Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Japan builds coal plants, calls it a win for the climate

Japan is at it again. Back in December, the country got caught trying to pass off $1 billion worth of investments in coal-fired power plants in Indonesia as “climate finance” — that is, funding to fight climate change. Coal plants, of course, are the world’s single biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions.

Today, the Associated Press discovered over half a billion more: Japanese officials now say they are also counting $630 million in loans for coal plants in Kudgi, India, and Matarbari, Bangladesh, as climate finance. The Kudgi project has been marred by violent clashes... Read more..

Date : Mar 30

Source: Grist

Climate change costs

India has been hit by unusual weather. Much of the country has endured unseasonal rain, even hailstorms. In the process, nearly 30 per cent of the rabi planting seems to have been spoiled, with adverse implications for food availability and inflation, as well as farmer distress. The first half of March has been unusually cool, besides being the wettest for 100 years; this weirdness is likely a product of climate change. The weather has played havoc with the main rabi crops, like wheat, mustard and gram, as well as many vegetable and fruit crops on over 18 million hectares in almost all the... Read more..

Date : Mar 30

Source: Business Standard

Govt to subsidise imported gas-based power generation

To revive gas-based power generation, the government on Wednesday approved a mechanism for importing gas for power generation and supply of such power through a subsidy grant.

The government approved a reverse bidding process through which power plants will quote a rate, the subsidy for which will be released through the Power System Development Fund. The fund was for grid stability and security and as gas-based plants were best suited to meet the peak load demand, the fund would be used for subsidising such power, Piyush Goyal, Union minister for power and coal, said after a... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Business Standard

Government approves supply of cheap LNG to power plants; move to rescue investments worth Rs 60,000 cr

The Cabinet has approved the supply of cheap liquefied natural gas (LNG) for power plants to rescue investments worth Rs 60,000 crore that was on the verge of sinking because of fuel scarcity, for which the government has squarely blamed the fall in output from the KG-D6 field of Reliance Industries.

As the supply of gas is limited by import capacity, companies that need fuel will compete in a reverse auction by bidding the lowest amount of subsidy they need to supply electricity at Rs 5.50 per unit. To make gas affordable, states would forego some taxes, while gas... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Economic Times

Sagarmala to have 12 smart cities, coastal eco zones: Nitin Gadkari

At least 12 smart cities and several coastal economic zones will come up under the ambitious Sagarmala project, lifting India's GDP growth by 2 per cent, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today said.

"Sagarmala project which is a priority project for Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been designed in a fashion that it will see at least 12 smart cities at India's major ports besides special economic zones (SEZs)," Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Gadkari told reporters here.

Cabinet yesterday gave 'in-principle' nod to the project, aimed at port-led... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Economic Times

SunEdison Purchases 1,000 Energy Storage Systems From Imergy for rural Indian Minigrids

SunEdison, Inc. (NYSE: SUNE), today announced that it plans to purchase up to 1,000 vanadium flow batteries (over 100 megawatt hours) from Imergy Power Systems, a leader in advanced energy storage solutions. The vanadium flow batteries will be used to store solar-generated electricity for SunEdison’s rural electrification and solar powered minigrid projects in India.

“Energy storage is the perfect complement to solar powered minigrids because it enables us to provide dependable, 24/7 electricity,” said Ahmad Chatila, President and Chief Executive Officer of SunEdison. “And... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Panchabuta

Japan uses climate cash for coal plants in India, Bangladesh

Despite mounting protests, Japan continues to finance the building of coal-fired power plants with money earmarked for fighting climate change, with two new projects underway in India and Bangladesh, The Associated Press has found.

The AP reported in December that Japan had counted $1 billion in loans for coal plants in Indonesia as climate finance, angering critics who say such financing should be going to clean energy like solar and wind power.

Japanese officials now say they are also counting $630 million in loans for coal plants in Kudgi, India, and... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Sun Herald

Solar power to light up Nashik engineering college

The Karamveer Baburao Thakare College of Engineering managed by Maratha Vidya Prasarak Institute is all set to become self-reliant for its power supply needs. The private college would install solar panels in its premises as a part of pilot project to reduce its dependency on power companies.

College principal Jayant Pattiwar said the initiative was taken to save energy and reduce burden on natural resources. "Being a technical and educational institute, it was decided that we should implement the energy conservation steps to reduce the burden on natural resources. The... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Times of India

Goyal eyes bidding in dollar to cut solar tariff

The green energy ministry is toying with the idea of using some 'dollar power' to make electricity from solar projects affordable. The novel plan under discussion has the potential to bring down tariffs in the region of Rs 4-5 a unit — more or less similar to supplies from gas-fired plants and a tad more than generation from thermal units.

A brainchild of coal and power minister Piyush Goyal, the plan revolves around the idea of dollar-denominated tariff bidding. Under this arrangement, discoms would quote their price in dollars while tying up solar power for 25-year... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Times of India

Policy niggles put India's solar dream under a shadow

The ministry of new and renewable energy set a target of adding 1,100 Mw of solar power capacity in 2014-15. The ministry's website puts the achievement at just 750 Mw. The shortfall wouldn't seem as significant if it wasn't for the fact that the National Democratic Alliance government hopes to generate 100,000 Mw of power through solar projects by 2022.

