Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Maruti Suzuki claims to have brought down CO2 emission by 116

pCar market leader Maruti Suzuki has brought down the weighted average of CO2 emission by 116 in the last five years through fuel efficiency improvements reduction of exhaust emissions and development of alternate fuel productsp

pOn the eve of World Environment Day the company announced that it would continue to work towards reducing vehicle emissionsp

pKenichi Ayukawa MD amp CEO said quotMaruti Suzuki has always been known for class leading fuel efficiency In the last few years the company has worked systematically towards reducing vehicle emissions and achieved new... Read more..

Four atom bombs per sec dropped on Earth

plsquoLike four atomic bombs being dropped on earth every secondrsquo is how Prof Hans Joachim Schellnhuber describes the mauling the earth is taking from manmade greenhouse gases Four bombs every second works out to 125 million every yearp

pProf Schellnhuber Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Potsdam Germany who has also served as an advisor to Chancellor Angela Merkel explains that is the quantum of incoming solar radiation getting absorbed by the earth instead of being reflected back due to the blanket of greenhouse gases in the atmospherep

pWhy... Read more..

Indias ReNew Power Plans To Raise 100 To 150 Million

pOne of Indiarsquos leading renewable energy independent power producers ReNew Power Ventures plans to raise fresh capital of 100 to 150 millionp

pThe Goldman Sachsbacked ReNew Power has announced plans to raise fresh capital to expand its generation capacity The funds expected to be up to 150 million will be used for installation of 400 MW of solar power capacity The company has so far concentrated its efforts in the wind energy sectorp

pReNew Power currently operates 14 wind energy projects across 4 states in India with total installed capacity of 545 MW ReNew Power... Read more..

Beijing Adds Another ElectricCar Incentive RushHour Access To Any Road

pTo get more of its residents to switch to electric cars the Chinese capital of Beijing has not only offered incentives but also privilegesp

pWhen the city severely restricted newcar registrations to cut pollution it gave electric cars priority for the remaining slotsp

pNow the government is offering electriccar drivers another notable perkp

pElectric cars will be made exempt from a policy restricting the number of vehicles on Beijing roads during rush hour reports The Wall Street Journal sub requiredp

pThe exemption will be in effect from June 1 2015 to April... Read more..

Coke Unveils Worlds First Entirely PlantBased PET Bottle

pThe CocaCola Company today unveiled the worldrsquos first PET plastic bottle made entirely from plant materials at the World Expo mdash Milanp

pPlantBottle packaging is CocaColarsquos vision to develop a more responsible plantbased alternative to packaging traditionally made from fossil fuels and other nonrenewable materials PlantBottle packaging uses patented technology that converts natural sugars found in plants into the ingredients for making PET plastic bottles The packaging looks functions and recycles like traditional PET but has a lighter footprint on the planet and its... Read more..

NRE to soon distribute solar power devices to people Nagaland

pThe Department of New and Renewable Energy NRE Nagaland will soon be distributing solar power devices which will benefit the peoplep

pSchemes including solar power packs which the department has taken up would be very useful for farm houses where electricity was not available said director NRE T S Angami while talking to reportersp

pAnother scheme which the department has taken up was the solar power pump where beneficiaries can pump water during day time and use the same device for domestic lighting at night he saidp

pIn both the projects 50 per cent of the cost has... Read more..

Follow tariff orders GERC tells GUVNL

pThe Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission GERC has warned the staterun Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd GUVNL to comply 39scrupulously39 with its tariff orders in the case of making payments to the solar photovoltaic power project developersp

pThe power regulator also directed GUVNL to make differential payment to the solar power developers according to the tariff determined by it in 2012 A group of solar power developers had approached GERC as the state39s power holding company had purchased power at Rs 98unit instead of Rs 1125unit as determined by the regulatorp

pComing... Read more..

Govt firms to raise Rs50 bn from green bonds for RE projects

pStaterun firms in India plan to raise Rs5000 crore through green bonds to finance the countryrsquos efforts to achieve its clean energy goals for 2022p

pIndia is targeting clean energy capacity expansion to 175 gigawatts by 2022 It is about five times the existing capacityp

pPower Finance Corporation PFC Rural Electrification Corporation REC and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ireda are among the firms that are to sell the taxfree bonds for the purposep

pLivemint reports that Ireda is expected to raise Rs2000 crore while PFC and REC would raise Rs1000 crore... Read more..

Governments target to set up 100 GW of solar plants drives local foreign companies

pEncouraged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi39s call to set up 100000 megawatt 100 gigawatt of solar plants in the country by 2022 foreign solar cell makers are setting up shop in India in partnership with local players What is driving them is the government39s target and the opportunity to export products from here to other countriesp

pLocal players are equally upbeat as they see an opportunity to upgrade their technology via a foreign partner and achieve economies of scale Currently domestically manufactured solar modules are not only expensive but also uneconomical compared with... Read more..

Telangana Solar Power Policy-2015

The Government of Telangana has recently announced its new solar policy. The new policy will be known as The Telangana Solar Power Policy 2015. The new Policy will come in force from the date of issue and will remain in operation for five (5) years and all the Solar Projects that are commissioned during the operative period will be eligible for the incentives declared under this policy, for a period of ten (10) years from the date of commissioning.

Objectives of the Policy:

The objective of the Policy includes long term energy security, sustainable fuel for energy generation... Read more..

Haryana govt pushes for installation of solar power plants in all huge properties in Gurgaon

September 15 has been declared as the deadline by the Haryana government for the Gurgaonites, who own property spanning 500 square yards or more, to set up a solar power plant within their premises.

The decision has been taken to save electricity and promote the use of renewable energy. The owners also need to make sure that a capacity of atleast five percent of the total connected load is borne by the solar plant. Post the deadline, a fine ranging between Rs 10,000 - Rs 10 lakh might be imposed on the default22222ers.

Haryana Renewal Energy Department Agency (HAREDA) will... Read more..

PhilRice studying heat-tolerant rice variety as it pushes climate change-ready technologies

Researchers identified promising breeding lines that exhibit tolerance to drought and heat stress that will pave way to the development of new varieties that addresses climate change in the country’s major rice-growing areas.

Thelma Padolina, lead researcher of the study entitled, “Screening of rice-induced mutants for heat and drought tolerance,” presented at the 23rd Federation of Crop Science Societies of the Philippines, Inc.

Scientific Conference in Clark Zone, Pampanga last month, said although rice normally grows at temperatures between 20 and 35°C, it is at its most... Read more..