UPSC Prelims 2000 Q35: Environment & Ecology – Renewable Energy & Green Technologies
- (a) I - C, II - A, III - B, IV - D
- (b) I - C, II - A, III - D, IV - B
- (c) I - A, II - C, III - D, IV - B
- (d) I - A, II - C, III - B, IV - D
Answer: (c) I - A, II - C, III - D, IV - B
Explanation
Power plants and the waste they burn
| Plant | Feed material |
|---|---|
| Gowthami Solvents Oil Ltd (Andhra Pradesh) | Rice husk — rice-bran oil mill, husk-fired power |
| K.M. Sugar Mills (Uttar Pradesh) | Distillery spent wash — biogas from its distillery |
| Satia Paper Mills (Punjab) | Black liquor — pulping waste of paper mills |
| Al Kabeer Exports Ltd (Andhra Pradesh) | Slaughter-house waste — meat export plant at Medak |
These were demonstration projects of the then Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources for energy from industrial waste.
Each plant uses the waste of its own industry: Gowthami Solvents, a rice-bran oil unit in the rice belt of Andhra Pradesh, burns rice husk; K.M. Sugar Mills turns the spent wash of its distillery into biogas; Satia Paper Mills recovers energy from black liquor, the lignin-rich effluent of pulping; and Al Kabeer, a meat exporter, runs biomethanation on slaughter-house waste.
So the match is I-A, II-C, III-D, IV-B.
Answer: (c) I - A, II - C, III - D, IV - B.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Incorrect. Spent wash belongs to the sugar mill's distillery, not the solvent oil unit, and black liquor to the paper mill.
- (b) Incorrect. It gives distillery spent wash to the solvent oil unit and rice husk to the sugar mill.
- (c) CORRECT. Rice husk, distillery spent wash, black liquor, slaughter-house waste.
- (d) Incorrect. It gives slaughter-house waste to the paper mill and black liquor to the meat exporter.
Key point
Match each plant to its own industry's waste: paper → black liquor, sugar distillery → spent wash, meat → slaughter-house waste.
Remember
Paper-black liquor, distillery-spent wash, meat-slaughter waste, rice mill-husk.
Common mistakes
- Not knowing that black liquor is a paper-mill effluent.
- Linking spent wash to an oil unit because both are liquids.
- Overlooking that Al Kabeer is a meat exporter.
Exam tip
Name of the company tells the industry; the industry tells the waste.
Sources
- Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources — Annual Report 1998-99, energy from urban and industrial wastes
- Ministry of New and Renewable Energy — Programme on Energy from Urban, Industrial and Agricultural Wastes (mnre.gov.in)