Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Solar power solution for Faridabad industry

FARIDABAD industrial units have been reeling under a power crisis for many years. This has resulted in players either moving out or closing down their production units in the city.

Seeing the situation worsening, Faridabad Small Industrial Association (FSIA), with the help of Bosch - a German firm, ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) and Small Industrial Development Bank of India (SIDBI), have taken an initiative to reduce the power deficit through solar energy.

Players believe that this would solve the power crisis for micro, small and medium enterprises (... Read more..

Seeking sun and wind power

India’s investment in renewable energy was $10.4 billion in 2011.

India is among the fastest growing economies in the area of renewable energy. Global players have either set up shop or are poised to enter the renewable energy area, spurred by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission in the 11th Plan. The Government is getting ready to launch the second phase of this mission in the Twelfth Plan.

According to Ernst & Young study, India’s investment in renewable energy totalled $10.4 billion in 2011, growing 54 per cent over 2010 — the second fastest among G-20 countries... Read more..

Government to give 25 million LED bulbs to BPL households

India's power ministry proposes to install about 25 million LED (light emitting diode) bulbs over the next 3-4 years to electrify Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.

According to an official statement here Friday, this initiative under the government's Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) - the rural electrification programme - is to promote LED bulbs under the Super Efficient Equipment Program (SEEP) in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-16).

The power ministry also proposes to provide financial incentives to fan manufacturers under SEEP, to produce super efficient... Read more..

Govt seeks to give citizens compensation for feeding solar power to grid

The government is considering changes in laws that would allow customers to be paid for the solar power they generate and feed into the grid. This will persuade individual consumers, rather than power distribution companies, to supply at least 1,000MW of electricity to India’s grid by installing solar panels on rooftops of residential and commercial buildings by 2017, the government hopes.

If successful, this would generate more than one-tenth of the renewable energy capacity of 9,000MW of solar power that the government plans to add under the marquee Jawaharlal Nehru... Read more..

Soon, PCs to have more energy-efficient RAM

By using electric voltage instead of a flowing electric current, researchers have made major improvements to an ultra-fast, high-capacity class of computer memory known as magnetoresistive random access memory, or MRAM.

The UCLA team's latest achievement, magnetoelectric random access memory (MeRAM), has great potential to be used in future memory chips for almost all electronic applications, including smart-phones, tablets, computers and microprocessors, as well as for data storage, like the solid-state disks used in computers and large data centres.

MeRAM's key... Read more..

100-MW solar energy park to come up in Ramnad

A 100-megawatt (MW) solar energy park is to come up in Ramanathapuram district, one of the economically backward districts of the State, at a cost of Rs. 920 crore.

To be established over 500 acres in Paramakudi taluk, the park project will be promoted under the public-private partnership mode. “This will be the country’s first solar energy park to be set up through the PPP mode,” according to an official release.

A memorandum of understanding was signed on Thursday in the presence of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa by Principal Secretary/Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the... Read more..

Rs 30,000-cr fund for eco reconstruction in mining-hit districts

The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) has given priority to restoration of water bodies while preparing a Comprehensive Environment Management Plan (CEMP) in the mining-affected districts in Karnataka.

The affected districts are Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur.

V.K. Bahuguna, Director-General, ICFRE, who toured the affected areas on December 12 and 13, addressed reporters and said he had extensive discussions with deputy commissioners of the district, state government officials and public representatives to finalise the CEMP.

According to... Read more..

NHPC fulfilling its social obligation in Rangit and Teesta Stage-V Projects

In respect of Rangit Project, 45 Project Affected Families have been rehabilitated as per the approved Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) Plan.

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power Jyotiraditya Scindia informed Lok Sabha that two Hydro-electric Projects i.e. Rangit (60 MW) and Teesta Stage-V (510 MW) are under operation/being run by NHPC Limited in Sikkim. These projects were commissioned in 1999 and 2008 respectively.

In respect of Rangit Project, 45 Project Affected Families have been rehabilitated as per the approved Resettlement and Rehabilitation (... Read more..

Raasi Green to develop 100-MW solar park in Tamil Nadu

The state-run Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (TIDCO) and Raasi Green Earth Energy Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here to set up a 100-MW solar power park at an outlay of Rs.920 crore.

In a statement issued here, the state government said Raasi Green Earth would set up a solar power park in 500 acre in Ramanathapuram district, around 500 km from here.

The park, a public-private-partnership venture, can house a total solar power generation capacity of 100 MW.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister J.... Read more..

Deutsche Bank Co-CEO Juergen Fitschen, CFO Stefan Krause under investigation in tax probe of carbon trading

Deutsche Bank on Wednesday said it was cooperating fully with the authorities and declined comment on the arrests.

"Public prosecutors searched Deutsche Bank offices today in connection with investigations that have been underway since the spring of 2010 against individuals suspected of tax evasion in the trading of CO2 emission certificates," Deutsche Bank said in a statement.

Riding the carousel

The European Union's spot carbon market was hit by so-called carousel trade in 2009 and 2010, in which buyers imported emissions permits in one EU country without paying... Read more..

IITs to help clean the Yamuna

The Supreme Court has asked the directors of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Delhi and Roorkee to find out measures to check pollution of the Yamuna. The river was becoming dirtier with each passing day despite several governments and civic bodies having spent Rs.12,000 crore so far, the Court noted.

A Bench of Justices Swatanter Kumar and Madan B. Lokur wanted the experts to consider the option of taking all sewer water generated in Delhi to a place 30-40 km away for the purpose of treatment. The Bench asked them to submit a report within two months after consulting... Read more..

Shell Backs GlassPoint Solar Oil Recover Technology

GlassPoint Solar Inc., which is building the first plant in the Middle East that will tap heat from the sun to coax heavy crude oil out of aging fields, obtained funding from a group including Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (RDSA)

California-based GlassPoint said Shell and RockPort Capital and others invested $26 million, allowing it to expand operations in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman. The three countries have sizable heavy crude deposits that require energy and technology to lift from the ground, said GlassPoint’s Chief Executive Officer Rod Macgregor.

The company plans to... Read more..