Roshni: India’s First saline water lamp launched
On 13th Aug, 2022, Union Minister Jitendra Singh unveiled India’s first Saline Water Lantern named “Roshni”. As the name suggests, the lantern will be powered by saline water and will provide “Ease of Living” to the poor and needy, particularly the fishing community living along the 7,500-km-long coastal line of India, which is home to 9 coastal states and 1,382 islands.
This was unveiled during a visit to Sagar Anveshika, a Coastal Research Vessel, operated and used by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai for coastal research, according to the Ministry of Earth Science.
He added “Roshni lamps along with Power Ministry’s schemes like solar study lamps will be driving a vibrant renewable energy program aimed at achieving energy security, energy access and reducing the carbon footprints of the national economy,”.
Saline water lamp can also be used in the regions where sea water is not available. To make it usable, one can add salt to make water saline and operate the lamp successfully.
How saline water lamp works?
To understand this, we only need to recall electrochemistry that we have read in school. Salt water lamp can be correlated with electrochemical cell, which is generating electricity from electrochemical reactions. The movement of anions & cations is what completes the circuit, making the bulb glow. It is important to have salt to make this lamp work.
This move is aimed to support fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, livelihoods, and blue trade. The technology is yet to be transferred to industry for mass production to be used as source of renewable energy and can also be of immense help in rural and remote areas and in times of disasters.
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