-long prototype electric boat.
BUILT IN KOCHI
- Operated by the Kerala State Water Transport Department (KSWTD), the vessel was built by Navalt Solar and Electric Boats, Kochi.
- Buoyed by the success of the ferry and its rock bottom operating cost, the department is expected to roll out more such vessels in the future.
- “As a public transport solar-electric ferry, it has proven its performance in its third year, transporting 11 lakh passengers and clocking a distance of 70,000 km, without a single drop of fossil fuel.
- It thus saved KSWTD over 1 lakh litres of diesel.”
IASbhai WINDUP:
- It needs just ₹180 per day in energy cost, compared to about ₹8,000 for a diesel-run ferry of similar size.
- It is unusual for a high technology product to have such a low break-even period.
SOURCES:THE HINDU & PIB/DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS for UPSC CSE Prelims & Mains
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