Positron and Antimatter

What is Matter?

• The matter is made up of atoms, which are the basic units of chemical elements such as hydrogen, helium or oxygen.
• Atoms are the basic units of matter and the defining structure of elements. atoms are made up of three particles: Protons, Neutrons and Electrons.

What is Antimatter?

• Antimatter is the opposite of normal matter.
• More specifically, the sub-atomic particles of antimatter have properties opposite those of normal matter.
• So atoms in the anti matter are made of subatomic particles which have opposite characteristic as of Electrons also known as Anti Electrons or Positrons.
• Positron is a subatomic particle whose mass is the same as that of an electron and numerically equal but positively charged particle. The positron was discovered in 1932.

What is in the news?

• Over the years astronomers have observed an excess of positrons (or the antimatter counterpart of the electron) having an energy of more than 10 giga-electronvolts, or 10 GeV. For an estimate, this is the energy of a positively charged electron accelerated across a 10,000,000,000 volt battery!
• Positrons with energy more than 300 GeV, however, are lower in comparison to what astronomers expect.
• This behaviour of positrons between 10 and 300 GeV is what astronomers call the ‘positron excess’.
• Researchers from the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology have resolved the mystery in a new study published in the Journal of High Energy Astrophysics.
• Cosmic rays are atom fragments that rain down on the Earth from outside of the solar system. They blaze at the speed of light and have been blamed for electronics problems in satellites and other machinery. They were Discovered in 1912.

What is the explanation?

• Their proposal is simple –– cosmic rays while propagating through the Milky Way galaxy interact with matter producing other cosmic rays, primarily electrons and positrons.
• The authors Agnibha De Sarkar, Sayan Biswas and Nayantara Gupta argue that these new cosmic rays are the origin of the ‘positron excess’ phenomenon.
• The Milky Way consists of giant clouds of molecular hydrogen.
• They are the seats of the formation of new stars and can be as massive as 10 million times the Sun’s mass.
• They can extend up to 600 light-years, the distance that would take light 600 years to travel.
• Cosmic rays, produced in supernovae explosions propagate through these clouds before they reach the Earth.
• Cosmic rays interact with molecular hydrogen and can give rise to other cosmic rays.
• As they propagate through these clouds, they decay from their original forms and intermix, lose their energy by energising the clouds, and may also get re-energised.
• The researchers from RRI studied all these astrophysical processes via a code they set up on the computer, using a publicly available code.
• The code considers 1638 molecular hydrogen clouds in the Milky Way that other astronomers have observed across different wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• “We have followed three different catalogues to construct a comprehensive one,” explains Agnibha De Sarkar, PhD student at RRI and one of the authors of the study.
• The combined catalogue consists of ten molecular clouds in the immediate neighbourhood of our Sun. These galactic clouds provide the astronomers a crucial input –– the number of giga-electronvolt cosmic rays. These help them determine the excess number of positrons that reach the Earth.
• The computer code the researchers used, by taking into account the exact number of nearby galactic molecular clouds, was successfully able to reproduce the observed number of positrons at giga-electronvolt energies.
• “We consider all mechanisms via which cosmic rays interact with the molecular clouds to show that nearby molecular clouds can be a viable contributor to the positron excess phenomenon,” said Agnibha De Sarkar.
• Not only the positron excess, the computer code accurately reproduces the spectra of protons, antiprotons, boron, carbon, and all other components of cosmic rays.
• “Our method explains all the observed numbers without running into any contradiction,” said Agnibha De Sarkar, comparing it with the currently available explanations invoking pulsars that run into contradictions.
• Nevertheless, the researchers considered simple geometrical structures of the molecular clouds, whereas real molecular clouds have complex geometries. They plan to address these shortcomings in their future work.
• “Along with a more realistic environment inside the molecular clouds, we plan to include more cosmic ray data from other satellites to establish our idea beyond any doubt,” he pointed out.

National policy on Biofuels

About Ethanol:

• About 5% of the ethanol produced in the world in 2003 was actually a petroleum product.
• It is made by the catalytic hydration of ethylene with sulfuric acid as the catalyst.
• It can also be obtained via ethylene or acetylene, from calcium carbide, coal, oil gas, and other sources.
• Bio-ethanol is usually obtained from the conversion of carbon-based feedstock. Agricultural feedstocks are considered renewable because they get energy from the sun using photosynthesis, provided that all minerals required for growth (such as nitrogen and phosphorus) are returned to the land.
• Ethanol can be produced from a variety of feedstocks such as sugar cane, bagasse, miscanthus, sugar beet, sorghum, grain, switchgrass, barley, hemp, kenaf, potatoes, sweetpotatoes, cassava, sunflower, fruit, molasses, corn, stover, grain, wheat, straw, cotton,other biomass, as well as many types of cellulose waste and harvesting, whichever has the best well-to-wheel assessment.
• An alternative process to produce bio-ethanol from algae is being developed by the company Algenol.

