Sustainability Outlook Headlines

'Solar technology can help food processing'

Can advancements in solar drying technology tapping renewable solar energy give fillip to food processing technology in the country? If experts of three-day-long international conference on energy security, global warming and sustainable climate 'Solaris 2012' are to be believed, the country that falls in the sub-tropical region has immense potential to tap solar energy and utilise it for bolstering food processing.
 
Both India and Bangladesh are blessed with rich solar energy and the recent developments in solar drying technology promises to give fillip to food processing. "... Read more..

EU Pledges Strong Support for Earth

European leaders have mapped out a bold agenda ahead of the Rio summit, vowing to transform development aid, help provide renewable electricity to the world’s neediest people, and bulk up the United Nations environment body.

The European Union’s ‘Agenda for Change’ proposal calls for pumping foreign aid into sustainable growth and energy access, while European Union officials have also floated the idea of transforming the U.N. Environmental Programme into an agency with expanded influence and greater power to promote research and development.

Janez Potočnik, the EU... Read more..

Green Google tops Cool IT Leaderboard

 Search engine giant Google is the greenest IT company, says the Greenpeace International environmental campaigning body. Google has overtaken chip manufacturer Cisco and electronics firm Ericsson in the latest Cool IT Leaderboard, Greenpeace International has announced.

The fifth annual Cool IT Leaderboard features 21 top IT companies and ranks them according to their clean energy leadership potential, adoption of clean energy solutions and potential influence.

Google gained ground for investing in renewable energy and backing of stronger American clean energy policy and the... Read more..

Power consumers should be ready to pay fair tariff'

Power consumers — whether commercial or domestic — should be prepared to pay a fair tariff to enable electricity boards remain financially healthy, according to Mr A.V. Varadharajan, former President, Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia).

He also advised the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) to streamline the tariff structure to bring down the number of slabs for easier management.

Inaugurating the International Wind Exhibition, organised as part of the` 3rd International Wind Conference and Exhibition WE20 by 2020' at the Codissia Trade Fair... Read more..

TATR to establish baseline water quality system

The Tadoda-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) is fast adapting to environment-friendly water technology. After portable instant water purifiers Neeri-Zars and 'Phytorid' wastewater treatment technology, the park has decided to establish baseline water quality by collecting samples from artificial and natural water holes.

VK Sinha, chief conservator of forests ( CCF) & field director of TATR, confirmed that water samples will be collected from water holes and Tadoba lake in TATR by scientists from National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).

"The idea is... Read more..

India’s Gujarat State Completes 300 Megawatts of Solar Plants

India’s Gujarat state, home to the country’s largest solar program, has completed 300 megawatts of sun-powered plants, about a third of its target.

An additional 300 megawatts of projects are almost finished and awaiting connections to power transmission infrastructure. They should be ready in about 15 days, Iswarbhai Bhavsar, chairman of the Gujarat Energy Development Agency, the state-run body overseeing the program, said in a phone interview today.

Gujarat had set a Jan. 28 deadline for 958 megawatts of capacity. Photovoltaic plants that missed the cut-off will get... Read more..

Power-ful Gujarat seeks Centre's help

 It is not just surplus solar power beyond a certain cap being produced in Gujarat that the state government wants the Government of India (GoI) to buy up as it "cannot be utilized" at home.

Well-placed Sachivalaya sources now say, the state government has lately moved an application to the GoI to buy up and sell surplus power to the tune of 1,100 MW, lying unutilized at the state's gas-based power plants. "We want the GoI to take it and sell it to other, power-starved states", a senior official said.

Giving the list of unutilized power, the official said, it consists of... Read more..

Climate critical to farm policy decisions”

The impact of climate change needs to be factored in development programmes so as to tackle the long-term requirement of mitigation and adaptation. This was highlighted at an international conference on Climate Change, Sustainable Agriculture and Public Leadership here on Tuesday.

Underscoring the need for adopting a multidimensional strategy, Minister of State for Agriculture Harish Rawat appealed to agriculture scientists to document the indigenous wisdom of Indian farmers who had been adapting to climatic variability over the centuries.

Climate was central to... Read more..

Brazil May Become Fourth Biggest Market for Wind Farms in 2012

Brazil may become the world’s fourth largest installer of wind farms in 2012, up from 11th last year, as some developed nations cut subsidies for renewable energy.

South America’s largest economy may build wind farms with as much as 2,000 megawatts of capacity this year, trailing China, the U.S., and India, Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Brussels-based industry lobby group Global Wind Energy Council, said today in a telephone interview.

Stagnant economic growth and a boom in installations for clean energy projects has led Germany, Spain and France to trim... Read more..

Renewable Energy’s Funding to Be Doubled by Indian State Lender

Power Finance Corp., India’s largest state-run lender to electricity utilities, plans to more than double lending for renewable energy projects within a year as coal-fired plants become riskier investments.

The company’s approved loans to projects, particularly solar and wind plants, will increase to 15 billion rupees ($305 million), or 4 percent of the total in the next financial year, from 6.75 billion rupees, or just 1.2 percent in the year ending in March, Chairman Satnam Singh said. The company does not plan to increase its total loan outlays of 450 billion rupees in... Read more..

India takes the global clean tech lead

India is now outpacing the rest of the globe in terms of its clean-tech investments, that’s according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. And the reason for India’s clean-tech upsurge? It’s down to the improving cost competitiveness of wind and solar, says Bloomberg.
 

The report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance has revealed that clean energy investments in India hit US$10.3bn in 2011, a 52pc increase on the US$6.8bn invested in 2010. This was the highest-growth figure of any significant economy in the world, according to the report. And, in 2011, India also... Read more..

Kochi experiments with novel ideas to treat waste

With waste treatment becoming a major concern for Kochiites, various citizens groups have come forward with alternative ideas for waste management. While the local bodies and the district administration are yet to solve the issue, efforts from trusts and individuals show that the citizens are more aware and concerned than the authorities.

Realizing the importance of waste management, Yasoram Charitable Trust has introduced a project to treat organic waste and promote organic farming in the city. The project that has been planned with the help of residential associations will... Read more..