Sustainability Outlook Headlines

How Much Does It Take To Make The Electricity Sector Compatible With A 2°C Scenario?

How much should we invest in renewables by 2040 to make the electricity sector compatible with a 2°C scenario? $12.1 trillion, says BNEF.

Data released last week by BNEF and CERES on the occasion of the 2016 investor summit on climate risk suggest that $12.1 trillion of renewable energy investments could be needed by 2040 to make the electricity sector compatible with a 2°C scenario.

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Caterpillar Invests In Developing Off-Grid Energy In Emerging Markets

Caterpillar has joined First Solar and several other prominent companies in investing in an energy solutions provider for emerging markets.

Caterpillar Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of construction and mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc., announced that it is one of eight investors in a $20 million Series A investment round in Powerhive, an energy solutions provider for emerging markets. In... Read more..

Indian local content compromise could be ‘fillip’ for domestic manufacturers

India has proposed a compromise in its trade dispute with the US by removing its local content requirement from private sector solar projects and continuing them in the public sector.

In August last year, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruled against India’s Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) for locally sourced cells and modules to be used in certain Indian solar projects under the National Solar Mission... Read more..

OEKO-TEX launches ‘Eco Passport’ certification

With the aim of promoting comprehensive management of textile products and processes throughout the supply chain, Swiss certification company OEKO-TEX recently introduced a new program for sustainable textile chemicals, called Eco Passport.

Eco Passport will enable textile processing chemicals and chemical compounds’ manufacturers to check whether or not their products can be used in sustainable textile... Read more..

ACME wins 150 MW solar project in Haryana

Gurgaon-based solar power developer ACME Solar has secured a 150 MW solar power project in Haryana at a tariff rate of Rs 5 per unit.

The company will sell the power to distribution company Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd under the renewable purchase obligations (RPO) programme from next year.

ACME will... Read more..

Rooftop solar panels in every household soon

The government is set to promote the use of clean energy by widening the ambit of the state solar power policy-2015 to include individual households.

SKG Rahate, principal secretary of the energy department, said individual households will be encouraged to install rooftop power plants as per the solar power policy. "We are finetuning the provisions for subsidy and other incentives to be given to the... Read more..

15 MW waste-to-energy plant coming up in Guntur

A 15 Mega Watt waste-to-energy plant, one of the country’s largest commercial waste-to-energy facility is coming up at Naidupet village in Guntur district.

The 20-acre stretch of land is located amid hills abutting the Guntur-Chilakaluripet National Highway No 5 and is located far away from residential colonies.

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Corporate Funding For Solar Sector Reaches $25.3 Billion In 2015

Total corporate funding for the global solar sector reached $25.3 billion in 2015, according to Mercom Capital Group.

Mercom Capital Group, one of the leading clean energy communication firms, published its 2015 Q4 and Annual Solar Funding and M&A Report this week, investigating solar market activity covering all corporate funding. According to Mercom, total corporate funding for the fourth quarter of... Read more..

Wastewater Recycling Process Can Reduce Disposal Costs 98%

A vacuum distillation system by H2O GmbH has reduced the amount of wastewater produced and saved more than €100,000 ($108,280) annually for thermofin, a German metalworking company.

Bernd Löffler, general manager at thermofin, says the investment paid for itself in just one year, delivering savings by eliminating wastewater and disposal costs.

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Maharashtra’s first solar power operated water supply plant commissioned in Nagpur

The first solar power operated mini-water supply plant of Maharashtra has been commissioned in Hingna village of Mouda Taluka in Nagpur district.

The major objective of the plant is to facilitate villagers to get pure water supply for a very low cost which can easily be borne by the Gram Panchayat. A private organisation, Rite Water Solutions, has installed the unit in the village on an experimental basis,... Read more..

HC asks NMC to implement ‘waste to energy project’

The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to study report on 'waste to energy project' for the city and come up with feasible plan to implement it within two weeks. The report was submitted Pune-based Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics and city-based NEERI.

A division bench comprising Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Pradeep Deshmukh further... Read more..

India's 2014-15 GDP growth revised down to 7.2%

The Central Government has marginally revised downward India's GDP for 2014-15 to 7.2 per cent from the earlier estimate of 7.3 per cent after factoring in latest data on agriculture and industrial production.

"The real GDP or GDP at constant (2011-12) prices for the years 2014-15 and 2013-14 stands at Rs 105.52 lakh crore and Rs 98.39 lakh crore, respectively, showing growth of 7.2 per cent during 2014-15,... Read more..