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Sustainability Outlook Headlines

SunEdison India to buy Continuum Wind Energy

pSolar technology firm SunEdison India has acquired Singaporebased Continuum Wind Energy for an undisclosed sump

pldquoSunEdison has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Continuum Wind Energy Singapore with assets in Indiardquo SunEdison said in a statement here on Tuesdayp

pldquoIndia is a core market for us and offers tremendous growth opportunities in wind and solar energy With the acquisition of Continuum a leading wind energy company in India we have added significant assets and a skilled wind development team to drive further growth in our renewable energy... Read more..

Source: Greentech Lead

Earth is running out of groundwater Study

pbr
Human activity is leading to the rapid draining of about one third of the planet39s largest underground water reserves and it is unclear how much fluid remains in them two new studies have foundp

pConsequently huge sections of the population are using up groundwater without knowing when it will run out researchers said in findings that will appear in the journal Water Resources Research and were posted online on Tuesdayp

pquotAvailable physical and chemical measurements are simply insufficientquot University of California Irvine professor and principal investigator... Read more..

Source: The Economic Times

An Inexpensive Green Vehicle

pA PESCE PES College of Engineering Mandya student has designed an affordable and ecofriendly electric car that runs at just 20 paise a kilometrep

pK T Prakash a final year automobile engineering student was driven to invent this car because of the urgent need to reduce pollution and save scant resources like petrol Prakash put his heart and soul into making the IndoElectra which he says can be made available for just Rs nbsp76000p

pAlthough he worked independently on the project with no financial assistance from anyone nbspPrakash gives full credit to the faculty members of... Read more..

Source: Indian Express

Google starts to visualise the future of cities

pGoogle has announced a new venture called Sidewalk Labs a smart cities project that it hopes will reinvent the urban spaces we live and work withinp

pThe tech giant will be running the initiative alongside former CEO of Bloomberg and New York City39s deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding Dan Doctoroff Sidewalk Labs will be run out of New York with the aim of developing technology quotat the intersection of the physical and digital worlds with a focus on improving city life for residents businesses and governmentsquotp

pThe press release announcing the launch... Read more..

Source: WIREDCOUK

World Bank may not fund largest solar project

pWorld39s largest solar power project proposed at Rewa in Madhya Pradesh may not receive crucial World Bank funds after the Centre asked the state to form a governmentowned company to receive the loanbr
br
The state on the other hand is banking on private investors for its bigticket project Big players like Adani group have already evinced interest to take over 750MW power projectbr
br
Last month department of economic affairs in Union ministry of finance put a rider to World Bank funds saying the project has to be launched through a government company said sources... Read more..

Source: The Times of India

India grappling with ewaste issue Prakash Javadekar

pPeople changing mobile phone handsets every few months these days is creating a big problem for the environment ministry The country is facing the issue of ewaste with 30 crore mobile handsets getting dumped every yearp

pUnion Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar revealed the staggering figure during a press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday He informed that his ministry was contemplating bringing in a new set of rules to combat this menace and has already come out with guidelines for the buyback of such handsetsp

pJavadekar said solid waste management is... Read more..

Source: DNA

Tatas make fourth round of investment in Swiss solar firm

pTata Industries and a group of strategic investors have made their fourth round of funding in Swiss startup solar company Flisomp

pThe Swiss company which is developing innovative technologies for manufacturing of flexible thin film CIGS solar modules has received an additional investment of 10 million Swiss franc about 68 crorep

pIn 2013 the company attracted an investment of 425 million Swiss franc about 290 crore for the pilotproduction plant with an annual capacity of 15 MW at NiederhasliZurich in Switzerlandp

pWith the investment received in 2013 Flisom... Read more..

Source: BusinessLine

MNRE to review implementation of outcome of REINVEST at 4th Zonal Review Meeting

pMNRE has announced that it will conduct 4th Zonal Meetingnbspon 12th June 2015 in Bhopal to review the implementation of outcome of REINVEST 2015 covering states of Madhya Pradesh amp Chhattisgarh that took place on 1517 February 2015 at New Delhip

pDuring REINVEST 387 investors project developers companies PSUs had submitted ldquoGreen Energy Commitmentrdquo letters to the Government to develop and set up RE projects aggregating to more than 272 GW in the next 5 years Similarly 30 major Banks and Financial Institutions have given commitments to finance bankable projects in... Read more..

Source: EnergeticaIndia

Kingfisher Highlights Progress Toward Net Positive Goals in 2015 Report

pA collaborative approach to responsible sourcing packaging and the circular economy has taken DIY giant Kingfisher to new heights in the second year of its Net Positive sustainability planp

pOn Wednesday the parent company of BampQ Screwfix and other European homeimprovement brands released its annual Net Positive Report updating stakeholders on its sustainability ambition to transform the business to have a restorative impact on the environmentp

pKingfisherrsquos group sustainability director Richard Gillies said the strategy ndash which incorporates 50 specific targets... Read more..

