Comparison of different types of vehicles

My internship project involves looking at the best way of introducing 2 and 3 wheeler electric vehicles (EVs) in developing countries.

However, at the outset I felt I needed to do more work on why EVs were being pushed over, say CNG vehicles, more efficient IC engine vehicles. The following post thus looks at different types of vehicles and their relative pros and cons.

1) Diesel versus Petrol vehicles. Note that countries like India have subsidized the cost of diesel, leading to a forced substitution of petrol vehicles with diesel vehicles (there is a Rs 30 difference between the two). In the US, however, petrol and diesel cost roughly the same. In 2007, petrol costed $3/gallon, while diesel cost $3.39/gallon.

Is this shift from petrol to diesel good? The following table compares petrol and diesel.

The carbon dioxide emissions for petrol are higher. It emits 13% more CO2/gallon of fuel burnt. However, note that diesel is 1.5x more efficient than petrol. This is because diesel engines can operate at higher compression ratios than petrol, and there is no risk of auto-ignition.

In the past, diesel engines were considered noisy (the sound emitted in the exhaust blow down in diesel engines is louder than petrol engines as they operate at higher pressures) and dirty, and therefore they were not used, in spite of the fact that diesel is more efficient than petrol. In order to produce cleaner, quieter diesel cars, they were fitted with a trap to catch particles of smoke in the exhaust. However, these traps in many places, were seen to not work properly unless the vehicle was hot, and many drivers removed them.

Diesel produces more NOx than petrol engines, and more particulates. Catalytic converters could be used to lower NOx concentrations. Unfortunately, many diesel fuels contain S at concentrations that could foul the converters.

New diesel engines have an electronic ignition system that compensates for cold starts and has self cleaning features.

Petrol engines produce more CO (when they are being warmed up)
Petrol engines emit more hydrocarbons (HCs)- containing harmful substances such as benzene

Diesel engines are heavier than gasoline engines of the same power because diesel requires a larger cylinder displacement for complete combustion, and heavier components to withstand higher pressures and temperatures.

For small vehicles, the weight penalty diminished the advantage in fuel from 40% to 20%

Gasoline engines after the 1980s can use mixtures of gasoline and up to 10% ethanol without modification. With modification (fabricating the engine from materials that are resistant to ethanol/methanol corrosion and installing sensors that detect the fuel mixture and allow the electronic ignition control unit to adjust the engine timing)- this can increase.

Converting a gasoline engine to use CNG involves the addition of a pressure regulator and an electronic multi-point gas injection system similar to a gasoline injection system.

Diesel engines are more flexible in their fuel mixtures. Rudolph Diesel ran his vehicle on vegetable oil.

2) 2 stroke versus 4 stroke engines

2 stroke engines are lower cost. They are lighter and are smaller, thanks to their mechanical simplicity. Due to this simplicity, they have greater operating smoothness. However, as compared to 4 stroke engines they are noisier, have lower fuel economies, emit more particulates and HC emissions. This is due to the fact that 15-40% of the unburnt fuel-air mixture escapes through the exhaust valve. Oil is used as a lubricant and is usually mechanically introduced continuously to the fuel/air mixture. The incompletely combusted lubricant and other heavy HCs are emitted as oil droplets and result in increased smoke and increased PM. 2 stroke engines have lower NOx emissions.

Due to the tightening of emission standards there has been a shift from 2 stroke engines to 4 stroke engines. However, the exact effects of running these 2 engines has not been characterized perfectly and there is still work to be done.

2 stroke gasoline engines and heavy duty diesel vehicles are major contributors of PM10.

However, it is noted that the age of the vehicle is an important determining factor due to rapid improvements in engine technology recently. In the US it was found that 20% of the vehicle fleet was responsible for 80% of all emissions.

3) Biofuels

Biofuels may be in the form of ethanol or biodiesel. While ethanol is made from fermented sugars, biodiesel is made from the oil of certain plants.

Although corn-based ethanol is now the dominant biofuel in the US, criticism over this type of ethanol is increasing. Cellulosic ethanol now promises to play a leading role in the future of biofuels. Ethanol is mainly used as a blending agent with gasoline to increase the octane number and decrease CO and other smog-causing pollution.

Biodiesel can be used as an additive (typically 20%) to reduce vehicle emissions or in its pure form as a renewable alternative for diesel engines. Organizations such as NREL are researching the production of liquid transport fuels using microalgae

Biofuels can be 1st or 2nd generation fuels.
1st generation biofuels are made from sugar, starch, vegetable oil. They differ from 2nd generation biofuels, in that their feedstock is not sustainable or, if used in large quantities, would have a large negative impact on food supply. 1st generation biofuels are the 'original' biofuels and constitute the majority of biofuels currently in use.

