Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Master Plan ready for making Chandigarh model solar city

Chandigarh will be the first model solar city of the country. Power minister Piyush Goyal has informed the Lok Sabha that master plan has been already prepared. The solar city cell has also been established.

The minister further said that UT Administration, Chandigarh has empaneled 48 Solar Power Aggregators from whom any resident of Chandigarh can install Rooftop Solar Power Plant and can avail 30% subsidy... Read more..

Renewable certificate trading sees 30 per cent growth in July

Renewable Energy Certificate trade increased 30 per cent in July 2016 against the previous corresponding period.

They were bought mostly by obligated captive power and open access consumers.

The trading session saw 1.63 lakh RECs being sold against 1.25 lakh in the previous period.

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Consensus likely on limiting carbon emissions: IATA

Global airlines body International Air Transport Association (IATA) has expressed confidence that a consensus will be reached on limiting the carbon emissions in the aviation sector during the forthcoming ICAO Assembly.

Global Market Based Measures (GMBMs), a potential means for limiting or reducing carbon emissions, have been under consideration of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for many... Read more..

This Gujarat village is harvesting a sunny crop

Dhundi is home to the world's first solar irrigation cooperative, where farmers harness the sun to water their crops and sell the excess to the grid.
For years, Raman Parmar, 45, used a diesel pump to irrigate the crops on his 12-bigha farm in Thamna village in Gujarat's Anand district, spending Rs 500 a day on fuel. In March last year, he installed a solar-powered irrigation pump, and within four months harvested his first `crop', earning Rs 7,500 for the power he sold to the grid.

Solar power capacity addition outstrips wind in Q1

Solar power has overtaken wind power in new capacity addition for the first time in the country.

During the first quarter of current fiscal, solar power sector added 1,031 MW of new capacity when compared with 374 MW of new capacity added by the wind segment, according to Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

... Read more..

Azure Power to set up solar projects atop DLF properties

Solar energy developer Azure Power has tied up with DLF to set up solar projects on rooftops of the builder's properties, mainly in Gurgaon, where the first smart grid is coming up.

The green energy developer is aiming at commissioned capacity of more than 1,000 mw spread across 15 states in the current financial year.

... Read more..

Carbon-financed cookstove fails to deliver hoped-for benefits in the field

Replacing traditional cooking fires and stoves in the developing world with “cleaner” stoves is a potential strategy to reduce household air pollution that worsens climate change and is a leading global killer.

A new study by researchers from the University of British Columbia, University of Washington and elsewhere — which measured ambient and indoor household air pollution before and after a carbon-finance... Read more..

NKDA gets JICA tips for developing waste management system

Following suggestions from officials of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) will draw a detailed map of all residents and commuting public and have performance oriented solid waste collection system using advanced technologies like giving a smart phone with GPS to each worker.

South Delhi civic body to use LED lamps for street lighting

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) will cut its electricity and maintenance bill for street lighting by almost 50 per cent due to the installation of LED lamps.

According to Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), SDMC will cut its electricity and maintenance bill for street lights to ₹56 crore from ₹104 crore

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Why Starbucks issued its first 'sustainability' bond

Slowly but surely, U.S. companies are waking up to the notion that bonds can be a useful financing mechanism for all manner of corporate sustainability projects.

In February, Apple shook up the market with a $1.5 billion green bond issue — the largest undertaken by any U.S. tech company — that will pay for a range of environmental initiatives.

... Read more..

SBI-Macquire in talks to buy Hindustan Power Project's operational alternate power assets

A private equity fund, jointly managed by State Bank of India and Australia's Macquarie Group, is in early talks with Hindustan Power Projects (erstwhile Moser Baer Power Projects) to acquire operational alternate power assets portfolio of the New Delhi-based company, two people with knowledge of the development said.

Hindustan Power Projects has an operational portfolio of 270 mw and is selling operational... Read more..

Manipur Joins “UDAY” Scheme

The Government of India, the State of Manipur and the DISCOM of Manipur signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under the Scheme UDAY – “Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana” for operational turnaround of the DISCOM. 

Manipur is the fourteenth State to join UDAY. It is also the first North Eastern State to opt for UDAY for improving the efficiency of the DISCOM. The combined DISCOM debt (including CPSU dues) that... Read more..