National Policy on Biofuels-2018

The National Policy on Biofuels-2018 approved by the Government envisages an indicative target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% blending of bio-diesel in diesel by 2030.

National Policy on biofuels- salient features:

• Categorization: The Policy categorises biofuels as “Basic Biofuels” viz. First Generation (1G) bioethanol & biodiesel and “Advanced Biofuels” – Second Generation (2G) ethanol, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to drop-in fuels, Third Generation (3G) biofuels, bio-CNG etc. to enable extension of appropriate financial and fiscal incentives under each category.
• Scope of raw materials: The Policy expands the scope of raw material for ethanol production by allowing use of Sugarcane Juice, Sugar containing materials like Sugar Beet, Sweet Sorghum, Starch containing materials like Corn, Cassava, Damaged food grains like wheat, broken rice, Rotten Potatoes, unfit for human consumption for ethanol production.
• Protection to farmers: Farmers are at a risk of not getting appropriate price for their produce during the surplus production phase. Taking this into account, the Policy allows use of surplus food grains for production of ethanol for blending with petrol with the approval of National Biofuel Coordination Committee.
• Viability gap funding: With a thrust on Advanced Biofuels, the Policy indicates a viability gap funding scheme for 2G ethanol Bio refineries of Rs.5000 crore in 6 years in addition to additional tax incentives, higher purchase price as compared to 1G biofuels.
• Boost to biodiesel production: The Policy encourages setting up of supply chain mechanisms for biodiesel production from non-edible oilseeds, Used Cooking Oil, short gestation crops.

Expected benefits:

• Import dependency: The policy aims at reducing import dependency.
• Cleaner environment: By reducing crop burning & conversion of agricultural residues/wastes to biofuels there will be further reduction in Green House Gas emissions.
• Health benefits: Prolonged reuse of Cooking Oil for preparing food, particularly in deep-frying is a potential health hazard and can lead to many diseases. Used Cooking Oil is a potential feedstock for biodiesel and its use for making biodiesel will prevent diversion of used cooking oil in the food industry.
• Employment Generation: One 100klpd 2G bio refinery can contribute 1200 jobs in Plant Operations, Village Level Entrepreneurs and Supply Chain Management.
• Additional Income to Farmers: By adopting 2G technologies, agricultural residues/waste which otherwise are burnt by the farmers can be converted to ethanol and can fetch a price for these waste if a market is developed for the same.

Significance of Biofuels:

• Globally, biofuels have caught the attention in last decade and it is imperative to keep up with the pace of developments in the field of biofuels.
• Biofuels in India are of strategic importance as it augers well with the ongoing initiatives of the Government such as Make in India, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Skill Development and offers great opportunity to integrate with the ambitious targets of doubling of Farmers Income, Import Reduction, Employment Generation, Waste to Wealth Creation.

Classification of Biofuels:

• 1st generation biofuels are also called conventional biofuels. They are made from things like sugar, starch, or vegetable oil. Note that these are all food products. Any biofuel made from a feedstock that can also be consumed as a human food is considered a first generation biofuel.
• 2nd generation biofuels are produced from sustainable feedstock. The sustainability of a feedstock is defined by its availability, its impact on greenhouse gas emissions, its impact on land use, and by its potential to threaten the food supply. No second generation biofuel is also a food crop, though certain food products can become second generation fuels when they are no longer useful for consumption. Second generation biofuels are often called “advanced biofuels.”
• 3rd generation biofuels are biofuel derived from algae. These biofuels are given their own separate class because of their unique production mechanism and their potential to mitigate most of the drawbacks of 1st and 2nd generation biofuels.

Major Types of Biofuels

Bioethanol

• It is derived from corn and sugarcane using fermentation process.
• A litre of ethanol contains approximately two thirds of the energy provided by a litre of petrol.
• When mixed with petrol, it improves the combustion performance and lowers the emissions of carbon monoxide and sulphur oxide.

Biodiesel

• It is derived from vegetable oils like soybean oil or palm oil, vegetable waste oils, and animal fats by a biochemical process called “Transesterification.”
• It produces very less or no amount of harmful gases as compared to diesel.
• It can be used as an alternative for the conventional diesel fuel.

Biogas

• It is produced by anaerobic decomposition of organic matter like sewage from animals and humans.
• Major proportion of biogas is methane and carbon dioxide, though it also has small proportions of hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and siloxanes.
• It is commonly used for heating, electricity and for automobiles.

Biobutanol

• It is produced in the same way as bioethanol i.e.through the fermentation of starch.
• The energy content in butanol is the highest among the other gasoline alternatives. It can be added to diesel to reduce emissions.
• It serves as a solvent in textile industry and is also used as a base in perfumes.