2nd generation biofuels are 'greener' in that they are made from sustainable feedstock.

George Monbiot argues in several Guardian pieces in 2012, that biofuels are means by which governments in the rich world avoid hard choices. Rather than raising fuel economy standards, promoting non motorized transport etc, they have chosen to invest heavily in biofuels.

The US and EU set targets and created generous financial incentives for biofuels. In 2012, 40% of US maize production was used to feed cars. Although the market for biodiesel is largely confined to the EU, it has already captured 7% of the world's vegetable oil output. The EU commission has admitted that its target (10% of transport fuels by 2020) would raise world cereal prices by between 3% and 6%. Oxfam estimates with every 1% rise in the price of food, 16 million people go hungry.

By 2021, OECD says that 14% of the world's maize and other coarse grains, 16% of its vegetable oil and 34% of its sugar cane will be used to produce biofuels.

ActionAid has also estimated that European countries have seized 5 m hectares of farmland (an area the size of Denmark) in developing countries for industrial biofuel production.

When the impacts of land clearance, and the use of nitrogen fertilizers are taken into account, biofuels produce more GHG than fossil fuels. 'Burning biomass instead of fossil fuels does not reduce the C emitted by power plants' a group of 78 scientists wrote to the EPA Director against the new power plant policy. 'Burning biomass, such as tree, that would otherwise continue to absorb and store C comes at the expense of reduced C storage.'

However, last year the IPCC stated that riddled with the usual uncertainties of science, being < 2 degrees C would be much harder without biofuels?! Absent a big increase in bioenergy supplies, the climate change panel's analysis reported, it would cost about 2/3rd more, on average, to prevent the earth's temperature from rising more than 2 degrees C. In most models that bring temperatures back under the 2 degrees C ceiling by the end of the century, biofuels are assumed to produce about 250 to 350 exajoules of energy/year. 300 Exajoules is > than half the world's current energy consumption. Today, the energy content of all the biomass harvested for food, fodder and everything else amounts to about 220 Exajoules.

Where will the land to produce these biofuels come from? If the productivity of agriculture and livestock were the same all the world over, as in developed countries, the world could feed 35 million people. In that case, deploying just 10% of the world's 5 billion hectares currently used for crops/pastures could generate 100 to 150 exajoules by the end of the century.

However, other environmentalists such as George Monbiot question the practicality of such calculations.

He states that even second generation biofuels made from crop wastes or wood are an environmental disaster, either extending the cultivated area or removing the straw and stovers which protect the soil from erosion and keep the C and nutrients in the ground.

4) Synthetic fuels: Substituting diesel and jet fuel can be produced from different feedstock converting biomass to liquid (BTL), coal to liquid (CTL) or gas to liquid (GTL). Hydrotreated vegetable oils (HVO) of a similar paraffinic nature, can be produced by hydrotreating plant oils and animal fats. Synthetic fuels can be distributed, stored and used with existing infrastructure and existing internal combustion engines. They offer a cost-competitive option to replace oil-based fuels with the perspective of further imporved system performance with engines specifically adapted to synthetic fuels. The EU has the development of industrial scale plants for the production of cost-competitive synthetic fuels derived from biomass as a high priority.

EU policy reports state that efforts should be continued to improve the CO2 balance of GTL and particularly CTL. DME is another synthetic fuel produced from fossil or biomass resources via gasification (synthetic gas), requiring moderate engine modifications.

5) EVs versus CNGs

EVs are more efficient than CNG vehicles.
1000 cubic feet of CH4 provides 457 miles in an EV, and only 224 miles in an NGV
NGV have lower efficiencies than hydrogen, hybrid, gasoline, diesel and electric vehicles.

The filling time of an EV (240 V charger) is 3-8 hours. Building an electric charging station costs $2000 (including installation costs). DC fast chargers cost around $50,000. CNG filling stations costs $750,000, however, the filling time is a few minutes.

The vehicle cost is a tossup.

If one looks at fuel costs, EVs win according to Forbes Magazine

In terms of range, a 4 door CNG taxi with a trunk can hold the equivalent of 15 gallons of fuel and can get close to 300 miles on a tank. EVs get about a 100 miles.

6) LPG is a by product of the hydrocarbon fuel chain. It is currently the most widely used alternative fuel in Europe accounting for 3% of the fuel for cars and powering 5 million vehicles. More than 27,000 filling statons currently exist in Europe

7) Electric Vehicles (EVs)
Electric cars dominated the automobile car market in the second half of the 19th century. However, the low energy density of batteries at that time lost out to the high density, cheap, plentifully available fossil fuel. However breakthroughs in battery technology today has led to a resurgence of talk around EVs.

