Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Research in bio fuel underway’

Speaking after inaugurating international seminar on ‘Current scenario in Bio fuels technology’ at NMAM Institute of Technology, NITTE , he said to produce biofuel in large scale, “we need to collaborate countries like India where we get enough raw materials and technology experts in bio fuel.” 

Karnataka State Bio Fuels Development Board Chairman Y B Ramakrishna said research and development is required, focusing on quality material and productive bio fuel plant and advanced conversion technologies.

National University of Singapore Professor Dr Prakash P Kumar said... Read more..

Environ hazard, broken promises pack double punch for Phursungi-Urali

Here's something the Pune Municipal Corporation and the citizens of Pune refuse to learn how to manage garbage.

For more than a decade, the civic body has been using Phursungi-Urali villages as a dumping ground and remained apathetic to its problems. It also put off many development projects promised when the villagers grew angry.

"Barring a crematorium and primary healthcare centres, all the development works initiated by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in Urali-Phursungi are incomplete. The civic administration took up the job of road construction worth Rs 3.5 crore... Read more..

GVFL to float 1K-cr Indo-China fund

  State-controlled Gujarat Venture Finance Limited (GVFL) will launch a Rs 1,000-crore green energy fund to attract Chinese companies, a move aimed at strengthening the trade ties between the two regions.

H C Pattnaik, executive director, GVFL, said, "The fund is specific to Chinese companies interested in setting up plants for equipment manufacturing plants in India in the fields of solar, wind, hydro and other alternative energy projects." GVFL, which had launched a similar fund in clean energy ventures and infrastructure in January 2011, will manage the fund.

Likely to be... Read more..

China says India may start probe into solar imports

India may launch an anti-dumping probe into imports of Chinese solar products within a month, China's commerce ministry said, but a top Indian renewable energy official denied on Tuesday that any such plan was in the works. 

If New Delhi investigates allegations of unfair Chinese trade in the solar energy sector, it could be yet another challenge for China's solar companies, weeks after the United States decided to probe sales of their solar panels. 

China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Monday India might launch an anti-dumping probe within a month. It gave... Read more..

US to help set up 30 business hubs in eastern India

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), will set up 30 rural business hubs in eastern India. 

USAID would offer assistance in setting up the hubs which would disseminate technologies and best practices to farmers and help the region achieve the second green revolution, Rajiv Shah, agency head, said Tuesday. 

The US had offered assistance in setting up several agricultural institutions in India in 1960s which helped bring in the green revolution in the country. 

"Now the time... Read more..

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy: Generation Based Incentive Scheme

 The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has already introduced Generation Based Incentive (GBI) schemes separately for wind and solar energy.

Under the scheme for wind power, a GBI @ Rs. 0.50 per unit of electricity fed into the grid is provided for a period not less than 4 years and a maximum period of 10 years with a cap of Rs. 62 lakhs per MW. The scheme is in parallel with accelerated depreciation but on a mutually exclusive manner. The total disbursement in a year should not exceed one fourth of the maximum limit of the incentive i.e. Rs. 15.50 lakhs per MW during... Read more..

Operating Cost of Aluminium

 The primary producers endeavour to reduce their operating cost through a slew of measures like reducing power consumption by adopting energy conservation methods, modernization of equipments, increase in current efficiency, reducing fallen anodes in smelter, improving productivity of workers, etc. As energy cost is substantial in aluminium smelting, all the primary producers of aluminium have been brought under the ambit of a new initiative launched by the Government of India for energy conservation and assigned a target to reduce specific energy consumption from its base line value... Read more..

India’s Rajasthan opens bidding for 200 megawatts of solar farms

India’s Rajasthan state started accepting bids from developers to set up 200 megawatts of solar power projects in an area that has the country’s second-most solar radiant exposure.

The state plans to auction contracts for 100 megawatts of photovoltaic plants and 100 megawatts of solar thermal plants, Naresh Pal Gangwar, chairman of the state-run Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corp. said today by telephone.

Reliance Power Ltd. (RPWR), Shriram EPC Ltd. (SEPC) and SunEdison, the solar development unit of MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (WFR), are among companies that are... Read more..

EU Should Consider JI Carbon Offset Limits for 2013, Groups Say

The European Union should consider controlling the use of some Emission Reduction Units in the third phase of its carbon market, the world’s largest, said research groups including the Stockholm Environment Institute.

ERUs stem from the Joint Implementation mechanism of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and some are governed by nations with weaker rules than those overseen by the United Nations, the groups said in a report published Dec. 16 on the EU’s website. Phase three of the EU market begins in 2013.

In a separate report, the four research groups said the EU lawmakers may... Read more..

300 MW solar power capacity to go on stream in Gujarat soon

More than 300 MW of solar power generation capacity is expected to be commissioned in the state in the next month or so, which would be a major boost to the state government's push to promote renewable energy.

Officials said that solar power generation capacity of close to 100 MW - 91 MW to be precise - has already been commissioned in the state, and a further 300 MW is expected to be commissioned by mid-January.

"We are expecting commissioning of 300 MW solar power capacity in the coming days. This includes around 200 MW in the Solar Park in Charanka, and 115 MW... Read more..

Fresh water critically polluted

 The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) first-ever ‘Performance Audit of Water Pollution in India’ report says that despite 26 years implementation of programmes to control pollution, water in our rivers remains critically polluted. The report says that the situation is alarming in the 14 major and 55 minor and several hundreds rivers as only 10 percent of waste water generated from millions of litres of sewage, industrial and agricultural waste is being treated before dumping into water bodies.

The report, tabled in Parliament on Friday, had strongly recommended that the... Read more..

ITC Hotels, Trident, Oberoi and others ask executives to tame rising power bills

Year-end incentives of top executives at InterContinental hotels in India have been linked to a new target-the cost of energy their hotels consume. 

Energy bills at the hotels have risen to 15-16% of operational costs as compared to an average 7-8% in previous years. The managers have been given the daunting task to prune it by 8% over the next three years. 

From installing solar panels to using piped gases for boilers instead of diesel, hotels have undertaken several initiatives to cut consumption of energy. Some of the hotel's competitors have invested in windmills... Read more..