Indian Electricity Initiative Shines New Light on Farm Garba

Some of India's most remote farming villages are beginning to see sundown in a new light, now that they are able to convert an abundant crop into electricity.
Remote regions are prime examples of what people describe as old India - parts of the country off the grid¹, literally², from new India and its high-tech³ urban centers.
Tamkuha, in the Indian state of Bihar, does not receive electricity from the country's main distribution network. It gets by on traditional farming - and for decades, as the sun went down, villagers turned to the dim light of candles or kerosene⁴ lamps.
But these days, thanks to an ambitious renewable energy project, life in Tamkuha no longer grinds to a halt around 6:00 p.m. By the glow of florescent bulbs, residents have been able to extend their hours of productivity late into the night.
A woman says she used to work as a tailor only during the day.? Sewing was nearly impossible with a kerosene lamp. Now, she says she can work in her shop until very late at night.
Husk power
The source of the new electricity is something Tamkuha has in abundance: rice.
The startup company Husk Power Systems has designed a system fueled by the husk of rice plants - usually discarded after the rice grains are harvested. When heated, rice husks release flammable gas that can be used to power electric generators⁵. A small plant can light up several hundred households for more than six hours at a time.
HPS Chief Operating Officer Ratnesh Yadav says the company's technology is a new spin on renewable energy. He says he started by looking at solar power and other options, but those seemed expensive.? People out here were dumping rice husks as waste - so, he looked into making use of it. That was three and a half years ago, he says, and since then his company has set up about 60 husk power plants in India.
Husk power makes villages like Tamkuha less isolated⁶ by helping⁷ residents charge mobile phones. The electricity is also giving the village new access to commerce and services during the night hours.
Shopkeepers can sell food and other needed items. The village doctor, Farooq Ansari, can continue to see patients.
He says when he began his medical practice 27 years ago, he had trouble running the clinic at night. With kerosene lamps, he had to close down everything by 7 or 7.30 in the evening. Now, with electric lights, he says he can serve his people at the clinic until 11 at night.
Young students like Priyanka Yadav say electricity has given them a new lease on learning. She says she used to study by kerosene lamp. It was stressful and she could not study for long. Now she says she can study until midnight if she wants.
The husk power project is supported in part by the Indian government - which has set a target of deriving⁸ 15 percent of the country's energy from renewable sources by 2020. But HPS Regional Manager Sanjay Chauhan says residents of Tamkuha are seeing a big change in their lives right now.
"Dream comes true"
He says villagers tell him it's like a dream come true. They never dreamed that electricity would come to this area. He says they are coming to understand how electricity can change their lives.
Yadav says previously⁹ young people here could never think of doing anything beyond village level farming. But now they are dreaming of becoming doctors, engineers and scientists. The arrival of electricity, he says, is raising their ambition.
That is exactly the kind of ambition and talent new India will need as it ascends¹⁰ to superpower status on the world stage - nurtured¹¹ by one of the most abundant by-products of old India's agriculture.

1 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

4 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。

5 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 deriving   

v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• I anticipate deriving much instruction from the lecture. 我期望从这演讲中获得很多教益。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He anticipated his deriving much instruction from the lecture. 他期望从这次演讲中得到很多教益。 来自辞典例句

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 ascends   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The azygos vein ascends in the right paravertebral gutter. 奇静脉在右侧脊柱旁沟内上升。 来自辞典例句
• The mortality curve ascends gradually to a plateau at age 65. 死亡曲线逐渐上升，到65岁时成平稳状态。 来自辞典例句

11 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。