Electric propulsion of road vehicles occurs in the following configurations
1) Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV): These use a combination of an ICE engine and an electric motor. The battery is charged from braking energy recuperation. The external energy input comes only through the fuel of the IC engine.
2) Plug-in HEV: It uses the same power train as an HEV, but with the additional option of charging the battery also by plugging to the electricity grid.
3) Range-extender Vehicle (REV): It represents another type of HEV with propulsion from an electric motor, and charging of the battery by plug in to the electricity grid or by a petrol fueled ICE. When the battery is depleted, a small ICE working as a generator provides the electricity for propulsion and for sustaining the battery state of charge
4) Hydrogen/Fuel Cell Vehicle (HFCV), with electric propulsion only, and external energy input through refilling an on-board hydrogen tank
5) On-board reformer, where the car is fueled with either bioethanol or biomethanol and the reformer converts the biofuel to hydrogen. This may provide extended operational range
6) Trolleybuses with overhead wires

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are similar to BEVs in terms of having a high efficiency power train. A key difference between both technologies is the upstream GHG emissions associated with the generation and delivery of the energy carrier. Two key aspects that affect the visibility of HFCVs are related with the hydrogen storage and production. Producing hydrogen by hydrolysis is an energy intensive process and requires 3x more energy, and thus emits 3x more GHG than a BEV. However, studies say that the use of HFCVs in a scenario where electricity is obtained from RESs could have advantages over BEVs to achieve a higher autonomy.


Electric motors replacing conventional ICEs can improve the efficiency of light-duty road transport vehicles by a factor of 3. The improvement for heavy-duty vehicles is closer to a factor of 2, compared to a diesel ICE drive train.

However, the energy density of vehicle batteries is much lower than that of gasoline/diesel (even Li ion batteries are an order of 50 lower in energy density). Therefore, even with a factor increase of 5x in efficiency, would still require a 15x larger weight.

Adding a small ICE or fuel cell to the electric drivetrain though, has the potential to overcome the range limitation of pure EVs.

Studies which have looked at the comparative environmental life cycle assessment of conventional and electric vehicles, however, indicate that such a comparison depends heavily on the electricity mix being used by a country. EVs powered by the European mix, offer a 10% to 24% decrease in Global Warming Potential (GWP) relative to conventional diesel or gasoline vehicles assuming a lifetime of 150,000 km (note a vehicle lifetime of 200,000 km, the GWP benefits of EV is 27-29%). However, EVs exhibit the potential for significant increases in human toxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, freshwater eutrophication, and metal depletion impacts largely emanating from the vehicle supply chain

Another study looked at the lifecycle GHG emissions of EVs for different energy mixes. It was found that this number was 979gCO2 equivalent/kWh for a fossil fuel mix, and 100-300g CO2e/kWh for a mix with more renewables.

Note that this post provides a taster of the difficulty in choosing between different types of cars. Also note that CO2 emissions are not the only environmental axis to make such valuations. Other emissions such as particulates, NOx are equally important considerations

Transport

I have recently started working as part of UNEP's Division of Transport in Nairobi. The Transport Unit has six focus areas

1) To complete the global elimination of leaded petrol (Activities of the Transport Unit also contribute to UNEP's Chemicals and Waste sub-programme where they contribute to reducing health impacts from lead pollution through the global elimination of leaded petrol.)

UNEP has supported more than 80 countries to eliminate leaded petrol world-wide with a result that only 6 countries today continue to use small amounts of leaded petrol. These are Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, North Korea, Algeria, Myanmar

Barriers: Yemen and Iraq lack the financial means to upgrade their refineries
Algeria and Iraq have created stock piles of TEL (the lead additive)
All six countries lack information and capacity to make this change
Some countries have been bribed into buying stockpiles of TEL and have no means to dispose of the same?!?!

2) To develop mainly national and regional activities that will contribute to doubling the efficiency of the global light duty vehicle fleet

Most developed countries have put policies in place that promote fuel economy. For example, taxing inefficient vehicles and providing tax breaks for the efficient vehicles. Introducing vehicle labeling programs. As a result most OECD countries will see the efficiency of their fleets doubling in the coming decade.

However, most developing countries do not have similar measures. To support similar policies the Global Fuel Economy Initiative was put in place in 2008. The target is to double the fuel efficiency of the global light duty fleet from 8 l/100 km in 2005 to 4 l/100 km in 2050.

