Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Suzlon Energy Climbs After Report on $300 Million Sale of Wind Farms

Suzlon Energy Ltd. (SUEL) rose as much as 7.1 percent after Valor Economico reported that India’s biggest wind-turbine maker sold five Brazilian wind farms for 540 million reais ($300 million).

A renewable-energy investment fund managed by Banco do Brasil SA (BBAS3) and Banco Votorantim SA and Oleoplan Group’s Enerplan unit bought the five farms in Ceara state comprising 136.5 megawatts of capacity, the report said, citing Arthur Lavieri, head of Suzlon’s Brazilian unit. The deal was arranged by Banco Pine SA, according to the report.

Suzlon’s headquarters in Pune declined to... Read more..

Green Infra Has ‘Looked At’ DLF’s India Wind Assets, Jain Says

Green Infra Ltd., which acquired BP Plc (BP/)’s India wind farms in 2009, has “looked at” projects that real-estate developer DLF Ltd. (DLFU) is trying to sell, Green Infra’s chief operating officer said.

“DLF’s wind assets have been in the market,” Sunil Jain said today in an interview in Chennai. “We have looked at them.” He declined to say whether Green Infra, which is backed by IDFC Private Equity, planned to make an offer.

Gurgaon-based DLF didn’t respond to an e-mail and phone call requesting comment on whether it plans to sell its 229 megawatts of wind capacity.

No African site to rely solely on diesel from 2013: Airtel

As part of its efforts to create 'green' mobile network and reduce carbon footprint, Bharti Airtel today said it aims to completely stop the constant use of diesel to power its network in Africa by 2013.

Over the last one year, the telecom giant has reduced the number of telecom sites running solely on diesel by more than 50% through use of models like Hybrid Battery Bank, Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

Hybrid Battery Banks collect the excess energy produced by the diesel powered generator in a battery that powers the site once the generator is switched off. These have... Read more..

Training people is lucrative biz proposition

The principal problem facing the renewable energy sector in the country is not finance or land, though these issues too exist.

The biggest worry is the lack of skilled manpower, experts say.

“Everybody seems to want white-collared jobs; there is nobody out there to work in the sun,” Mr Debashish Majumdar, Chairman and Managing Director, IREDA, said.

“Manpower is something we need to work on,” he said, adding that a change in mindset is in order.

He pointed out that several people on the fields today are working with no roadmap and no plans on their career.

Centre can energise State's solar efforts

Despite its enormous potential for tapping solar energy, the State has been sanctioned fewer projects under the Jawarhalal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), Electricity Minister Natham R. Viswanathan said on Monday.

Approval for solar projects of only seven megawatt (MW) was given for the State even though the total installed capacity of the proposed projects earmarked for the previous year was 200 MW. Similarly, in the current year, the State had been allotted only 22 MW against the overall capacity of 1,000 MW.

The Minister was inaugurating a two-day international... Read more..

ICAI to release White Paper on agriculture costing

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI) will release the White Paper on Agricultural Costing and Pricing methods on Thursday.

The release, first on the subject by ICAI, will be made at the 3-day 'National Cost Convention' beginning here on March 15, said an official.

"The government has assigned us to come out with improved costing and pricing methods in four areas - agricultural pricing, services (including toll charges), healthcare and ports. We will come out with the first white paper on agriculture in the National Cost Convention," ICAI President M... Read more..

Scrap biogas plant on Panchavati hill

The Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) decision to construct a biogas plant, just metres away from the house of famous astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar in Panchavati Society on Pashan Road, has the residents up in arms.

The irked residents alleged that the biogas plant to come up on the hill would be detrimental to the fragile ecosystem of the area.

The residents of Panchavati Society said, “The garbage truck coming to the quarry on a daily basis to get one tonne wet waste from the society and 4 tonnes waste from the plant will set a precedent for more such ‘permits’ to... Read more..

Experts for re-powering, improvements in technology

Various speakers at the event engaged themselves with the question of what needs to be done to develop the wind power sector in the country.

Speaking on ‘Wind Energy: Making a good story great', the experts came up with three distinct suggestions – re-powering, improvements in technology and forecasting.

Mr K.V. Sajay, Head – Sales and Marketing, Gamesa India, said that in Tamil Nadu, there are 1,000 MW worth of wind turbines that were set up between 1986 and 1999. These windmills are standing on prime locations, with the best wind attributes. They, therefore, represent a “1,... Read more..

TN to introduce solar energy policy

Tamil Nadu would soon introduce a solar energy policy to fulfill its aim of becoming a power surplus state in three years by utilising new and renewable energies, Electricity Minister 'Natham' Viswanathan said here today. "A policy on solar energy will be introduced soon. It is expected to be released during the coming budget session", he said at the two-day conference "Renergy 2012", organised by Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA). Construction of three lakh solar power green houses in Tamil Nadu and plans to have one lakh solar-powered street lights were part of the AIADMK... Read more..

India now ranks fifth in wind energy

"India now ranks fifth in wind power. We generate 17,000 MW power from wind turbines. By 2013, we target 1300 MW of solar power under Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission", said Farooq Abdullah.

India now ranks fifth in wind energy
Farooq Abdullah, minister for new and renewable energy, in his inaugural address at the international conference on renewable energy resources at Amrita University, advised not to burn fossil fuels as it was detrimental to the environment.

The world has woken up to the global warming, remarked Abdullah. "Glaciers are rapidly melting and we... Read more..

European airlines join forces against EU carbon tax: Report

Airbus and six European airlines have written to several European leaders to attack the carbon tax imposed by the European Union, a source close to the dossier told AFP Sunday.

Plane maker Airbus, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Air France, Air Berlin and Iberia have written to the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Spain to warn them about its economic consequences, said the source.

They argued that the tax represented an unacceptable threat to activities in their sector, the source added.

Their initiative was first revealed late Sunday in the... Read more..

PMO to take final call on fuel efficiency norms for cars

A final decision on the fuel efficiency norms for cars has been laid at the doorstep of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This fructuous issue has seen much wrangling between the automobile industry, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and experts outside the government.

BEE head Ajay Mathur said, “We are close to finalisation. There are a number of parties involved and we want to ensure that what we do fuses the interests of the different stakeholders.”

Dr Mathur refuses to hazard a guess as to when the fuel efficiency norms will be finalised, but the PMO sources maintain that the... Read more..