Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Fund May Use $100 Billion a Year to Encourage Carbon Price

The Green Climate Fund, designed to channel as much as $100 billion a year in pledges to emerging nations, may try to wean recipients off fossil fuel and encourage them to put a price on carbon, according to an overseer.

The fund may guarantee bank loans in developing nations for projects ranging from wind farms to building insulation and less-polluting agricultural equipment, Naoko Ishii, chief executive officer of the Global Environment Facility in Washington, said yesterday in an interview in Doha. She heads one of two secretariats governing the fund.

Climate... Read more..

UN Climate Change Negotiations 2012: India acquires key role in tech transfer for combating climate change

India has acquired a key role in technology transfer for combating climate change after the country took a lead role in an agreement for a mechanism on transferring of expertise to developing countries.

Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) an autonomous organization under the Department of Science & Technology has been selected as one of the nine institutions comprising the Climate Technology Centre and Network, which forms the core of the technology mechanism.

The mechanism, agreed 20 years after it was first proposed, brings some cheer to... Read more..

Government mulls new energy conservation code

As part of efforts to increase energy efficiency measures, the state government has proposed to introduce an Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) for buildings that consume more than 100 kilo watts of electricity in a time bound manner. The ECB Code mandates all commercial buildings to strictly comply with the energy conservation measures to ensure substantial energy savings in urban areas in the entire state.

According to a press release, a recent study conducted by the energy department at the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation building revealed that by implementing... Read more..

Uttarakhand to levy tax on water for hydel projects

Even as the hydropower sector takes a beating in Uttarakhand, the state government has decided to impose water tax of 25 paise per cubic meter on hydel projects in the state, a move likely to push power tariffs in northward.

“This move is not going to do anything good for the power sector which is in doldrums in our state, especially when new projects are being delayed due to various factors causing huge burden on the companies. The move will also push the power tariffs upward further in the state,” said a top official of a hydropower company.

A total of 3,600 megawatt... Read more..

India’s Tamil Nadu to Auction 1 Gigawatt Solar Projects

India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu plans to auction 1 gigawatt of solar power capacity next month, the state electricity utility said.

Developers may submit bids for projects of 1 megawatt or more by Jan. 4, according to a tender document from the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corp. It didn’t place a cap on the number or size of projects it would award to any one developer.

Those offering to sell solar power at the lowest rates will win, the utility said. Winners will sign 20-year power-sale contracts with Tamil Nadu Generation and have 10 months to build... Read more..

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's green mission

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has taken a decision to convert many of its existing new buildings into green buildings, with several power saving features and employing renewable energy. Though initially the plan was to have a hybrid - wind and solar - power plant atop the sports complex and the AMC central office building, but the AMC decided to draw another list of buildings that can employ the power and water saving measures. The AMC is now employing three consultants for Rs 1 crore project to draw a plan for the conversion of buildings into green buildings. The proposal was... Read more..

India Pushing Intellectual-Property Rights at UN Climate Talks

India is seeking a fund that it says would help protect intellectual-property rights while aiding in the transfer of clean-energy technologies to developing countries grappling with climate change.

The world’s fourth-largest greenhouse-gas emitter, needs the support to help meet its goal of cutting emissions intensity, or carbon dioxide released per unit of gross domestic product, by as much as 25 percent by 2020, Mira Mehrishi, India’s lead climate negotiator, said in an interview at United Nations climate treaty talks in Doha.

“If we don’t get cheap technology we... Read more..

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's green mission

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has taken a decision to convert many of its existing new buildings into green buildings, with several power saving features and employing renewable energy. Though initially the plan was to have a hybrid - wind and solar - power plant atop the sports complex and the AMC central office building, but the AMC decided to draw another list of buildings that can employ the power and water saving measures. The AMC is now employing three consultants for Rs 1 crore project to draw a plan for the conversion of buildings into green buildings. The proposal was... Read more..

U.S. Shows Signs of Flexibility at UN Climate Discussions

President Barack Obama’s envoy at United Nations global-warming negotiations said he’s willing to participate in discussions on the issue of fairness in how nations plan to curb climate change, paving the way for drafting a new treaty by 2015.

Todd Stern, the State Department official heading the delegation at a UN climate conference in Doha, also acknowledged yesterday that the U.S. has more work to do to reduce fossil- fuel emissions.

Stern’s remarks, coming three days before the meeting concludes, addressed two of the three thorniest topics that divide more than 190... Read more..

India Proposes 9 Gigawatts Solar Capacity to 2017

India released a draft policy with the goal of building 9,000 megawatts of grid-connected solar plants by 2017, more than eight times its current capacity.

Plans include auctioning 1,650 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity by the central government in the next financial year, grants to cut project costs and loosening curbs on the purchase of equipment from overseas, according to the draft published on the website of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The policy would for the first time fund the solar industry with direct grants covering as much as 40 percent of... Read more..

Rooftop solar units under Anert's scrutiny

As part of setting up 10,000 rooftop solar power units across the state, the Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT) is scouting for experts to inspect the quality of the power units being set up.

"We plan to set up a panel of experts in all districts to ensure that the solar power units being installed by different companies on rooftops stick to the safety standards and quality. We hope the retired engineers from the Kerala State Electricity Board or ANERT, with at least 10 years of work experience, would come forward to join the panel'', said ANERT... Read more..

Water treatment plants mere eyewash, says HC panel

The state government is rearing a white elephant in the name of sewerage treatment plants (STP) and the concept of water treatment to generate potable water is merely an eyewash, says a two-member monitoring committee of the Rajasthan high court constituted to oversee the Ramghar Dan catchment area and ancillary issues.

The committee filed its detailed report on Wednesday before the special environment bench of the high court comprising Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice Bela M Trivedi. Based on the committee's findings, the division bench called for a detailed... Read more..