Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Business leaders demand global carbon price at Doha

More than 100 of the world's largest companies are calling for governments to bring in a global carbon price to drive the huge investment needed to deliver substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Shell, Unilever, EDF Energy, Statoil, Swiss Re and Skanska are among those that have endorsed the Carbon Price Communiqué, coordinated by the Prince of Wales's Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change, ahead of the Doha climate summit at the end of the month.

The businesses believe a market-driven carbon price would offer regulatory certainty and create a level... Read more..

Solar energy to power Shimla

 To meet the ever increasing demand for electricity in Shimla city and to reduce the dependence on hydro-power, the Shimla Municipal Corporation has decided to give final touches to a proposed ‘solar city plan’.

The project is an initiative of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and aimed at developing solar cities to ensure supply of renewable energy. Shimla has been chosen on a pilot basis .

Says Deputy mayor Tikender Panwa: “ The project was initially proposed for the south-facing geographical areas including Nabha,Totu, Chotta Shimla, Fagli, Mall Road, Lower... Read more..

CIIE organizes boot camp to mentor clean tech start-ups

The Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) had organized a four day boot camp for start-ups in the clean technology space.

The objectives of the boot camp were networking, mentoring and investment. Twelve selected cleantech start-ups were mentored by a group of illustrious and eminent leaders and personalities. These mentors came from a wide variety of backgrounds and capacities, with most of them having worked in the cleantech space.

Sunand Sharma, country president at Alstom said, "Considering the... Read more..

Gamesa mulls solar power entry

 Wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa is evaluating the prospects of foraying into the solar power industry in the country, a move intended to create a new stream of revenue and strike synergies between two renewable energy sources.

The company, whose role in solar power now is limited to marketing inverters and mobile phone chargers, according to Gamesa India chairman and managing director Ramesh Kymal, wants to take up engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works. This would mean Gamesa helping in the setting up solar power plants.

Interacting with presspersons here on... Read more..

Ahmedabad's Bus Rapid Transit System to be showcased by United Nations

The UN has chosen Ahmedabad's Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) as a showcase project to highlight that addressing climate change is not a burden, but an opportunity to improve the lives of people.

Ahmedabad's BRTS: Some interesting facts

The 51-km BRTS will be highlighted as a 'lighthouse project' as part of the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Momentum for Change Initiative at the Doha round of negotiations to be held later this month. The initiative was launched by the UN Secretary General at the 2011 Durban round of the UN-sponsored climate change... Read more..

NTPC eyes Tungabhadra Steel’s hydel power project

To refocus on hydropower after recent setbacks, NTPC Ltd may buy state-owned Tungabhadra Steel Products Ltd’s 204 megawatts (MW) hydel power project, chairman and managing director Arup Roy Choudhury said.

Tungabhadra Steel was set up as a joint venture between the state governments of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, which later became a central public sector unit in 1967 with the central government acquiring a 50.5% stake in the company, according to the department of public enterprises. The Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE) had recommended that... Read more..

First Solar, SunPower Prioritize Emerging Markets

The two biggest US solar companies, First Solar and SunPower, seem to be moving in tandem these days, accelerating development in emerging markets as revenue from more mature markets slows and projects near completion.

Because of the difficulties in their traditional solar panel manufacturing business, they have both diversified into solar project development, and SunPower into solar leasing.

They are shifting focus from Europe and the US to Africa, Australia, India and Japan where solar project pipelines are growing and business conditions are favorable, according to... Read more..

Post-Diwali, less pollution this year in Delhi

 The smog situation in Delhi has seen a slight improvement, especially after Diwali, when experts believed the situation could worsen.

It was relatively a clean morning after Diwali with the level of dust particles in the air going down and the visibility level improving. According to the Pollution Control Board, the visibility level this morning was 1000 metres.

The board said this was a cleaner and better Diwali.Delhiites too welcomed decrease in the pollution levels. "Kinda happy the Diwali this year caused less pollution. I was worried the smog would cause trouble while... Read more..

DDA to start recycling wastewater, to begin with at its headquarters

For residents of areas built by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), such as Vasant Kunj and Dwarka, scarcity of water is an everyday problem.

The DDA now plans to tackle this perennial problem by recycling wastewater. And it is starting from its own home. DDA's headquarters Vikas Sadan, near INA, will soon have a wastewater recycling plant that is expected to salvage more than one lakh gallons (about four lakh litres) of water per day.

The number of employees working at the headquarters is around 5,000, apart from the thousands of visitors who throng the office... Read more..

China’s ReneSola To Sell Locally Manufactured Solar PV Modules In India, Aims To Dodge Possible Anti-Dumping Duties

A leading global manufacturer of photovoltaic modules and wafers from China – RenaSola – has decided to provide 250 MW of locally produced PV modules first time to the Indian market over a period of two years. The company will collaborate with the local strategic partners to cope with the demand and meet this target of 250 MW.

The company has also announced the launch of its new Virtus II multicrystalline modules into the Indian market during the 6th Renewable Energy 2012 Expo, a three-day event held recently. The introduction of this new module followed its successful launch... Read more..

Making an enterpise out of picking waste

Ragpickers are not ragamuffins but environmentalists. For, they scavenge our streets to keep the city clean. Green activists like Nalini Shekar are working overtime to rid ragpickers of the taint by ensuring that picking waste is nothing short of an enterprise.

Co-founded by the 48-year-old Nalini, NGO Hasiru Dala is working on the city's ragpickers on two fronts: sensitize them so as to ensure that they go about their job more efficiently and ensure that the authorities don't treat them as ragamuffins but give them an honourable identity.

Thanks to Nalini's efforts,... Read more..

Climate change poses grave threat to Indian cities

Climate change and reckless development are leaving Mumbai increasingly vulnerable to the elements. A news report on an ongoing climate study places India's financial capital sixth in a list of 20 port cities worldwide at risk from severe storm-surge flooding, damage from high storm winds and rising seas. By 2070, according to the study, an estimated 11.4 million people and assets worth $1.3 trillion would be at peril in Mumbai due to climatic extremes. 

The in-progress study, by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), reveals that many of the... Read more..