Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Grants for educational institutions to use renewable energy

 The Central Government is now offering grants to educational institutions that adopt renewable energy to meet their power requirements. The grants would meet nearly half of the project cost. Several institutions in southern districts of Tamil Nadu have already begun installation of power plants to join the project.

The project is being implemented in the State through Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA).

S.E.S. Syed Ahamed, Deputy General Manager, TEDA Madurai Region, which comprises 11 southern and central districts, told The Hindu here on Sunday that the grants... Read more..

Sunny days may not be ahead for all solar power cos in Gujarat

 Not all the companies, which are busy setting up their solar power projects in Gujarat, would be able to make hay when the sun shines. Many of them may not be able to avail Rs 15 per unit procurement tariff fixed by Gujarat government as the tariff is applicable to those units that get commissioned before December 2011.

This could be gauged from the fact that Gujarat has so far seen commissioning of only 11 Mw of solar power capacity by three entities, while 87 national and international companies have entered into power purchase agreement (PPAs) with the state government for... Read more..

Prof highlights nuke energy need

 India's nuclear energy requirement will go up four-fold by 2030. But the task of achieving the target remains a huge challenge for the country, said R Rajaraman, Emeritus professor of physics at Jawaharlal Nehru University and co-chair, international panel on fissile materials. He was speaking on the occasion of 37th foundation day of the Institute of Physics here on Sunday.

"It is very difficult for India to meet the future energy requirement from the available sources of energy. So we have to focus on untapped sources like solar, wind and nuclear energy in the coming days. By... Read more..

Suspense continues over Perungudi waste management project

The focus is back on the Chennai Corporation's integrated solid waste management project at the Perungudi dumping yard as the National Green Tribunal will be hearing a petition challenging the project on October 18. The petition has said that the proposed site is very close to eco-sensitive areas like a wetland, forest and a notified park.

A National Green Tribunal bench has ordered notice to the Union ministry of environment and forests on a fresh petition as the Tamil Nadu Environment Impact Assessment Authority, the apex body in the state to clear such projects, had become... Read more..

Greening with Goethe

 Goethe-Zentrum Trivandrum is joining the students of the Trivandrum International School to revamp the market at Pothencode as part of ‘Greening with Goethe’ - a national-level Green initiative of Goethe-Institut India.

"The market is a busy one but the surroundings are filthy. Waste water is stagnating, causing the growth of mosquitoes and flies,’’ Goethe-Zentrum director Syed Ibrahim said in a statement.

Solid waste is dumped inside the market itself, causing air and water pollution. Food products are being sold in an unhygienic manner. There is a well, situated in a... Read more..

PMO steps in to put growth on track, reviews working of nine ministries

  In a bid to ensure that India's growth is not derailed, the Prime Minister's Office has stepped in to provide a concerted push to the implementation of major infrastructure projects. 

This involved a review of nine ministries - coal, power, mines, steel, renewable energy, petroleum, chemicals and fertilizer. 

Power, which is the key driver of growth, presents a cause of concern as despite record addition of generation capacity, the country may be faced with shortages. 

In the 11th Plan, 52,000MW of capacity is likely to be added compared to the last Plan period,... Read more..

GEF and UNIDO join hands with Govt of India in $33m project to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in 12 MSME clusters

New Delhi, 01 September 2011: The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has joined hands with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India, and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to implement a US $ 33 million project to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in selected MSME clusters in India.

As part of UNIDO’s overall strategy to promote Green Industry initiatives, the project aims to develop and encourage a market environment for... Read more..

Air pollution more harmful to poor; makes them vulnerable

 It is not only the rising food inflation rate that tags the government as anti-poor but inaction in implementing policies to reduce amount of harmful pollutants in the air people breathe.

This argument comes from an Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) case study on human health impact of air pollution in Delhi which reveals that low income and middle income remains worst affected by diseases like asthma, bronchitis and tuberculosis.

The national capital registers pollutants - PM10 concentration level - at an alarmingly high level.

Study by Prof Amit Garg... Read more..

WikiLeaks shows cracks in India's climate stand

 The differences of opinion in the higher echelons of the government about India's international climate change stance has now come out in the open with a WikiLeaks cable showing senior leaders Jairam Ramesh, in his role as environment minister, and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of Planning Commission, taking divergent views on climate change in their interactions with senior US officials. 

A cable recording a meeting of US special envoy on climate change Todd Stern with Ahluwalia in August 2009 records, "Deputy Planning Commissioner Montek Singh Ahluwalia told S/E Stern... Read more..

ADB to extend $500 million to Indian Railways

 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) would extend loans of up to $500 million to Indian Railways to help improve its services along some of the busiest freight and passenger transport routes.

The investment would target various routes in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, including the critical 'golden quadrilateral' corridor that connects Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi.

Many of these lines carry a large number of passengers, along with large quantities of minerals and other important freight. They also traverse large rural stretches in... Read more..

UN’s $100 Billion Climate-Change Initiative Seen to Need Private Funding

A fund to help channel $100 billion in climate-change aid annually to developing nations should encourage private financing instead of counting mostly on money from cash-strapped industrialized countries, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said.

An international panel is working to create an endowment depending primarily on donations from governments, which is “a recipe for failure,” Michael Liebreich chief executive officer of New Energy Finance, said in a report today. The committee is scheduled to finish before a meeting of UN climate negotiators set for November in Durban, South... Read more..

UK Minister says India should move from coal to natural gas

 British minister of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs Lord David Howell suggested that like some European countries, India too should move from coal to natural gas to reduce greenhouse emissions. 

Speaking at a seminar here on "Balancing Private and Public Sector Interest in Energy Sector Reforms", Lord Howell said Britain had moved from coal to natural gas and this had helped it achieve an 18 per cent reduction in greenhouse emissions while registering a two per cent growth rate in the last few years. 

He suggested that other countries, including India, could... Read more..