Sustainability Outlook Headlines

CII, MSME, BEE join hands for workshop on energy efficiency

The Confederation of Indian Industry, Dept. of MSME and Bureau of Energy Efficiency jointly organized a Workshop on Enhancing Competitiveness through Energy Efficient technologies and product certification today at Hotel Centaur. The objective of the workshop was to promote energy efficient, cost reduction practices, product certification and star rating by BEE.

Virinder Sharma Director MSME development institute Govt. of India and the Chief Guest of the occasion said that the govt. of India has brought out many schemes for the benefit of the MSMEs for enhancing their... Read more..

'Jaisalmer has potential to fulfil nation's power needs'

  Jaisalmer has the potential to generate one lakh mega watt of solar and wind power, which can fulfil the demand of the entire nation, Union minister Farooq Abdullah has said. 

Speaking on the occasion of dedicating Suzlon's S-97 MW wind turbine at Tejuwa village in the district on Tuesday, the minister for new and renewable energy said, "Rajasthan has an important place in India in regard to power generation , including unconventional forms like wind and solar. There would be no dearth in the desired assistance for power generation to the state." 

Abdullah... Read more..

NITIE organises EnVision 2011

‘How do we shape our industry in a way that shows an understanding that we genuinely live in a shared world, not one that simply belongs to us?’
It is with this vision, National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai (NITIE), consistently ranked among the top ten B Schools in India, is organizing ‘EnVision’ a Carbon Neutral event on Friday, 26th August 2011. It is the flagship event of PGDISEM (Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Safety and Environment Management) programme, the only course of its kind in Asia Pacific focused on sustainability as an operational metric.
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Solar power lights little lives

Many rural school students in Karnataka who don't have electricity in their homes do homework with the help of a solar light. They carry a portable battery that they charge in their school. Later, they light the lamp at home.

Soon, more such students will bask in the glory of energy independence. They'll hardly need to fret about unpredictable grid supply. This is the story of hope that brought Solar Light Private Ltd (Selco) founder Harish Hande the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award.

Selco in Karnataka is a unique business model - a social enterprise, a concept that is... Read more..

Green tribunal stops Himachal hydropower project

In a major setback to the construction of a hydroelectric project in Himachal Pradesh that will provide drinking water to Delhi, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), a judicial body hearing environment-related cases, Thursday stayed construction and land acquisition for the multimillion hydropower project.

A bench headed by Justice C.V. Ramalu, in its interim order, directed the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL), a public sector undertaking executing the project, to stop the 40MW Renuka hydel project in Sirmaur district dam construction completely.

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Solar power is industry's Plan B

As a shortage of coal and sagging power production targets make industry experts look to alternative sources of power, solar energy is emerging as the likely best bet, though not yet in the league for heavy-duty industrial use. Understanding the potential, many corporate giants such as Tata group, Videocon, IBM, Godrej, Infosys, DLF, iGATE Patni, and public sector enterprises including Gail, Bhel and IOC have started using solar power. And most of them save over 10% on electricity bills.

According to estimates by consultancy firm KPMG, solar power has the potential to meet almost 7... Read more..

New ISO Standard Builds Confidence in Global Carbon Market

A new international standard detailing the level of competency required by those responsible for verifying greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has been published. It is the latest addition to the toolbox of standards from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for addressing climate change and supporting emissions trading schemes.

With a growing global awareness of the need for environmental protection and sustainability, organizations are eager to demonstrate their efforts to inventory, report, and reduce GHG emissions. In order to assure the credibility of their... Read more..

One-day extreme rainfall on rise in state: IMD

 Even as the July 2005 deluge continues to haunt Mumbaikars, a recent report by the India Meteorological Department (IMD-Pune) reveals that the trend of one-day extreme rainfall is on the rise in states like Maharashtra. The study entitled ‘impact of climate change on extreme rainfall events’ reports “significant increasing trend in one-day extreme rainfall over the south peninsular region, Maharashtra, Gujarat region, Bihar and some other isolated areas”.

The study is co-authored by P Guhathakurta, O P Sreejith and P A Menon from IMD, Pune. “Analysis of one-day extreme... Read more..

India's nuclear policy dilemmas

 The Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) statement issued on June 24 has aroused concern over the extent to which India can rely on the cooperation of foreign partners, including the US, for its civil nuclear programme. The 46-member NSG had “agreed to strengthen its guidelines on transfer of sensitive enrichment and reprocessing technologies”, besides continuing “to consider the implementation of all aspects of the 2008 statement on civil nuclear cooperation with India”. The NSG members also discussed the body's relationship with India.

EUPHORIA AND AFTER

The... Read more..

5% energy efficiency to save Rs 349 crore for automobile industry

 The energy bill of the automobile manufacturing industry in the country is estimated to be Rs.2327 crore a year.  A five per cent efficiency in energy consumption by them would save Rs 349 crore  every year in energy cost, Mr Abraham Varughese, General Manager, All-India Sales (Energy Management), Schneider Electric, said here today.

Making a presentation at a conference on `Energy efficiency and renewable energy opportunities for auto and auto component manufacturers’,  organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), here on Wednesday, he said,  the possible... Read more..

India’s per capita water availability will reduce sharply to 1,340 Cu. M by 2025:Frost & Sullivan

 The industry segment will clock the fastest rate of demand for water at a CAGR of 4.2 percent.

India is at an exciting stage as far as the market for water and wastewater treatment is concerned. What presents a conundrum for the Government is that the remarkable economic growth has presented difficulties in sharing water resources among three key sectors: agricultural, domestic, and industrial. It is apparent that balancing available water resources to meet the requirements of all three sectors is recommended in the National Water Policy 2002, as well as in the newly-drafted... Read more..

MNRE releases simulator software for designing of solar thermal power plants

 New computer simulation software for design optimization of solar thermal power plants was launched by Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy Shri Deepak Gupta in New Delhi today.

The software is equipped to handle user defined configurations and carrying out optimization through multiple simulation approach under Indian climatic conditions. It will be useful to various stakeholders for design optimisation of solar thermal power plants. The software was developed as part of the R&D project titled “A megawatt-scale national solar thermal power research... Read more..