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Sustainability Outlook Headlines
Chennai, a pioneer in recycling wastewaterEven as several countries lack data on reuse of wastewater, Metro Water officials claim that Chennai is the pioneer in utilising treated wastewater for industrial use. A study by Japan’s Tottori University and the United Nations University’s Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) claims that almost one-third of nations have zero information on the reuse of waste water. However, Chennai’s Metro Water officials say that they are currently providing 45 Million Litres per Day (MLD) of treated water to industries. “We are also planning to generate... Read more.. Date : Sep 10 Source: The New Indian Express
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Stakeholders not serious about e-waste recyclingIt's no surprise that Gurgaon today generates unprecedentedly high volumes of discarded electronic or electrical devices, also known as e-waste. Conservative estimates can range around the 11,000-15,000 tonnes a year mark, which is only to be expected in a city where technology, now more than ever, has come to play a central part in all walks of life. The question is how to best manage, dispose of and recycle the contents of this ever-expanding junkyard, and that before they become a health hazard. When it comes to e-waste, the... Read more.. |
India plans to extend cost-plus tariff regimeTo hasten the growth of hydropower generation capacity, India plans to extend the so-called cost-plus tariff regime for setting up such capital-intensive projects till 2022. This means the utilities will get to charge a price that factors in their cost and a certain return. The cost of installing one megawatt (MW) capacity in a hydroelectric project is Rs.6-7 crore. A cost-plus model, currently applicable till 2015, promises assured returns over the investment made and comes in the backdrop of hydropower capacity comprising only 17.55% or 39,623 MW of India’s installed power... Read more.. Date : Sep 10 Source: Livemint
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Ministry plans to introduce trams in mid-size citiesThe urban development ministry plans to introduce tramways in medium-size cities with populations of 1-4 million people in a throwback to the 1960s when trams were last seen on most Indian roads. The ministry will shortly begin a trial-run in a tier II city before taking the vintage-era transportation system to other cities and connecting the tramways with major bus and railway stations, urban development minister Kamal Nath said on Monday. Currently, Kolkata is the only city where trams are in use. Speaking at a conference on ‘Next generation tramways solutions’, Nath said... Read more.. Date : Sep 10 Source: Livemint
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Clean Energy Forum launched to accelerate Indo-UK techno, strategic activitiesDelivering the address at the “Energy Efficiency Technology and Financing Conference” organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and supported by the British High Commission, Baroness Verma, Britain’s Energy and Climate Change Minister said: “We are pleased to launch the Indo-UK Clean Energy Forum which will be a vehicle to carry forward the engagement with key stakeholders and accelerate the Indo-UK activities in clean energy.”
Highlighting some of the key developments in the UK in the energy... Read more.. Date : Sep 10 Source: TruthDive
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Cabinet nod likely for renewable energy agreementThe Union Cabinet is likely to clear this week a key agreement on renewable energy which is expected to be signed between the ministry of renewable energy and the US department of energy to give "energy access" to thousands of rural households via solar power. India and the US have already been collaborating on a number of renewable energy projects with surprising success. Officials said while India and the US remain far apart on climate change, on renewable energy there is almost a meeting of minds. For example, since 2009, DoE... Read more.. |
Rs112 cr for teaching farmers new techniquesThe central government has sanctioned Rs112 crore for creating awareness about new agricultural techniques among farmers. The awareness programmes are conducted by extension wing of the state agriculture department.
The money will be transferred by central government to Vasantrao Naik State Agricultural Extension Management Training Institute (Vanamati), Nagpur. The amount will then be provided to director (ATM) of agriculture commissionerate, Pune, for distribution to various districts.