3) To promote investment in non-motorized transport infrastructure- walking and cycling

UNEP has launched a Share the Road (StR) project that is promoting the systematic inclusion of NMT infrastructure in urban road projects

4) A new clean ports project

Small particulates and black C emissions from ports come from a wide range of sources- directly or indirectly related to port operations- including ocean-going vessels, harbor craft, tug boats, power plants providing energy for port operations etc.

5) A global campaign to reduce small particulate emissions and black carbon emissions through the introduction of cleaner fuels and vehicles

WHO estimates that small PM is responsible for 7 million premature deaths annually. Transport is supposed to contribute 40-80% of PM polluton.

UNEP's Transport Unit plays a central role in the global reduction of emissions of small particulates and black carbon- through the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles (PCFV) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC). In the CCAC initiative- UNEP is one of the 4 co-leads in the Heavy Duty Diesel Initiative- the focus of which is to reduce small particulates and black carbon (BC). BC happens to be the second most important climate pollutant after carbon dioxide.

Note that it is found that developed countries are seeing an unprecedented improvement in the efficiency of their vehicle fleets, resulting in 3% efficiency improvements/year. However, the efficiencies in developing countries is stagnant. In addition, although many developed countries promote low S fuels of < 50 ppm, developing country fuels are still at > 5000 ppm.

Providing the right data in the right format is seen as crucial to developing the right policies. Data is being gathered on the average fuel economy of national fleets in the Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) pilot.

6) The development of an African sustainable transport action plan through a new Africa Sustainable Transport Forum

The current Business As Usual (BAU) scenario predicts a tripling of vehicles and a doubling of pollution and climate emissions. The IPCCC 5th Assessment report states that transportation could become one of the largest emitters of GHG emissions (going from 33% of the total from the current 25%), doubling its GHG emissions by 2050.

However, it has also been noted that the reduction potential of emissions in the transport sector has been underestimated. Actions that could promote this include
1) Avoid- Avoid transport by better urban planning
2) Shift- to less pollution and more efficient means of transportation
3) Improve- reduce the emissions of vehicles and other transport modes

UNEA (UN Environmental Assembly) countries adopted an Air Quality Resolution calling on governments to develop standards and policies and asked UNEP to support Governments. UNEP's Transport Unit will play a key role in the implementation of this Resolution.

Sunday mass in Nairobi

M knocked on my door on Saturday night and asked me if I wanted to go to Church with her at 7:30 am the next morning. I'm a 'yes' woman, and true to character assented immediately.

However, when my alarm rang at 6:30 am the next morning, I felt like kicking my yesterday-self, pulling the covers over me and going back to sleep. I probably would have done so- hadn't I thought about what an unpredictable character M was. I knew she went to Bible study classes, and wasn't sure how she'd take me standing her up for Church; So rather than risk M's wrath, I grudgingly got out of bed.

It was cold- something that I found hard to process (I was in Kenya for godsake!!), and so I pretended that it wasn't, and put on a sleeveless dress. M took one look at me, told me I was a 'piece of work' (her favorite expression) and made me put on a jacket. This, I was truly grateful for during our matatu ride to the chapel, especially since for some reason, Kenyans don't see the point of closing the door of their vehicles when driving and gusts of cold air kept whooshing into our van.

We got off at city center, and had to walk some distance to Mamlaka Hill Chapel. We passed the Uni of Nairobi on the way. M had studied there and told me wild stories of her 'youth' (she's 25 now- pssht). According to M, the road just outside the University was a red light area- and some university 1st year girls would prostitute themselves for the sake of the latest pair of Jimmy Choo etc etc. I'm not sure how much of this is true- but M said that before she was packed off to Uni, her mother and aunties prayed for several hours over her to protect her from such happenings, while she tapped her feet impatiently. I could almost see 18 year old rebellious M being prayed over, with a slightly bored expression on her face and giggled.

Mamlaka Hill Chapel looked more like a concert hall than a chapel- In fact it probably was a concert hall. It was a large open air tent. The congregation sat on plastic chairs- neatly marked with the words 'Mamlaka Hill Chapel' facing a stage. The choir consisting of a drummer!, a keyboardist, 8 background singers and one lead singer (a different background singer became the lead for each new song), was already singing on stage. Large screens were set up at different angles- some of which displayed the lyrics of the song, while others showed live footage of what was happening on stage for the benefit of the people at the back. The stage was illuminated with fancy red spotlights.

As we walked in, our bags and persons were systematically scanned, and we were handed in a shiny leaflet of Mamlaka Chapel Hill events in the next months. We had come early, and the few people who were already there were swaying along to the music with no self inhibition. I felt awkward for a minute as I'm not really the swaying sort- but the music was SO good, that after a few minutes, the beat in my feet had crept up my body, and I found myself swinging my hips!