Biohydrogen

• Biohydrogen, like biogas, can be produced using a number of processes such as pyrolysis, gasification or biological fermentation.
• It can be the perfect alternative for fossil fuel.

Ethanol Blending Policy

• With the vision to boost agricultural economy, to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuel, to save foreign exchange on account of crude oil import bill & to reduce the air pollution, Government has fixed target of 10% blending of fuel grade ethanol with petrol by 2022 & 20% blending by 2025.
• With a view to support sugar sector and in the interest of sugarcane farmers, the Government has also allowed production of ethanol from B-Heavy Molasses, sugarcane juice, sugar syrup and sugar; and encouraging sugar mills to divert excess sugarcane to ethanol.
• In previous sugar season 2019-20 about 9 LMT of sugar was diverted to ethanol. In current sugar season 2020-21, it is likely that more than 20 LMT of excess sugar would be diverted to ethanol.
• By 2025, it is targeted to divert 50-60 LMT of excess sugar to ethanol, which would solve the problem of high inventories of sugar, improve liquidity of mills thereby help in timely payment of cane dues of farmers. In past 3 sugar seasons about Rs. 22,000 cr revenue was generated by sugar mills/ distilleries from sale of ethanol to OMCs.
• To increase production of fuel grade ethanol and to achieve blending targets, the Govt of India has allowed use of maize and rice with FCI for production of ethanol.
• Government has declared that rice available with FCI would continue to be made available to distilleries in coming years.
• The extra consumption of surplus food grains would ultimately benefit the farmers as they will get better price for their produce and assured buyers; and thus will also increase the income of crores of farmers across the country.
• Government has fixed price of ethanol from maize as Rs 51.55/litre & rice available with FCI as Rs 56.87/litre for ethanol supply year 2020-21. For FY 2020-21, Government has fixed the price of FCI rice to Rs 2000/quintal for production of ethanol.
• For FY 2021-22, Government has decided to continue the price of FCI rice to Rs 2000/quintal for production of ethanol.
• This will give confidence to industry about the stability in raw material price and its availability. For the purpose of supply of surplus rice for the production of ethanol, distilleries are at liberty to choose the nearest FCI depot as per requirement/logistics.
• In current ethanol supply year (ESY) 2020-21 (December to November) to achieve 8.5% blending target, about 325 Cr ltrs ethanol is required to be supplied to OMCs.
• As on 26.04.2021, about 349 cr ltrs ethanol have been allocated by OMCs to sugar mills/ distilleries, out of which contracts of about 302 cr ltrs have been signed by distilleries &124 cr ltrs have been supplied. Efforts are being made by DFPD &MoPNG / OMCs to ensure achievement of blending target. Also, in next ESY 2021-22, it is likely to supply more than 400 cr ltrs of ethanol to OMCs to achieve 10 % blending.
• With a view to increase existing capacities further, DFPD has notified modified interest subvention scheme on 14.01.2021 for setting up new grain-based distilleries/ expansion of existing grain-based distilleries, dual feed distilleries & molasses-based distilleries to produce ethanol & production of ethanol from other 1G feed stocks. 422 proposals with a capacity of 1684 cr ltrs for a loan amount Rs. 42000 crore have been approved by DFPD. It is expected that from the proposals approved, more than 600 cr ltrs may come up in next 2 to 4 years. Thus, the ethanol distillation capacity from these projects and ongoing projects may reach to 1500 cr ltrs by 2024-25 which would be sufficient to achieve 20% blending target.
• Sugarcane and ethanol is produced mainly in three states viz Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Transporting ethanol to far flung States from these three states involves huge transportation cost.
• By bringing new grain based distilleries in the entire country would result in distributed production of ethanol and would save a lot of transportation cost and thus prevent delays in meeting the blending target & would benefit the farmers across the country.
• For production of ethanol, there is sufficient availability of feed stocks; & Govt. has also fixed remunerative prices of ethanol derived from various feed stocks. Moreover, OMCs being the assured buyer for ethanol has given comfort for purchase of ethanol from distilleries for next 10-15 years.
• Hence, these ethanol projects are viable. Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has also streamlined the process of getting environment clearance (EC) for ethanol projects. Department of Financial Services and State Bank of India have also issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for sanctioning and disbursal of loans for ethanol projects which would expedite sanctioning and disbursal of loans.
• Production of ethanol would not only facilitate diversion of excess sugar to ethanol but would also encourage farmers to diversify their crops to cultivate particularly maize/corn which needs lesser water.
• It would enhance production of ethanol from various feed stocks thereby, facilitate in achieving blending targets of ethanol with petrol and would reduce import dependency on crude oil, thereby, realizing the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
• It will also enhance income of farmers as setting up of new distilleries would not only increase demand of their crops but would assure farmers of getting better price for their crops.