The central government money will fund 90% of the... Read more.. Date : Sep 10 Source: Times of India
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Tapping The Water BusinessWater is tasteless but for private equity in India, it seems to be the flavour of the season. Last year, Singapore-based CLSA Capital Partners invested Rs 83 crore in waste water treatment company Earth Water Group and in July this year, invested Rs 55 crore in Gurgaon-based Luminous Water Technologies. A couple of months ago, Matrix Partners’ put in Rs 22 crore in water purifications solutions provider Waterlife India. And in June, Capvent picked up a 51% stake in Chennai-based water engineering company Morf India. Given India’s... Read more.. |
Climate change dries up India tea production"As global temperatures inch upward, all tea-producing belts are being affected", says RM Bhagat, deputy director of the Tea Research Association, based in Tocklai. "But the degree of impact varies regionally, depending on distance from equator and other local conditions." In depth feature He sniffs, slurps his tea, swirls and spits a jet of orangish liquid into the tumbler. "Malty, hard," says Parag Hatibaruah, a professional tea-taster. "But not as strong, brisk and creamy as it... Read more.. |
India plays down diversion of Brahmaputra water by ChinaIndia seems to be playing down China’s diversion of waters from the Brahmaputra, although an analyst criticized this approach. The opinion in New Delhi is that precipitation in China contributes only 7% to the flow of three tributaries of Brahmaputra—Subansiri, Siang and Lohit—which originate from China. “Out of five major tributaries of Brahmaputra, only three come from China, rest are from Arunachal Pradesh. Of the total water entering (Brahmaputra), only 7% is contributed by precipitation in China. What can the Chinese do? How much can they divert?” said a senior Indian... Read more.. Date : Sep 9 Source: Livemint
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Indian state soon to unveil new wind energy policyThe government of India's Karnataka state will introduce a new policy for the wind sector in about two months, according to statements by government officials. Karnataka is a state in Southwest India. The capital and largest city is Bangalore. Officials said the new regulations were needed as the state's renewable energy policy did not exclusively cover the wind energy segment, even though Karnataka has considerable wind power potential. The state government also plans to revise its solar energy policy to include incentives for rooftop solar plants and solar-powered water... Read more.. Date : Sep 9 Source: Electric Light & Power
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India to miss green power target due to slowdownRenewable energy sector in the country appears to be facing the brunt of a weak economy, as there has been tardy progress in new capacity addition during the current financial year. Given the slow progress during the first four months of current financial year, the sector may miss the capacity addition target for the second consecutive year. Amid concerns over reaching the annual target, the wind sector is expected to create a landmark with its total installed capacity crossing 20,000 mw during FY14. ... Read more.. Date : Sep 9 Source: Financial Chronicle
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Burn rubber on plasticFor a long time, plastic has been a bad seven-letter word given that some of it has the potential of suffocating the earth for hundreds of years. But it is this same indestructible characteristic that AMC wants to use to strengthen the city's roads, damaged in the recent spell of monsoon. AMC is embarking on a project to convert waste plastic into pellets and then use them in road construction. The binding property of plastic makes the road last longer, AMC officials say, besides giving it added strength to withstand more vehicles.... Read more.. |
Synthesis Energy Systems to Participate in India Trade MissionSynthesis Energy Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SYMX) ("SES"), a clean energy technology company, will be joining other U.S. gasification and clean energy companies on a trade mission to India starting today sponsored by the U.S. India Business Council and the Gas Technologies Council. The purpose of the four-day trade mission to New Delhi and Mumbai is to meet with government ministries, industrial companies and other interested parties in gasification to share information on deploying gasification on a wider scale in India in order to help the... Read more.. |
An in-between optionThe subject of nuclear energy has grown fraught in the past few weeks, with the nuclear plant at Kudankulam set to start generation, even as radiation leaks at the Fukushima Daiichi plant reach a new deadly high. Global commentary remains divided along extremes. But the reality is mundane and falls somewhere in between — nuclear power is neither the epitome of evil nor a silver bullet for India's energy needs. It is but an option for a country with enormous energy needs.