The hymn was completely new to me. The lyrics were religious, however the music itself was upbeat- none of the soft subdued music I was used to. I remembered that back in Mumbai- the priests made a big deal of ensuring that the 'communion music' was just instrumental in order to allow it to form a backdrop for people's prayers. Here, the music was everything.

We danced to about 3 songs- with different singers doing the main harmony for each. The preacher then came on stage and started on long list of petitions about world peace etc, to which the congregation, still under the influence of the music, 'amen'ed devoutly. He ended his list with gratitude for the Kenyan Music Project having received sponsorship. This got the most vigorous amen, and a couple of whoops in the bargain.

After this, the preacher called for the newbies in the congregation to raise their hands. M hissed at me, and tried to put my hand in the air. I had no wish to be asked to sing (or worse dance!) in front of the entire audience, and resisted all her efforts. One brave man, however did put up his hand and got a long hand of applause. The preacher then instructed him to find the intern(!) at the end of the service, who would escort him to the visitor's lounge to meet the pastors over refreshments.

The preacher then said it was time for announcements. I settled back in my seat expecting the usual announcements about womens teas, bible study, Sunday school, when all of a sudden the lights went dim, and suddenly all the screens started playing a video. I had a surreal feeling that I was back in an MBA class.

A deep western voice began the video talking about the '3S's' in the Mamlanka Chapel Hill mission statement. (Don't ask me what they were. I was too stunned to note them down. Though now I wish I had!) It then went on to talk about the various 'Ministries' and what they did- there was the Ministry of Care and Connection, Leadership and Development- and my favorite- REAL Groups ( I can't be the only one thinking of the Ministry of Silly Walks here! Come on and back me up!). Note that the video had stunning animations and was very Larger then life! It ended with an advisement to all members of the audience to take care of their belongings and a reminder that if they had any problems they could contact Mamlaka Hill Chapel's Security team! (see Concert Hall!)

At the end of it I was gasping for breath and kicking myself for not having filmed it/taken photographs! I felt that all the consultants I knew could have taken notes from the presentation!

The next bit of the service involved the preacher bringing the leaders of some of the REAL groups on stage and asked them each to speak about their experience in leading a REAL group. There was a woman lawyer named Purity, a Dutch lady who said she had initially come to Kenya as part of a Christian mission group and then left the mission to start her own waste water treatment business, a lady who said she managed the East African business of a fashion company, and two business men.

The fashion lady started off by talking about how she had been initially asked to lead a group by the pastor and how it took her ages to come to terms and 'deal with herself' before she allowed herself to be convinced to lead the group. She was very dramatic as she painted a picture of her old bed sitter in which she used to host her group and how she learned to 'deal with herself'.

The Kenyan preacher got off on the wrong foot when he looked at the Dutch lady's fair skin and said, 'you're clearly not from Kenya, but do you want to share your story with us?' It troubles me that we give westerners(This term in itself is problematic as I was reminded today when a Kenyan reminded me that he was a 'westerner' in China)/white people for not truly accepting people who do not look/talk/behave like them, when we are far more tolerant with similar exhibitions of behavior in our countries. Yesterday, I met a German girl who studies informal schools in Kibeira. She spoke about how she was termed as '' (find out)- which basically was the word used to describe the British colonialists in Kenya- and which has negative connotations.

The preacher then turned on the business men, and basically said in a cloying manner, that they traveled so much, worked 16 hours a day and yet found time to lead a REAL group. He said that it was usually the women who joined these groups and made excuses for their husbands. He beseeched the businessmen to tell the congregation how they made the time, and how important it was. The businessmen obliged willingly.

After this, the preacher handed over the mike to a young member of the congregation (a classmate of Ms!) to deliver the sermon (The preachers functioned primarily as the CEO of the chapel delegating work, coordinating ministries etc).

After a well reasoned, impassioned sermon, the choir got us to our feet with one final last hymn- and the service was over.

I felt a vague sense of loss as I walked out with M and met some of her friends. I felt sad that I couldn't accept people at their own valuation. I felt sad that I was a cynical old cat who was laughing up her sleeve during th entire service. I felt bad, bad, bad! But I'm not sorry

Car Accidents

The Young Man looked at the Official in front of him. The Official's face was motionless, except for the rhythmic, rotational movement of his jowls as he chomped on a plate of biscuits. The room was cold- too cold, even though it was summer; thanks to the monster air conditioner that pumped cold air- almost viciously- the Young Man thought, like a great, exposed heart into the room. His tea which had been steaming hot in it's aluminium glass at the beginning of the hour, was now cold and lifeless, and lay at the tip of his elbow- An act of courtesy, a gimmick, a atmosphere setter, a distraction.

