Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Workshop arranged for ragpickers

There is no union to safeguard the rights of waste pickers exists in the city, and with the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plants being set up in the city, the livelihoods of hundreds of ragpickers is under threat.

The Alliance of Indian Wastepickers (AIW), a group of 33 organisations working with wastepickers, and GAIA ( Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) organised a two-day workshop for wastepickers in the city on Tuesday to create awareness about the issues of waste and climate and the role of wastepickers.

"We wastepickers are actually India's recycling system and... Read more..

Green drive: Star ratings for cars soon

Vehicles in India will soon come with star ratings, signifying how environment-friendly they are. So you might want to rethink your decision to go in for a fuel-guzzling SUV, branded a "criminal on the road" by environment minister Jairam Ramesh. The star ratings are part of the government's move to stipulate strict fuel efficiency norms for cars, especially sports utility vehicles. The automobile firms are opposing it.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), mandated by the prime minister's office to stipulate the norms under the Energy Conservation Act, wants automobile... Read more..

India offers solution for success of Cancun talks

India has placed two offers in the run-up to the Cancun climate talks beginning November 27 with the hope to break the logjam between developed and developing countries, Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh has said.

It has proposed to establish an international network of technology providers (looking at both the adaptation and mitigation aspects of climate change impact) modelled on Consultative Group of the Institutes of Agricultural Research.

The second proposal is for setting up a mechanism to measure, report and verify emission reduction... Read more..

BHEL and GE India in JV for water treatment solutions

State owned power equipment maker BHEL said it would join hands with GE India Industrial Private Limited for manufacturing water treatment equipments.

The company in a statement said that "BHEL and GE India Industrial Private Limited a 100% owned subsidiary of GE, USA will jointly engineer and supply water treatment solutions for the Indian market.”

According to the terms of the agreement, the joint venture will help BHEL acquire the capability to develop large water treatment systems based on GE Products, on its own.

Experts peg the domestic water treatment... Read more..

Japan to help India launch 24 green cities

Buoyed by a landmark free trade pact and the launch of nuclear negotiations, India and Japan are set to scale a new frontier in bilateral ties by launching 24 green cities in the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).

"Japan and India are planning to set up 24 green cities in the DMIC area," Aftab Seth, a former Indian ambassador to Japan and a driving force behind the green initiative, told IANS. 2G Scam: Can PM Manmohan Singh's jeopardized image come clean?

The green cities will include optimised energy supplies, 24-hour drinking water supply, bicycle and walking... Read more..

U.N. seeks climate progress; deal may be years off

The world will seek to break a U.S.-China standoff and agree modest steps to rein in global warming at U.N. talks in Mexico next week amid worries that the first climate treaty since 1992 may still be years away.

Most nations have few hopes for the meeting of environment ministers from November 29 to December 10 in the Caribbean resort of Cancun after U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders failed to agree a treaty at last year's U.N. Copenhagen summit.

Sights are lower for Cancun, which will test the ability of the United Nations to reconcile the interests of... Read more..

ADB signs JV to develop renewable energy in India -

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today signed a joint venture agreement with India's NTPC Ltd. and Kyushu Electric Power Company of Japan to develop and operate 500 megawatts of renewable energy projects in India in the next three years.

India is the third largest electricity consumer in Asia, after the People's Republic of China and Japan, and demand has grown at an average of 8% a year since 1995. However, supply falls well below demand, leading to regular blackouts and chronic shortages which are undermining the country's economic and social development. Moreover, much of the... Read more..

Norway to step up solar funding in India

During his recent India visit, Mr Solheim held discussions with the Minister for MNRE, Dr Farooq Abdullah, on the possibility of expanding the scope of the project.

“We will take a favourable look and start the project as soon as possible” Mr Solheim said. At present, pilots of solar electrification project are being run in about 30 villages of M.P., Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

Most of these villages are in remote forest areas and the idea is to provide domestic lighting for these villages through a singular solar entity, Mr Solheim said.

Norway has... Read more..

UN outlines green-house gas emissions gap

A new United Nations-led report says that nations can deliver almost 60 per cent of the emissions reductions needed to keep global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius only if the pledges made at last year's Copenhagen climate change conference are fully met.

The (UNEP), comes as governments prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancún, Mexico, to be held from Nov 29 to 10 Dec.

The findings spotlight the size of the "emissions gap" between where nations might be in 2020 versus where the science indicates they need to be.

"The results indicate that... Read more..

US praises Indian role on climate change negotiations

A top Obama administration official has praised India''s role on climate change negotiations saying that the country, an important voice of the developing world, has shown both "commitment" and "willingness" to think in a new way and to be pragmatic.

"It''s an important voice on the developing country side. But I think India also has great potential to speak from a posture of credibility, frankly, on kind of both sides of the aisle, if you will," said Todd Stern, the Special US Envoy for Climate Change.

Stern was talking to foreign correspondents ahead of the United Nations... Read more..

Govt offers sops for green vehicles

It's focus clean energy for the government. And, it is doling out incentives to push the sales of electric vehicles in India.

So, if you plan to buy an electric car, you may get a waiver of 1 lakh (if the incentive is passed fully).

While for 3-wheelers it could be 60,000, high-powered two-wheelers will get an incentive of 5,000.

The incentive scheme, approved by the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), also got the electric vehicle industry excited.

The Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) said it expects electric two-wheeler market to... Read more..

7 bidders selected for solar mission projects

In what amounts to an investment commitment of over Rs 7,000 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN) has selected a total of seven bidders including Reliance Power to build 479 mw power generation capacity based on concentrated solar power (CSP) technology in the first phase of the scheme.

NVVN is the nodal agency for the implementation of the first phase of the programme. Of this, Reliance Power, Lanco and KVK Energy will develop 1,00 mw capacity each. Megha Engineering, Godavari Power and Corporate Ispat will build solar... Read more..