Germany plans to shut down all of its 17 nuclear sites by 2022, and Japan went without nuclear... Read more.. Date : Sep 9 Source: Indian Express
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22 of India's 32 big cities face water crisisWater scarcity is fast becoming urban India's number one woe, with government's own data revealing that residents in 22 out of 32 major cities have to deal with daily shortages. The worst-hit city is Jamshedpur, where the gap between demand and supply is a yawning 70%. The crisis is acute in Kanpur, Asansol, Dhanbad, Meerut, Faridabad, Visakhapatnam, Madurai and Hyderabad — where supply fails to meet almost 30% of the demand — according to data provided by states which was placed in the Lok Sabha during the recently-concluded Parliament session by the urban development ministry. ... Read more.. Date : Sep 9 Source: Times of India
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Nation's first geo-thermal power project in ChhattisgarhPreparations are on to establish nation's first geo-thermal power project in Tatapani, the newly-formed Balrampur-Ramanujganj district of Chhattisgarh. Dubbing it as a big achievement for the district, chief minister Raman Singh, on Friday, said that India's first geo-thermal power project would use underground hot water springs at Tatapani to convert it into steam, and then generate electricity by using special technology. "Ramanuj-Balrampur district has been formed with the objective to bring people of this bordering area closer to the government and administration, and thereby... Read more.. Date : Sep 9 Source: Times of India
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Oil India targets clean energy sourcesOil India Ltd plans to invest Rs.600 crore to set up renewable energy capacity in the wind and solar space as it seeks to diversify into clean energy sources. The state-owned company is also planning to buy as well as set up liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in the country. “We are preparing our LNG strategy. We are discussing it,” said T.K. Ananth Kumar, director, finance. India’s demand for LNG is growing. The country imported 13.43 million tonnes (mt) of LNG in 2012-13 compared with 13.39... Read more.. |
REC flags unstable business environment as concernsThe risks of financing power projects are quite high, state-run REC has said, citing the poor financial health of distribution companies and "unstable business environment" as concerns. "The financial health of the state electricity boards and state power utilities across the country, barring a few, is in very bad shape," Rural Electrification Corp, a leading funder of power projects, said in its 2012-13 annual report. "As the company has a significant concentration of outstanding loans to these... Read more.. |
DGCA measures lead Indian airlines, airports to cut emissionsA series of policy measures by the DGCA have led Indian airlines and airports to significantly reduce carbon emissions despite a major growth in air traffic, according to the latest survey by the aviation regulator. All Indian scheduled passenger airlines operating domestic and international destinations slashed their carbon footprint by 6.6 percent in 2012 compared with the previous year, the Carbon Footprint Report 2012 has said. The total emission of 15,389,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in... Read more.. |
National Environmental Engineering Research Institute develops technology to clean polluted industrial waterThe National Environmental Engineering Research Institute here has developed a technology to destroy a variety of pollutants and aid in 'clean up' of polluted water. NEERI, in association with Nandesari Industries Association (NIA, Gujarat), has developed an 'Electro Oxidation Technology', which was recently implemented by NIA for the treatment of chemical industry wastewater. An electro oxidation plant, comprising 26 reactors has recently been installed at NIA for treatment of 50 lakh litres of highly polluted chemical industry... Read more.. |
Innovation, productivity, new markets essential for sustainable growthThe recent crises highlight the weaknesses of the global economic model. As former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker observed on December 11, 2009, "We have another economic problem which is mixed up in this of too much consumption, too much spending relative to our capacity to invest and to export." Traditional sources of growth include increasing population, sustainable and affordable resources, new markets as well as improved productivity and innovation. Environmental and resource constraints limit the potential for large increases in population. The population... Read more.. |
DU dumps its e-wasteIn a first, Delhi University will now become an e-waste managed campus. The initiative kicked off with Miranda House college, where e-waste boxes were placed and students were made campus ambassadors of the programme. A joint venture of Delhi Youth Summit on Climate Change and Dataserv APAC, the drive aims at making the campus an e-waste free zone. “People usually ignore e-waste, but in the longer run, it can cause hazardous impacts. We want to facilitate a collection mechanism and want to promote e-waste recycling. What better than... Read more.. |
Govt directive to use solar energy in collegesThe state education department has asked all government and provincialized colleges (government supported) in the state to tap solar energy to bring down their dependence on conventional energy. The director of higher education, Assam, Phanindra Jidung, told TOI that the authorities have recently written to principals of all government and provincialized colleges of the state to go for solar energy to fulfill their power requirements. However, the directorate is yet to get a clear picture about the use of solar energy in the colleges. A source said many colleges are yet to send a... Read more.. Date : Sep 8 Source: Times of India
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Green funds misused: CAGThe Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has exposed gross mismanagement of CAMPA funds meant for compensatory afforestation (CA). The Forest Conservation Act, 1980, mandates collection of money from user agencies for compensatory afforestation from user agencies given forest lands. The funds were earlier used by state governments. In 2002, the Supreme Court ordered to constitute authorities for handling the fund after expressing concern that a large amount of funds were not being realised from the user agencies in states.... Read more.. Date : Sep 8 Source: Times of India
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