Sustainability Outlook Headlines

MNRE to allocate Rs. 142 crore for National Biogas and Manure Management Programme

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced that it is implementing the National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NBMMP) for setting up of family type biogas plants in rural and semi-urban areas of the country. A target of 1,00,000 biogas plants has been fixed for the current year. This information was given by Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

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India’s NTPC awaits solar tender changes, commissions 50MW in Andhra Pradesh

India’s largest utility NTPC is expected to change its tender strategy for its next 5GW of solar, according to consultancy firm Bridge to India.

The next 5GW were reported in July, but without any indication of the new mechanism, except the expectation that NTPC would do away with bundling solar with thermal power stations, because there is now limited capacity left of the older thermal plants.... Read more..

Gusty winds push up power production to 1800 MW in Karnataka

It’s a windfall, literally, as far as electricity generation from wind energy is concerned. Gusty winds sweeping through the State has given a boost to the generation of renewable energy. Power generation crossed 1,800 MW in July, which was around 1,805 MW on Tuesday as well. This is nearly 25 per cent of the total peak demand of the State, and one of the highest in recent years.

Though dynamic, the average... Read more..

Few households use clean fuel for cooking in Assam: National Family Health Survey

The number of households in the state using clean fuel to meet their cooking needs has seen a mere three per cent rise in the last decade, a National Family Health Survey 4 (2015-16) revealed.
According to the report which was released a few months ago, clean fuel for cooking referred to the use of electricity, LPG/natural gas and biogas as a cooking medium.
The report, under the head Population and Household Profile, said only 25.1% of households in Assam used clean fuel for cooking in 2015-2016... Read more..

Swedish windmill firm FlowOcean scouting for Indian partners

Swedish company FlowOcean AB, which plans to set up floating offshore windmills for power generation, is looking for partners in India and European countries for its first commercial venture.

The company, which launched commercial operations seven months ago and is yet to execute a project anywhere, is talking to its potential partners in India, Scotland, Belgium and Sweden, to set up such windmills under a... Read more..

New York approves 50% renewable energy target and subsidises nuclear

The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved an ambitious plan for the state to generate half of its power from renewable energy sources by 2030, and will rely on nuclear to get there.

The plan includes the guarantee of subsidy for three nuclear power plants to lessen the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. The new energy standard, approved Monday, will now divert US$965 million in additional... Read more..

Centre to start process for making Ethanol from biomass: Nitin Gadkari

The Centre would soon initiate measures to make ethanol out of biomass that would create “tremendous demand for farm waste”, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

A Cabinet note on making ethanol out of biomass like wheat, cotton and rice straw will be moved in the coming weeks which will allow blending of this bio-fuel into petroleum to 22.5 per cent as against 10 per cent done currently, he said.... Read more..

10 waste-to-energy plants to produce 66 mw power in Andhra

The state government has granted permission to 10 urban civic bodies for entering into agreements with private players to produce about 66 mw of power from garbage. Four major power generating firms in the private sector have come forward to set up the power plants. The respective local bodies will provide land and garbage to the companies. The government would buy back power generated by these plants at Rs 7.5 per unit for 25 years. After expiry of the agreement, the firms will hand over the plant in running... Read more..

Make way for brighter, more efficient green LEDs

A team of researchers has come up with a new method for making brighter and more efficient green light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Using an industry-standard semiconductor growth technique, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign created gallium nitride (GaN) cubic crystals grown on a silicon substrate that are capable of producing powerful green light for advanced solid-state lighting.... Read more..

Solar energy firm Freyr close to raising seed funding

Hyderabad-based solar power services provider Freyr Energy Services Pvt. Ltd is in advanced talks with several potential investors in India and Europe to raise seed funding for supporting its expansion plans, a top company executive told VCCircle.

Co-founder and managing director Saurabh Marda said the company will raise Rs 5 crore ($745,000) in this round, mainly to install solar systems and marketing. He... Read more..

Amplus Solar ties up with Real-estate major Vatika group to solarize their buildings

Amplus Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd. has announced that it has tied up with Vatika group to set up solar rooftop systems in their buildings.

The total capacity is 750kW spread across 6 buildings in Gurgaon and would provide on-site renewable power. Out of this, a 100kW system on Vatika Business Park, a state-of-art commercial hub on Sohna Road is already operational.

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Lucknow collectorate to run on solar power

Taking its first green step towards becoming a smart city, the Lucknow Collectorate on Sunday became the first district collectorate in the state to be solar-empowered. Constructed at the cost of Rs 98 lakh, the 135 kilowatt (Kw) capacity plant is part of the smart city project and would supply power to the entire collectorate, saving Rs 13 lakh per annum in electricity bills.

"The plant, which is first od... Read more..