Our Young Man was a college graduate. In college, he had spent most of his time debating and talking about philosophy, ethics, politics- the Meaning of Life- with his friends. He believed he had the energy, and the intelligence to change the world - wasn't college preparation to do just that?

Everything needed to be torn down. The world needed to be built afresh. He was convinced of it. Well graduation was over, and it was time to start! But where? He thought through the causes he was passionate about- animal rights, climate change, water scarcity.. And then a family friend at dinner, happened to mention the number of road accidents in India every year. The Young Man was horrified at the figure. After dinner he looked the number up. They were all true. THIS he decided was his Cause. He talked to his parents about it. His proud father connected him with the Official, who he knew through a friend. And that was how he was here. In this room. Sitting opposite the Official.

He had spent the last hour presenting statistic after statistic of the number of road accidents in India to the Official. The Official had remained the same during the entire presentation- still, silent, except for the biscuit chomping. He had remained silent for almost a minute after the end of the presentation. A minute- measured in 4 injuries and 1 nameless, voicless death due to car accidents in India; the chomping of one Parle G biscuit. The Young Man waited.

The Official finally broke the silence.

"Mr YM, you say our Government does not do enough to protect the safety of our people. Let me tell you this. We have a current mandate that all cars have to have front and back seat belts. it is mandatory for front seat belts to be on at all times. How many people do you think obey this law, eh? Do you think we are a rich country like the US to put policemen at every corner to ensure people are wearing seat belts? We do everything we can to hold our officers accountable. But the people need to learn sense!"

He paused.

"Right at this minute we have a new road safety bill being introduced into Cabinet. We will use all that 'smart metering' and whatnot to ensure safe driving. We are also upping our fines and penalties for driving offences. Does that satisfy you? And yes-yes we are starting our new Indian national new car assessment program. Our roads are not like the ones in Switzerland or US, so we don't need to test cars at the same crash speeds."

The Young Man who was listening intently, burst out earnestly. "Shree O. Your government is certainly on the right track to change the law. However, your crash test is not going to come online till 2017. I know that developing such facilities takes time, but what till then? Most of cars manufactured for India- they've failed the basic safety tests. And even, after 2017, what about the cars currently on the road, sir?"

The Young Man paused and surveyed the Official. "And, sir, without offense, amendments to the 1988 Motor Vehicles Act have always been a long time in coming into force. I urge you sir, to raise awareness about safety NOW. Encourage stricter enforcement of the law."

The Official stood up and ushered the Young man to to door. His eyes widened and he said earnestly, "We will do all we can beta. It is truly heartening to see youth like you who care." The door clicked shut on the Young Man's thanks, his petition, and his satisfaction of having 'done something'. It took the Young Man ten minutes- 40 nameless injuries, 10 voiceless deaths to walk home. He was thinking about his next Cause.

In the mean time, the Official's eyes had narrowed again. His earnestness collapsed. He picked up his file and walked out of the door in his new Mercedes.

2015 Union Budget to the Education System of India

Arun Jaitley, India's Finance Minister recently announced the Union's 2015/6 budget on Feb 28th. Jaitley slashed allocation of funds to the primary school sector by 10%. External consultants have reported that the Central Government may be thinking of transferring the responsibility of providing quality elementary education to States.

The mid-day meal scheme (which provides free lunches on working days for children in Primary and Upper Primary Classes in Government, and Government Aided schools) in particular, suffered a drastic fund cut from Rs 1296.5 crore last year, to a mere Rs 132 crore this year. States will be asked to spend a greater portion of their budget to support this scheme.

Research indicates that this could be a 'messy and unpredictable' move as different states have different capabilities. This will result in huge differences in education systems between states. The mid-day meal scheme has been responsible for increasing enrollment rates in schools, especially for girls. It is uncertain what the effect this budgetary reduction will have on future enrollment rates.

The Budget however, saw a shift in focus to higher education, with a planned increase of 22% for funds in this sector. Most of this increase is reported to be channeled towards building new IITs: Indian Institutes of Technologies and IIMs: Indian Institute of Managements, with two new IITs and IIMS already in the pipeline.

