Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Flextronics Gains Steam As Clean Tech Manufacturer

Companies like SunPower, Cisco and Enphase aren’t trumpeting who makes some or all of their products. But the quiet manufacturer behind a growing number of solar, smart grid and solar inverter companies is Flextronics, the same company that makes Blackberrys, the Redbox DVD rental kiosks and desktop computers for Lenovo, to name just a few of its customers.

“Clean tech is one of the fastest growing areas of our industrial division,” says EC Sykes, the president of Flextronics’ industrial division, which accounts for 16% of Flextronics $24 billion in revenues. Flextronics... Read more..

NTPC arm to buy 620 MW from 37 solar power providers

State-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Monday said its fully owned subsidiary NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN) has approved the proposal for entering into power purchase agreements (PPAs) with 37 solar power developers (SPD).

"The board in its meeting held on Dec 17, 2010, approved the proposal for entering into PPAs with 37 SPDs for a cumulative capacity of 620 MW," said the company in a statement.

According to the power major, 30 SPDs were cleared for 150 MW PPAs, while seven got cleared for 470 MW PPAs under phase I of the Jawaharlal Nehru... Read more..

Hype versus reality on Indian climate change

The Cancun global warming and wealth redistribution summit concluded last week, with little to show for two weeks of talking in 5-star hotels and restaurants, other than vague promises that countries will try to do something meaningful about the "threat" of "dangerous" climate change.

Indian Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh nevertheless praised the summit. Rich countries will finance global warming adaptation measures in poor countries, he announced, invoking the good will of "goddesses" of Mexico to achieve some degree of public relations success. (At least... Read more..

Energy, manufacturing & services: hot favourites of investors

The energy sector is emerging as a hot favourite among investors as an area to put their money in, followed by manufacturing and the services ranking third in this league, reflecting the changing Indian economic scenario, an ASSOCHAM study shows.The ASSOCHAM study has looked at key areas of interest to investors and relates to the period April-September 2010. 

In a rapidly growing economy, the sequential relation between energy and GDP is of great import, and is a sector which is being keenly looked at by both foreign and domestic investors. 

India is an energy... Read more..

Moser Baer Solar plans USD 600 mn investment over 3-4 years

Solar energy major Moser Baer has planned investment of USD 500-600 million over the next three to four years for expanding its manufacturing capacity of crystalline cells and crystalline silicon modules in India, said a senior company official.

"Considering the huge potential in the solar power sector, both in the global as well as Indian markets, we have planned a capex of USD 500-600 million over the next three to four years for expanding our manufacturing capacity of crystalline cells and crystalline modules," Moser Baer India''s Group CFO Yogesh Mathur told PTI here.

The... Read more..

Insituform Technologies, Inc. Expands Operations in India with US $5.6 Million Contract in Uttar Pradesh

Insituform Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq Global Select Market: INSU) announced today that its Indian joint venture, Insituform Pipeline Rehabilitation Private Limited (“Insituform-India”), has been awarded a contract valued at US $5.6 million to rehabilitate approximately 16,000 feet of medium diameter sewer pipelines for the Indian water utility Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam, located in Northern India approximately 400 miles Southeast of New Delhi. This contract strengthens Insituform-India’s position in the Indian market with the expansion into Uttar Pradesh. This project marks the first contract... Read more..

IOL Chemicals bags National Award for energy conservation

Ludhiana-based IOL Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IOLCP), manufacturer of APIs, Ibuprofen and specialty chemicals has announced the company has once again won the National Energy Conservation Award 2010. The company has won the first prize in the Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Sector for its continued efforts towards new technology implementation.

With the winning of the National Energy Conservation Award 2010, IOLCP has won the award consecutively for six years. IOLCP has won the second prize of National Energy Conservation Award every year since 2005.

R K Thukral... Read more..

California Approves Biggest Cap-And-Trade Plan in the US

California regulators voted yesterday to approve the most comprehensive U.S. cap yet on greenhouse gases and create the biggest carbon market in the country, the New York Times reports.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted 9-1 to approve the state’s cap-and-trade plan, the keystone of its effort to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 under A.B. 32 and the nation’s first economy-wide, market-based greenhouse gas scheme in the absence of federal action. California has the world’s eighth-largest economy and the highest gross state product in the United States, at $1.7... Read more..

Elephanta gets solar power

Residents of the Elephanta Island can finally bid farewell to darkness and diesel generators. On Monday, 30 homes of Rajbander village on the island that hosts the heritage Elephanta Caves, will be lit up with solar lamps. The island, which is a 90-munite ferry ride away from the Gateway of India, does not have electricity as it is not connected to an electric grid.

Its 1,500 residents get four hours of power every,day – between 7 pm and 11pm – from diesel fed power generators provided by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).

As part of a pilot project, 30... Read more..

REDD alert for India's forest dwellers

The agreement over Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) — a global regime to protect forests —  likely at the climate summit in Cancun may create livelihood issues for Indian tribals and forest-dwellers, experts have warned. The feared alienation has started in Indonesia, where oil companies have taken over forestland to neutralise emissions from their plants in Russia. "The project is expecting to prevent 75m tonnes of carbon being emitted over 30 years, which could earn the firms $750m at a carbon price of $10 a tonne," a report by NGO Friends of Earth (FOE),... Read more..

India, China agree to continue cooperation on climate change

India and China Thursday agreed to continue their consultations on climate change negotiations and strengthen bilateral cooperation in green technologies.

A joint communique issued after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao appreciated "bilateral cooperation in the area of mitigating and adapting to climate change" and agreed to strengthen such cooperation.

The two countries also called for continued international adherence to the principles of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol, including that... Read more..

Order Focus: Schmid wins 400MW solar cell turnkey lines business from India

An Indian corporation based in Kolkata, the Jain Group, will start production of c-Si solar cells via placing a 400MW turnkey order with Gebr. Schmid estimated to be in the three-figure-million Euro range. The two cell production lines will have a total capacity of 13,200 cells/hr, with planned delivery of the systems to Jain Solar Energy in the second and third quarter of 2011. The significant turnkey order also includes advanced processing capabilities, such as Schmid’s selective emitter process.

According to Schmid, the cell production lines are some of the most advanced... Read more..