Source: Sustainable Brands

Morgan Stanley Closes Issuance of Inaugural 500 Million Green Bond

pMorgan Stanley has announced that it closed on the issuance of a 500 million green bond its first green bond as part of the companyrsquos strategy to advance marketbased solutions to social and environmental challengesp

pFunds equal to the net proceeds of Morgan Stanleyrsquos green bond will be allocated to various renewable energy and energy efficiency projects Much of these funds will correspond with investments in existing and future thirdparty renewable energy projects primarily wind farms including Route 66 Wind a 150 MW wind farm under construction in Texas and Rattlesnake... Read more..

Source: Sustainable Brands

Ecofriendly buses for Pune sugar belt cities on cards

pBuses running on biofuels in cities like Pune and Kolhapur will soon become a reality if the central government39s ambitious 39Green Bus39 project goes according to planp

pUnion minister of road transport and highway Nitin Gadkari has asked the state government to prepare a plan to introduce green buses in Pune and other cities of the sugar belt He urged the sugarrich western Maharashtra to make use of ethanol to operate its transport systemp

pquotChief minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked the state administration to work on the plan and urban development officials are... Read more..

Source: The Times of India

Indian Railways joins national carbon cutting programme

pIn perhaps the proudest moment for me as a professional the Indian Railways has passed a resolution to formally join the India Greenhouse Gas programme nbspp

pAs a boy I have fond memories of travelling by train and discovering the countryside around mep

pNow I know that very child every citizen of this country can be more confident that his or her journey is helping to create a more healthy and secure future for the countryp

pThe railways consume an enormous amount of energyp

pIn 2013 alone the Indian Railways consumed more than 175 billion KWh of electricity... Read more..

Source: RTCC

Indian Battery manufacturers shifts focus to advanced applications through common platform

pIndian electricity market in its quest for reliable and quality power supply for all is evolving rapidlyGovernmentrsquos ambitious targets of adding 175 GW of renewable energy and heavy investment promise in expansion and upgradation of transmission and distribution network are leading to making of robust electricity marketPower Minister of India Mr Piyush Goyal has said that the transmission and distribution TampD sector can expect private and government sector investments of nearly USD 50 billion over the next four years Recently government of India launched National Smart Grid Mission... Read more..

Source: EnergeticaIndia

13000MW of solar parks planned by this year end

pThe Ministry of New and Renewable Energy MNRE has got green signal from the Prime Minister Office PMO for setting up 13000 MW of solar parks across 20 states by the end of this year The projects will be executed by Solar Energy Corporation of India SECIp

pMNRE had already started preliminary research on these projects For ten parks the detailed project reports DPR and funds have already been released According to a senior MNRE official this will help states achieve their targets to be a part of the 1 lakh MW solar power network by 2022p

pMadhya Pradesh will build two 750MW... Read more..

Source: Energy Next

Piyush Goyal launches energy efficient lighting initiatives in Varanasi

pIn a move that aims to promote energy efficiency in the ancient temple city of Varanasi Piyush Goyal the Minister for Power Coal and New amp Renewable Energy launched lsquoDomestic Efficient Lighting Programmersquo DELP and LEDBased Smart Street Light programmesp

pSpeaking on the occasion the minister said that by adopting energy efficient LED lights Varanasi will be able to bring down electricity demand by 45 MW thereby resulting in savings to the tune of Rs 68 crore Also present at the launch was Yassir Shah Minister of Energy Government of Uttar Pradeshp

pThis energy... Read more..

Source: Energy Next

CA World Leader in Organic Cotton Use

pCampA is leading the 2014 Textile Exchange39s Organic Cotton ranking of quotTop 10 Users by Volumequot The results were published last week in the latest Organic Cotton Market Report CampA has used more than 46000 tons of certified organic cotton in the 2014 fiscal year more than any other retailer globally The report also states that CampA came fifth in the quotTop 10 Users by Growthquot categoryp

pquotCampA39s commitment to drive meaningful change in organic cotton is unbrokenquot says Liesl Truscott European amp Farm Engagement Director of Textile Exchange For many years CampA... Read more..

Source: SYSCON Media

Otto Group calls for an international textile alliance

pThe Executive Board of the Otto Group has decided to join the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles initiated by the German Federal Government As a result Germanyrsquos largest textile retailer will transform its active role in coshaping the negotiations into a formal membership At the same time prior to the G7 summit in Germany the Otto Group calls for a textile alliance at international levelp

pldquoThe goal is to bring this partnership to an international level as soon as possiblerdquo explains HansOtto Schrader Chairman of the Otto Group Executive Board ldquoDiffering... Read more..

