Sustainability Outlook Headlines

PEC to create pollution profile of Chandigarh city

PEC University of Technology will develop air and sound quality friendly route recommendation system for the city. The university has bagged a research project entitled 'City Probe: A city-scale pervasive sensing system for monitoring road conditions, air and sound pollution'.

The project is sponsored under the ministry of human resource development called IMPacting Research Innovation and Technology (... Read more..

Central Pollution Control Board readies action plan to fight bad air

After being rapped for not adopting any emergency smog control measure, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is preparing an action plan that will be submitted to the Supreme Court on November 25. To draft the plan, the board has depended on the AQI calendar that shows the seasonal shift in air pollution levels.

The calendar shows the period from November to February to be the worst with the highest... Read more..

Graphene Solar Absorber Could Enable Cheap Thermal Desalination

To those uninitiated to the costs of thermal desalination of water, the idea of simply vaporizing water to take out the impurities seems like it would offer a limitless supply of fresh water just by using it on the world’s oceans. However, the energy costs for thermal desalination has been estimated at around 80 megawatt-hours per megaliter of water produced, rendering it too costly for just about everyone except Gulf States rich in oil and desperate for fresh water.

... Read more..

Beijing to ban polluting cars during smog alerts

Beijing will next year ban highly polluting old cars from being driven whenever air quality alerts are issued in the city or neighbouring regions, the city's environmental protection bureau said on Monday.

China has adopted various measures over the years to reduce the blankets of smog which shroud many of the country's northern cities in the winter, causing hazardous traffic conditions and disrupting daily... Read more..

Smart city: SPVs set up for Ajmer, Kota

Special purpose vehicles (SPV) that will spearhead the enormous task of transforming Ajmer and Kota into smart cities have been formed by the state government.

The SPVs (in Kota and Ajmer) will plan, appraise, approve, release funds, implement, manage, operate, monitor and evaluate the smart city

Local Self Government (LSG) principal secretary will be the chairman of the SPVs, which have been registered under the Companies Act, 2013. The district collector, mayor and urban... Read more..

Rs 67.01 Crore Sanctioned under Solar City Programme

A total amount of Rs. 67.01 crore has been sanctioned for preparation of master plans, solar city cells, promotional activities and installation of renewable energy projects and an amount of Rs. 24.16 crore has been released, so far, under Solar City Programme.
This was stated by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
 
Shri Goyal further stated that Out of 7 identified solar... Read more..

Climate proofing: Himachal prepares $150 million plan to manage natural water resources

Recognising the challenge to its water resources in the face of climate change, Himachal Pradesh has drawn-up a USD 150 million project to manage the state’s stressed water ecology and restore nearly 10,000 hectares of its river basin.

In effect, the state hopes to “climate proof” its water resources. The money will be sought under the Green Climate Fund (GCF), an international fund under aegis of the United... Read more..

EU offers tech expertise to India to combat air pollution

With Delhi and many other cities grappling with increasing pollution, the European Union has offered its best technical expertise to help India combat deteriorating air quality.

Under the initiative, the EU will initially launch a project in three cities in January to help authorities come out with effective measures to reduce pollution. Many top European companies offering clean air solutions will be... Read more..

Mahbubnagar village successfully builds 336 toilets in 48 hours

Hardly 40km from the Mahbubnagar district headquarters, Sallonipally was, till just a few days ago, like any other village in the district.

But over a period of 48 hours, the village has successfully built 336 toilets, ensuring that every household in Sallonipally has an individual sanitary latrine. Till the drive was completed, of the 384 households in Sallonipally, only 48 households had toilet facilities... Read more..

'Significant' level of stubble burning in Haryana, Punjab: Government

There was "significant" level of stubble burning this year in Punjab and Haryana, however, there is no "conclusive" study to suggest that it "always" impacts quality of air in Delhi, Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

The statement was made in a written reply given by MoS for Environment, Forest & Climate Change Anil Madhav Dave to a query.

... Read more..

ABB India, IIT Madras to develop multi-village microgrid models

To strengthen UAY scheme, ABB India and IIT Madras will collaborate to develop a power management system to optimise the operation of multiple microgrids, with and without grid connection, while managing electricity supply to villages. 

This system will also enable the integration of individual solar photovoltaic (PV) rooftops to a village microgrid, ABB India said in a filing to BSE. 

... Read more..

Expedite approvals for power projects in Andhra Pradesh

Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao requested Union power minister Piyush Goyal to expedite approvals for 4,000 MW Yadadri and 1,080 MW Bhadradri thermal power projects.

Two projects were stalled due to objections from National Green Tribunal and Union environment ministry. After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, CM KCR stayed back in New Delhi to meet Piyush Goyal on Sunday. Along... Read more..