 The crops would be grown locally Image copyright: Charles Sturge |
Fuel derived from cotton and a shrub said to relieve constipation could soon power mobile networks across India. The crops will be used to generate biodiesel to fuel mobile base stations in unconnected rural areas, without access to electricity.
One third of Indian homes are not connected to the power grid and demand for mobile phones is growing rapidly.
A pilot scheme in west India has been set up by mobile firms and industry body the GSMA development fund.
"It is about connecting the unconnected," said Dawn Hartley, development fund manager at the GSMA.
Rural connection
Mobile phone use has exploded across India. In 2003 there were just 13 million mobile phone subscribers. Today, there are nearly 130 million.
Much of this take-up has been in urban areas where there is a comprehensive mobile network.
But outside the major towns, where approximately three-quarters of India's 1.2 billion people live, mobile coverage is fragmented.
This is in-part because the electricity network, used to power the mobile network infrastructure, is often unreliable and does not cover the whole of the country.
"As GSM operators expand their network cover
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