Source: Otto Group press release

In 31 states wells water is 510m below surface Maharashtra

pThe report of the Central Groundwater Board CGWB said that as many as 31 of the wells analysed in Maharashtra in November 2014 had water levels a good 5 to 10 metres below the surface The levels were between 2 and 5 metres in 44 of the wells surveyed in the staep

pThe checks across the country are carried out in January the premonsoon period of March April and May in August and in Novemberp

pThe report said the groundwater levels have been falling almost across the country except for a few states like Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Karnataka Kerala and Tamil Nadunbspp

pA... Read more..

Source: The Times of India

Haryana 70 groundwater unfit in Jind

pThe official figures of water supply seem at variance from the ground reality raising doubts about the utilisation of grants to strengthen the delivery system in the districtp

pWhile figures by the Public Health Engineering Department reveal a supply of 70 135 litre per capita per day LPCD to residents complaints for shortage of drinking water are rising in the districtp

pSources said a majority of the residents are dependent on canal water as 70 per cent of the groundwater is unfit for human consumption due to high level of chloride and salinity while in the remaining area... Read more..

Source: Tribune India

Railways not to spend a penny more on energy this year despite carrying more passengers and freight Suresh Prabhu

pThe Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has said that the Indian Railways have taken several steps in the last six months towards Energy Conservation and Environment Protection Addressing a Seminar here today on ldquoEnvironmental challenges before Indian Railwaysrdquo Shri Prabhu said that the Railways will not spend a penny more on the energy bill of Rs30000 crores incurred last financial year despite increasing freight and passenger trafficnbspp

pThe Railway Minister said that he has asked all Zonal Railways to conduct energy audit and water audit in efforts to... Read more..

Source: Press Information Bureau Government of India

India ranks fourth in RE attractiveness index

pIndia now ranks fourth on the renewable energy country attractiveness index of Ernestamp Young EY The nations that made it to the top three of the list are China US and Germany respectively The former fourth ranker Japan declined to rank fifth The last on the index is Russia on 40th positionp

pThe index highlights issued by EY refer to the latest forecasts of increasing new wind and solar power capacity to 13 GW and 10 GW respectively over the next four years It also talks about Indian policies to increase geothermal capacity to 1 GW by 2022 This is part of a larger plan to push... Read more..

Source: Energy Next

CII launches India specific Green Product Certification UL is the Knowledge Partner

pToday CII has launchednbsplsquoGreenProrsquo Green Product Certification for India As part of this initiative CII has inked an MoU with UL Underwriters Laboratoriesnbspanbspglobal independent safety science company dedicated to promoting safe living and working environmentsbr
UL will be the Knowledge Partner with CII for offering GreenPro Services in the Countryp

plsquoGreenProrsquo adopts a holistic cradle to cradle approach in assessing products that includenbspemdesign raw materials manufacturing process performance during use recycle amp reuse atnbspemthe end of the... Read more..

Source: CII Press Release

Electric Buses Could Beat CNG Buses By A Mile Or Nearly 6

pAt one point in time compressed natural gas was supposed to rescue urban mass transit from the horror of diesel bus fumes but it seems that moment has come and gone The US company Proterra has been testing out its new highperformance electric buses in Altoona Pennsylvania and so far the results indicate that zeroemission electric buses are far more efficient than their gassy cousinsp

pWersquove been following the development of Proterrarsquos electric buses along with our sister site Gas2org so letrsquos check out the latest newsp

pstrongElectric Buses Vs Diesel Vs... Read more..

Source: Clean Technica

IFC to invest in Indian RE market

pInternational Finance Corporation IFC the World Bankrsquos financing arm has announced that they wonrsquot be investing in coal projects anymore The power sector investment of IFC will now be directed into the renewable energy and hydropower projectsp

pGaetan Tiberghien principal investment officer said ldquoWe do not finance coal projects any more While natural gas is a difficult sector solar and wind projects can be deployed rapidly to meet the governmentrsquos 24times7 power supply planrdquop

pThe solar and the wind projects of India have received a debt investment of 275... Read more..

Source: Energy Next

Urban forestry scheme to combat climate change

pThe environment ministry will launch an urban forestry scheme on June 6 which will involve afforesting degraded forest lands in and around 200 cities On the occasion of World Environment Day environment minister Prakash Javadekar said the forestry scheme will act against climate change by creating a carbon sink and against air pollution in cities The scheme will include a quotsmriti vanquot service where any resident can plant a sapling in memory of his or her loved one by paying Rs 2000 to the state forest departmentp

pThe ministry is also considering starting tree surveys in... Read more..

Source: The Economic Times
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