There are several reasons why higher education should be a priority of the government. A British Council report on the state of higher education in India in 2014 states that currently over 50% of India's population is under 25 years of age, and will need to be trained to contribute effectively to the economy. The four broadest challenges currently to higher educations in India are:

1) The supply gap: India has an enrollment rate of only 18% compared with 26% in China and 36% in Brazil. By 2020 the Government aims to achieve a 30% gross enrollment rate by creating 40 million new university places
2) Low quality of teaching: India has a shortage of quality faculty. Schools are beset with outdated curricula. There is a lack of accountability in the education system, and a divide between teaching and research. Ensuring quality education is especially important in attracting students to vocational programs. According to this article, 60% of graduates from vocational training programs remain unemployed. This largely because of the poor quality of the programs. It is feared that this statistic will serve to desist future enrollment.
3) Constraints on research capacity and innovation: India has a very low level of PhD enrollment, and does not have enough of high quality researchers. In 2010-11, only 16,000 doctoral degrees were awarded to schools in India- a minuscule number compared to other countries. This has led to a weak ecosystem of innovation.
4) Uneven growth and access to opportunity: Society in India is highly stratified. Access to high quality education is highly dependent on certain socioeconomic characteristics

The root of these challenges lie in structure of the system. The national policy framework dictates that higher education institutions in India are required to have a not-for-profit structure- irrespective of if they are private or public. This has led to a proliferation of private entities which offer high demand- engineering and management courses, that use their status as 'not for profit' bodies to siphon off profits.

Degree awarding power lies only with universities specified by the University Grants Commission (UGC) under Section 22 of the University Grant Commission Act 1956. This has resulted in a complex system of hundreds of "teaching colleges"-private or public affiliated with public universities. In order to increase target expansion rates, privately funded universities were allowed. They could only be approved by state acts, or by the central UGC authority. This status is very difficult to achieve. Most private colleges are thus forced to stick to the curriculum of the university it is affiliated with. This curriculum is often sub par.

Can the Central Government overcome these challenges by increasing it's allocation of funds to higher education? The IITs and IIMs that the government proposes to build, have a very limited capacity and can only cater to a limited section of the population. I believe that the government should do more to encourage private investment in higher educational organizations to cater to the massive demand.

High standards of transparency need to be instituted to ensure funds are appropriately used, and high quality is maintained.

Private universities are currently frustrated by their lack of ability to control the curriculum and courses they offer under the affiliate system. While regulation of the higher education sector is crucial in India, bigger opportunities of 'self-regulation' through the professionalization of the sector needs to be considered. What I mean by this, is that professional associations could serve to ensure mutually agreed-upon standards are met.

Finally, the government needs to acknowledge, and do more to address to ingrained inequity in access to higher education. This needs to be tackled at the primary school level. These are the changes required.

I do not believe that the government's current plan of slashing funds for the elementary education sector to build more IITs and IIMs will fully address the challenges listed above.

The Economics of Education

In his book, ‘The Economics of Education’, Daniele Checchi provides enrollment ratios in primary school education systems across the world. This indicator shows that post World War 2, an increase in school attendance is observed across the globe. By the start of the 1990s, many countries had succeeded in achieving 100% primary school enrollment rate. However, while OECD countries saw an almost complete saturation for secondary education as well, all the others were lagging behind.

Why is this so, given the clear benefits of education?

Evidence presented by Dr. Checchi indicates that labour market participation increases dramatically as people obtain more and more education. Interestingly, the book states that employment rates of university graduates are much the same across all countries: 90% for males, and 70% for females in most developed countries, as opposed to 70% of men and 40% of women in the case of less than compulsory education.

Why is labour participation more?

Education is seen to be positively correlated with earnings, with female profiles consistently below male ones.(It is interesting to note that there is little direct empirical evidence of direct productivity gains from more education. Daniele Checchi notes however, that any explanation of the above would preclude the very real barriers of accessing education)

If it is worth going to school, and there has been an increase in access to education across the globe, what prevents full access to education?

The sad truth is, the rise in educational attainment has not led to a proportionate decrease in inequality. Lots of people still do not have access to school. In addition, it is important to recognize the distinction between ownership and utility. Although primary education is compulsory in most parts of the world, statistics show that this does not directly translate to attaining competence in literacy abilities. And even though it is compulsory, economists have noted a negative correlation between female primary enrollment and family wealth, indicating that financial resources still preclude girls from attending school.

There have been more detailed analyses of the above question in the book: ‘The Economics of Education’. Opting to obtain more education has been seen as an investment question by some economists. The analogy between physical capital and human capital is imperfect as human capital cannot be resold, nor can it be collateralized. This means that the future benefits of acquiring education are conditional on events in the future, and the effort that must be exerted to obtain a job in the future. Thus, from this point of view this investment appears risky from the point of view of parents who have to make this choice.

