Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Eco-friendly carbon certifications awarded to Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge

The Galaxy Note 4 and the Galaxy Note Edge have been awarded with eco-friendly carbon labelling certifications in US, UK, Japan, Korea, and Russia. It means that Samsung’s latest smartphones don’t use any environment hazardous chemical substances such as Halogen, Beryllium, and PVC. They also come with packaging and support documentation made from 100 percent recycled paper. The Galaxy Note 4 received environment friendly certification from UL (Underwriter’s Laboratories from US), Carbon Trust (UK), Ecological Union (‘Vitality Leaf’ – Russian Union), and Korea Environmental Industry &... Read more..

CSE warns against green buildings becoming 'green wash'

India is locked in a frenzy of construction to meet the demand for homes, offices, and shops. A staggering two-third of buildings that will stand in India in 2030 are yet to be built. Unless policies minimize resource guzzling and wastes with appropriate architectural design, building material, and operational management, there can be massive environmental debacle in the building sector. Unlike the developed world, the challenge is not to retrofit the already built to make it green; but to build new, which is efficient, sustainable, affordable and comfortable for all. This will have... Read more..

MNRE Appoints EKI Energy Services Ltd as Advisor for First Phase of ISO 9001:2008 Implementation

To promote the growth and development of new and renewable energy sources in the country and to bring in transparency and accountability in the operations of government machinery, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has started the process of acquiring ISO 9001:2008 certification.
 
The ISO 9001:2008 will be implemented in phases. In the first phase, the scope of application will cover such sections/ activities consisting of maximum of 200 staff members; and EKI Energy Services Ltd. has been selected to impart advisory services for Phase 1 implementation.
 ... Read more..

Cost Of Meeting 2021 EU Vehicle Emission Standards Will Be $1,350 Per Vehicle, Says Report

Some automakers won’t be able to afford the engineering costs needed to meet the European Union’s 2021 vehicle emissions reduction goal, according to a new report from ISI Automotive, an Austria-based global manufacturer of vehicle safety equipment. The company says most of the “low-hanging fruit” in engineering more-efficient cars – such as building smaller engines and reducing vehicle weight so they use less gasoline – has already been largely implemented.
 
In order to meet the EU’s 2021 target of 95 grams of carbon dioxide emissions per kilometer traveled, the industry will... Read more..

China’s Trina Solar heeds PM Narendra Modi’s call, plans to ‘make in India’

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to global manufacturers, Chinese company Trina Solar is planning to set up a facility over the next few years to "make in India, supply in India and even export from India".
 
Officials of the company, the world's fourth largest manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) modules, participated in the World Economic Forum held in Delhi last week to actively look for a joint venture partner and assess the Indian market. 
 
"As far as 'make in India' is concerned, maybe we can make in India, supply in India and even export from... Read more..

Fall in solar prices attributed to scale effect, industry’s maturity

Going by the results of the bids in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, solar prices seem to be stabilising at under Rs. 7 a kWhr, not much higher than the prices of electricity produced with imported coal.
 
The lowest tariff in the Andhra Pradesh bid was Rs. 6 a kWhr (adjusted for the 3 per cent annual hike), by the US company, First Solar. In Karnataka, the best bid was Rs. 6.83 by SunEdison, another US solar major.
 
Compare this with the tariffs quoted in December 2011, in a bidding round of the National Solar Mission—most of the winning bidders quoted between Rs. 8... Read more..

12 Lakh Power Users to Get LED Bulbs

 About 2.25 lakh LED bulbs were distributed in the district in the past one month as part of the Demand Side Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) being implemented to save electricity consumption. DELP was taken up as a pilot project in the district and is being implemented jointly by the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) and the Andhra Pradesh government.
 
As part of the programme, a consumer can exchange two 60 Watt incandescent lights (ICL) for as many 7 Watt LED bulbs. Each bulb costs just Rs 10. While Srikakulam, West Godavari, Guntur and Anantapur districts have been... Read more..

Mercedes’ Crazy New SUV Has A Paint Job That Generates Electricity From Wind And Sun

Say hello to the new Mercedes-Benz concept car which runs on hydrogen. You all must be wondering what is so special about a car that thrives on hydrogen. The answer lies in the fact that the paint job of this awesome car also harvests energy. The Vision G-Code SUV has a ‘multi-voltaic silver’ paint that is capable of harvesting wind and solar energy.Mercedes Vision G-Code SUV – Most Energy Efficient Car3
 
Mercedes says that the multi-voltaic paint works similar to ‘a giant solar cell with excellent efficiency’ that recovers solar energy and then relays it into the car’s... Read more..

India Eyes $100 Billion Investment In Renewable Energy

The new Indian government is taking serious initiatives to boost the power sector, which is in dire need of financial and structural reforms. A large number of these reforms will be implemented in the renewable energy sector.
 
India’s minister for coal, power, and renewable energy last week announced that his government would push for an unprecedented $100 billion investment in the renewable energy sector over the next few years. With this plan, he also announced seemingly impossible solar energy capacity addition targets for the next five years.
 
Piyush Goyal... Read more..

LED initiative reduces green gap phenomenon

 The 'Hi-Q-LED' project, which was coordinated by Osram Opto Semiconductors and funded by Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), has claimed to have reached a breakthrough in terms of green LED performance. According to them, they were able to mimimise the 'green gap' phenomenon, which is the drop in efficacy in the green spectral range.

The result of the 'Hi-Q-LED' project is a green-emitting LED based on indium gallium nitride (InGaN) semiconductors that achieved record efficacy of 147lm/W at a wavelength of 530nm and a spectral width of 35nm. In addition,... Read more..

Punjab to spend Rs 120 Cr for harvesting rainwater

 Punjab government said it has earmarked Rs 120 Crore on the development of Underground Pipeline System (UGPS), seeking to harvest rainwater to solve various water problems in the state.

Punjab's Agriculture Minister Tota Singh said in a statement that "the funds will be used this fiscal for the project which will harvest rainwater through an UGPS, and that has been used as an alternative for efficient use water resources by developed countries."

"Rs 120 crore will be pumped into development of Underground pipeline system for optimal harvesting of water resources for... Read more..

Gadkari moots subsidy regime for solar pumps to help farmers irrigate

 Union minister for transport Nitin Gadkari has mooted a proposal before the state government to subsidize the cost of solar-powered agriculture pumps by 90%. This will make the pumps, which are now available for 5 lakh, cost 50,000 to a farmer. Central assistance has already reduced rates of the pumps by 3 lakh, bringing it to 5 lakh. As many as a lakh pumps have been installed under the central subsidy scheme.

"The proposal has been sent to the state recently, to make solar pumps very affordable," said Gadkari while speaking at a programme to announce the dates of Agrovision Farm... Read more..