Everything about: Earthquake

What is an Earthquake?

• A fault is a sharp break in the crustal rocks. When lithospheric plates move, the surface of the Earth vibrates (release of Energy and the Energy waves travel in all directions). An earthquake is the sudden release of the Energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves.
• The energy accumulation site is identified w deformed rocks caused by tension or compression.
• The subterranean spot at which rocks begin to shift/rupture is Focus or Hypocenter of Earthquake, whereas the point vertically over the Focus is Epicenter, which experiences the 1st waves and the greatest damage which decreases as we go outwards.
• The waves generated by an Earthquake are called seismic waves recorded by an instrument Seismograph. The magnitude (Energy that is released) of the Earthquake is measured by Richter Scale whereas the intensity (Damage caused) is measured by Mercalli Scale.
• During Earthquake, the rocks in the path of P waves get compressed/ expanded in the direction of propagation so it affects their volume rather than shape. In the case of S waves, it changes the shape and not volume.
• Earthquakes are by far the most unpredictable and highly destructive of all-natural disasters due to their suddenness. Earthquakes that are of tectonic origin have proved to be the most devastating and their area of influence is also quite large than other causes.

Causes of Earthquakes

• Plate Movements: Ex. The Himalayan region has C-C convergence.
• Faulting and Folding: Ex. Bhuj & Latur earthquake.
• Volcanic Eruptions.
• Gaseous Expansion and Contraction inside the Earth
• Hydrostatic pressure (Ex. Reservoir induced) Ex. Koyna Dam Earthquakes in MH.
• Anthropogenic Causes: Mining & drilling.

Types of Earthquakes

• Tectonic EQs: Most common. Generated due to sliding of rocks along fault lines.
• Volcanic EQs: A special class of Tectonic EQ confined to the areas of volcanoes.
• Induced EQs: Occurs in the areas of large reservoirs.

Distribution of Earthquakes in the World

• The World's distribution of Earthquakes coincides very closely with that of volcanoes.
• ~70% of Earthquakes occur in the Circum Pacific belt. ~20% occur in the Meditteranean- Himalayan belt including Asia Minor, Himalayas and parts of Northwest China. Elsewhere Earth's crust is relatively stable and is less prone but not immune to earth tremors.

Earthquake-prone areas in India

• The entire region covering fourteen states (located in western and central Himalayas, northeast, and parts of the Indo-Gangetic basin) is highly prone to earthquakes.
• Some of the most vulnerable states are J&K, HP, UK, SK and Darjeeling, all NE states.
• The hilly regions are also prone to earthquake-induced landslides. The other seismically active regions of the country include the Gulf of Khambhat and Rann of Kutch in Western Gujarat (1819, 1956, 2001), parts of peninsular India like MH (1967, 1993), the islands of LD and A&N.

Impacts of Earthquake

1) Impact on the ground:

• Slope instability and Landslides or Avalanches (often cause obstructions in the flow of rivers and channels resulting in the formation of reservoirs).
• Liquefaction, Fires in some areas, Deformation on ground surface.
• Fissures on the upper layers of the earth’s crust through which water and other volatile materials gush out, inundating the neighbouring areas.
• Sometimes, rivers also change their course causing floods and other calamities in the affected areas.

2) Impact on

• manmade infrastructure: Damage to settlements, infra, industries.
• On the water: Flash floods, Tsunamis (waves generated by tremors and not an EQ), Hydro-Dynamic Pressure.
• On Biodiversity: Loss of human and animal lives, Robs the population of their material and socio-cultural gains that they have preserved over generations. It renders them homeless, and unemployed, increases poverty.

Earthquake Disaster Management:

• In our present state of knowledge, earthquakes can neither be prevented nor predicted in terms of their magnitude, or place and time of occurrence. Also, unlike other disasters, the damages caused by it are more devastating.
• So, the most effective measures of risk reduction are pre-disaster mitigation, preparedness & preventive measures. Since it also destroys transport and communication links, providing timely relief to the victims becomes difficult. Hence the above methods should be combined w expeditious & effective rescue and relief actions immediately after the occurrence of the earthquake.
• Establishing earthquake monitoring centres for regular monitoring and fast dissemination of information among the people in the vulnerable areas. Use of GPS can be of great help in monitoring the movement of tectonic plates.
• Preparing a vulnerability map of the country and dissemination of vulnerability risk information among the people.
• Educating the people about the ways and means minimizing the adverse impacts of disasters.
• Modifying the house types and building designs in the vulnerable areas and discouraging the construction of high-rise buildings, large industrial establishments and big urban centres in such areas.
• Finally, making it mandatory to adopt earthquake-resistant designs and use light materials in major construction activities in vulnerable areas.