Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Carbon offsets near record low, worst performing commodity

Carbon offsets neared all-time lows Friday, confirming their status as the world's worst performing commodity, as slumping demand meets rising supply of the U.N. instrument traded under the Kyoto Protocol.

A worsening global economic outlook has dented prices for emissions permits which depend on a robust economy belching greenhouse gases into the air, and has also impacted oil, grains, coal and natural gas.

Carbon offsets have fared uniquely badly because a U.N. climate panel continues to print new offsets, regardless of a widening glut in emissions permits in the main... Read more..

Moser Baer to List Solar Unit in 2012

 Moser Baer Projects Pvt. Ltd. plans to list its solar power unit Moser Baer Clean Energy in the next financial year to raise funds for its solar power projects.

"We are operating different energy verticals," said Moser Baer Chairman Ratul Puri on Thursday. "We are basically planning to tap the potential of the renewable energy segment."

He said the company plans to set up about 400 megawatt of solar power projects in the current financial year, which is expected to cost about 60 billion rupees ($1.34 billion).

In January, SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Management Pvt.... Read more..

Give a big push to clean energy: Farooq Give a big push to clean energy: Farooq

 The UPA government has set an ambitious target to light up 20 million households and to generate 80,000 MW power by the year 2022. With fossil fuels getting expensive and rapid environmental changes taking place, the government is turning its attention to green energy to save the environment.

Addressing The New Indian Express-Columbia University Conference on Clean Energy, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah said the country must realise the potential of the sun, wind, water and biomass to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.  “We are ready to facilitate. Our... Read more..

Power generation from medical, e-waste?

After experimenting generation of power from garbage, the Delhi government now wants to try and explore whether electricity can be generated from medical  and electronic waste in the Capital. Chief minister Sheila Dikshit admitted that power in the Capital has become expensive and there was a need  for change in mindset.

The government was working on partnership with other  states to set up coal power projects to meet the electricity requirements of the city which most of the time depends on the  national grid, Dikshit said here.

"We have decided to shut down two coal-based... Read more..

China set to cap energy use in national low-carbon plan

A cap on Chinese energy consumption is expected to be the highlight of a comprehensive low-carbon plan to be issued later this year, but it might not be as tough as expected, experts say.

Capping energy use will form the cornerstone of China's efforts to curb surging greenhouse gas emissions, the world's highest and making up a quarter of the global total.

China is using the fight against climate change to make its economy more efficient and kick-start emissions trading schemes over the next five years.

"If you have a total energy cap you can translate that into an... Read more..

Breeding deeper-rooted crop plants could cut CO2 levels

Breeding crops that have roots a metre deeper in the soil could dramatically lower CO2 levels in the atmosphere, a leading University of Manchester scientist has claimed.

 
Professor Douglas Kell argues that developing crops that produce roots more deeply in the ground could harvest more carbon from the air, and make crops more drought resistant.

Kell, professor of Bioanalytical Science at the University as well as Chief Executive of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), has also devised a carbon calculator that can show the potential... Read more..

Chitlapakkam chokes on its burning garbage

 A blanket of smoke has covered Chitlapakkam, a southern suburb 20 km from the city, causing major breathing problems to residents. Children and elders are the worst affected as the smoke continues to spread because garbage is set on fire at a dump yard on Chitlapakkam Main Road.

The dump yard has been in existence for more than a century, but large-scale burning of garbage is a recent practice that has left the residents seething.

The smoke and flying debris also cause problems to motorists, especially twowheeler riders who use the stretch to reach the Grand Southern Trunk (... Read more..

Expert suggests road map after BSEB unbundling

Bihar government is giving final touches to the much-awaited restructuring plan for the state-owned, loss-making Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) for paving the way for the entry of private players in the power sector.

In this regard, Sunil Wadhwa, MD of North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL), a joint venture between Tata Power and Government of Delhi for power distribution, gave some tips to Bihar for a turnaround in the power scenario after the BSEB unbundling, during his visit to Patna last week. He said that Bihar's situation was similar to that of Delhi at the time of unbundling... Read more..