In spite of this, ‘investment in human capital’ has become synonymous with the ‘acquisition of more education’. Human capital theory predicts that the demand for education will stabilize when the incremental benefits equal the incremental costs. Two factors have been identified to contribute to the costs, and thus the different levels of educational attainment: 1) Talent, 2) Family wealth which can constrain poor families when financial markets are imperfect

From an efficiency point of view, it is best to deploy more resources to the more talented students, however from an equity perspective this action would be wrong. However, if different levels of educational achievement were a result of income inequality then redistributive policies would increase both efficiency and equity. A further level of complexity in this analysis is added by studies that show a positive correlation between IQ scores and earnings, and between IQ scores across generations. If IQ is seen to be a proxy for ‘talent’, and if the gene of intelligence is supposed to be randomly distributed; then income inequality appears to be the ‘inevitable’ result. However, literature is still inconclusive about this point as many authors are against a causal interpretation.

If we examine the family wealth factor, we see that real financial markets typically ration borrowers by charging higher interest rates/require collateral in order to insure themselves against the risk of default. This makes it impossible for poor people to borrow money, and bear the opportunity cost of attending school. Thus poor individuals tend to acquire less education than rich individuals. Thus it has been argued that imperfect financial markets are responsible for inequality in education and income. This could lead to persistent inequality- poor families are unable to finance their children's education, who thus obtain less education, earn less and are thus unable to finance their children's education.

To summarize this, if children were heterogeneous in ability, more talented children will benefit more from schooling, thus stay longer in school and thus earn more money. However, when children are heterogeneous in family income, and financial markets are imperfect. children from poor families obtain less education because they face higher costs. These ‘elitest’ and ‘egalitarian’ views coexist.

Why have I written this article?

‘Fixing’ the education system is not easy. There are a multitude of factors at play. It is to be hoped that reading this article, some of the factors will become more clear, and more visible and can thus be tackled accordingly.

A Review of 'A Path Appears by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn'

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WudDunn's, 'A Path Appears' is an empowering book. It tears through the cynicism and doubt of the power of an individual to make a difference, in a series of vignettes. Each vignette demonstrates how ordinary people, have had a tremendous impact on less fortunate people's lives, by giving. The key, the book notes, is to give wisely.

How does one give wisely? Kristof and WuDunn notes that one can get maximum bang for every buck donated, by supporting causes such as early childhood care. Young kids are "too young to fail" the book notes. An intervention at this stage in people's lives, will lead to a reduction in the number of dysfunctional adults, thus reducing social costs in the long run. Counselling pregnant teens is another ridiculously cost effective way of making a difference; so is spreading education about contraception. Kristoff and WuDunn note that it is possible to keep a child in school in Kenya for an extra year for $3.5 by investing in deworming programs.

What about other worthy causes? How does one assess the impact of an organization's approach? The book talks about the pioneering work of Esther Duflo, on evidence based social intervention, using a randomized trials method to verify the impact an organization is having. 'A Path Appears' justly brings to light the difficulty of using metrics such as the 'overheads' of an organization in judging the validity of its work. For example, empirically, organizations which spend money on a professional marketing and advertising campaign are able to raise more money than organizations which do not use funds for this purpose. In addition, organizations which have well paid highly skilled employees are able to accomplish more, and have a lower turn over rate than charities which do not invest in their staff.

It is perhaps because of reasons such as the above, that the NGO world is highly fragmented, with relatively few sustainable models. The book thus also stresses on the role the private sector has to pay in scaling up change. The private sector has the right skills, network and money to made a dent in the problems society is facing. Kristof and WuDunn provide several examples of how corporations, through corporate social responsibility initiatives, or through partnering with an NGO have developed sustainable change models.

Kristof and WuDunn note that such CSR initiatives has been criticized of having a hidden agenda- perhaps to cover ill deeds of a company in another space. This may well be true. However it is impossible to deny that the private sector will have a huge role to play in effecting social change.

The book goes on to note that the act of giving does a selfish aspect to it. Giving makes you feel good by increasing the amount of oxytocin in your body. It also raises one's 'prestige' in society In fact, the book goes on to say, giving could be one of the most selfish acts possible. Kristof and WuDunn end on an uplifting note however, when it acknowledges that compassion is integral to our humanity, and evolution has hardwired us to be kind through natural selection, the same wiring which also accounts for selfish behaviour.

It concludes by providing 6 steps a person can take, right now, immediately, to start giving. It provides a list of verified organizations which are doing great work- Givology is one of them!

It is impossible to read this book without feeling uncomfortable and uplifted at the same time. It is a call to arms which is loud, clear and compelling. I strongly encourage you to read this book. It is truly life changing