Sustainability Outlook Headlines

India’s Punjab tendering for 15MW of canal top solar PV projects

Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) has issued a request for proposals (RfP) for 15MW of grid-connected solar PV proejcts on canal tops.

In an RfP document entitled ‘Golden Opoortunity – Canal top solar projects – Punjab’, PEDA said the projects would receive government funding of up to 30% of the project costs.

... Read more..

Dutch assistance to clean the Yamuna

India is collaborating with the Netherlands to clean the Yamuna.

A consortium of scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) and The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) are teaming up with their peers from the Delft University of Technology, Wageningten University and the Vrije Unversiteit in the Netherlands to set up a network of sewage treatment plants that will clean wastewater in... Read more..

USAID announces five new partnerships in India

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced five new partnerships, four of which are with the Government of India, to expand Indo-US cooperation on clean energy, environment and climate change. 

During the US-IndiaJoint Working Group on Combating Climate Change, USAID also announced its collaboration with the Forest Survey of India(FSI) to strengthen the latter's capacity to better... Read more..

BCA and Microsoft unveil smart portal for chillers

Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) on Wednesday unveiled a new software tool that will help building managers and owners make chiller plants more energy efficient.

Developed in partnership with American software giant Microsoft, the tool—known as the Chiller Efficiency Smart Portal—will use cutting-edge internet of things technology such as data analytics and cloud computing to monitor... Read more..

Industry thumbs up for India’s new Wind Power policy

The domestic industry has given a thumbs-up to the government's new policy for repowering of wind power projects. The new policy will provide a fillip to new investment proposals and infuse a fresh lease of life in the ailing sector, the industry has said.

The concessional interest rates offered by Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) as part of the policy over and above the interest rate rebates available to the new wind... Read more..

Mexico Will Launch Carbon Pricing In November

On Monday, September 7 (the Labor Day holiday in the US), the government of Mexico announced that the nation “south of the border” would soon join the growing ranks of countries that have adopted cap and trade to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Mexico’s pilot carbon pricing program will begin in November on a trial basis for 12 months. The demonstration project will serve as a testing ground for a national carbon market that Mexico intends to launch in 2018.

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India’s SECI tendering for 150MW in Gujarat solar park

Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) has invited bids for developers looking to set up 150MW of solar PV capacity in the state of Gujarat.

The grid-connected capacity to be installed in the Charanka Solar Park, will be divided into three 50MW projects under open category.

The tender comes under... Read more..

Vikram Solar to add 1.5 GW of module assembly capacity

India-based PV module manufacturer Vikram Solar has revealed plans to expand capacity to 2GW by 2019, up from recently completed expansions that have taken nameplate module capacity to 500MW.

Vikram Solar said that it had signed an MOU with module assembly equipment specialist teamtechnik, which will supply equipment as well as train operations managers, process engineers and service technicians at the PV... Read more..

Low-cost solar device converts sunlight to steam in dusty environment

A team of researchers from the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a novel, low-cost solar thermal energy conversion system that can easily generate steam from sunlight. The solar conversion system can help make technologies that rely on steam, like seawater desalination, wastewater treatment, residential water heating, medical tool sterilization and power generation, more efficient and affordable.

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India will soon be zero petroleum import country: Nitin Gadkari

With the Centre focusing more on developing alternative fuel economy, India will soon stop importing petroleum products, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said today.

"We are going to develop this country where our import of petroleum will be zero. We are promoting alternative fuel like ethanol, methanol, bio-CNG...this will boost the rural and agriculture centre and create huge employment," Road Transport and Highways Minister said.

Despite low prices globally, India at present is... Read more..

Groundwater use by Delhi Metro: NGT fines Jal Board

The National Green Tribunal has castigated Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and slapped a fine on it for not filing its response on a plea alleging that Delhi Metro was extracting groundwater to wash its trains, despite promising to do so in a few days a fortnight ago.

A bench headed by Justice UD Salvi slammed the counsel for DJB and slapped a fine of Rs 2000 on the department for making "loose statements" before it... Read more..

Turbhe & Koparkhairane most polluted city nodes: Green report

It is tough to breathe easy in Koparkhairane and Turbhe nodes which have violated the national permissible limits for pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, as per the city's Environmental Status Report (ESR).

Going by the figures over the past five years, all the four continuous ambient air monitoring stations (CAAQMS) in Airoli, Turbhe, Koparkhairane and Nerul have recorded violations for... Read more..