The underperformance highlights the optimistic expectations of the government in revising the previous regime's target of 20,000 Mw under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission fivefold, despite the country adding less... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Business Standard

New Age Of Water Wars Portends ‘Bleak Future’ For The Middle East

Behind the escalating violence in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, as well as the epidemic of civil unrest across the wider region, is a growing shortage of water.

New peer-reviewed research published by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) shows that water scarcity linked to climate change is now a global problem playing a direct role in aggravating major conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.

Numerous cities in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia are facing “short and declining water supplies per capita,” which is impacting... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Mint Press News

Could India's Coal Plans Derail the Global Climate?

If India were to grow its electricity system based on coal (as China has done), would it derail the global climate? According to our calculations, under a “coal-heavy” scenario, India would need to increase is coal-fired power generation capacity from the 156 GW in early 2015 to 677 GW in 2035. What would be the CO2 implications of such a strategy?

Globally, we have used up 58% of the carbon space we have available to us, if we want to keep climate change to less than 2 degrees

India’s share of the carbon space should be high, based on its large population and... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: The Energy Collective

Successful Swedish water project ensures cleaner textile production in India

By participating in a unique project for cleaner production, Sustainable Water Resources (SWAR), suppliers to the Swedish retail brands Indiska, KappAhl and Lindex have reduced their environmental impact and improved capacity through training on resource efficiency.

For a garment production factory in Noida, India, the idea of coupling sustainable practices with significant financial savings was initially far-fetched. However, through SWAR they have succeeded.

Now, the factory has reinvested these savings in new technology which ensures efficient use of natural... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: SIWI

Exim Bank raises $500 million via green bond sale

Exim Bank today said it has raised $ 500 million through sale of green bond to international investors, making it the first such dollar-denominated offering from the country.

The money was raised through a 5-year Reg S green bond, which was priced 1.475 per cent over US treasury, fetching a fixed coupon of 2.75 per cent, the city- headquartered policy bank said in a statement.

This is the first $-denominated green bond offering and the money will be deployed to fund projects in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the state-run export finance agency said.
... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Economic Times

Automakers race to affordable electric cars

Global automakers are readying a new generation of mass-market electric cars with more than double the driving range of Nissan Leaf, betting that technical breakthroughs by big battery suppliers such as LG Chem Ltd will jump-start demand and pull them abreast of Tesla Motors Inc.

At least four major automakers — General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Volkswagen AG — plan to race Tesla to be first to field affordable electric vehicles that will travel up to 200 miles (322 km) between charges.

That is more than twice as far as current lower-... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Times of India

Greenko Group plans to increase capacity to 5,000MW by 2020

Greenko Group Plc, a Hyderabad-based clean energy company that is listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), said it was scouting for hydropower assets, with plans to increase power generation capacity by five times to 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2020.

“We are looking at hydropower assets in the range of 50-100MW,” said Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty, chief executive officer of Greenko, in a recent interview.

“It should fit into our cluster model,” Chalamalasetty added. Greenko operates a clutch of small and mid-size hydropower assets... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Live Mint

Stranded gas-fired power plants to get subsidy boost

The government on Wednesday approved a new policy to provide lifeline to the 31 gas-fired power plants that have been lying idle or under-utilised due to shortfall in the production of domestic natural gas.

Under the new mechanism, stranded projects would be allowed to run their power plants at 30 per cent capacity by using expensive imported gas. The additional cost of generation (and subsequent need to increase power tariff) would be absorbed through subsidy grants by government from its power system development fund (PSDF).

The amount of subsidy for each... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: My Digital FC

MSMEs welcome UPERC’s move to clear roof top solar photovoltaic regulations

The prime industrial association of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)- Indian Industries Association (IIA) has welcomed the Uttar Pradesh Electricity regulatory Commission (UPERC's) move to clear the Roof Top Solar Photovoltaic Regulations-2015 on March 20, 2015.

IIA said that it is thankful to state government for taking up the issue seriously which IIA had raised during North India Solar Summit -2014 regarding Roof top solar and Net Metering. The government had accordingly brought 'Uttar Pradesh Roof Top Solar Photovoltaic Power Point Policy-2014' in September... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Times of India

Centre seeks action plans from municipalities, ULBs on Ganga

Concerned over unabated pollution of River Ganga, the Centre Wednesday directed 118 municipalities, urban local bodies (ULBs) in five states to furnish action plans for reducing pollution or face legal action for non-compliance.

The National Mission on Clean Ganga (NMCG) has directed 118 municipalities, ULBs in UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West-Bengal and 687 industrial units in the states of UP, Uttrakhand, Bihar and West-Bengal to furnish the action plans directly to the concerned State Program Management Group (SPMGs) in the respective state with a copy to the... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Zee News

PM Modi to chair National Ganga River Basin Authority meet Thursday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose government has given top priority to cleansing the Ganga, would chair the fifth meeting of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) Thursday.

The Prime Minister is the the ex-officio Chairman of the Authority while Chief Ministers of Bihar, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand are its members.

The meeting comes at a time when BJP-led NDA government at Centre has given thrust on cleaning up the polluted river and charting out plans for it.

The previous meeting was held on October 27 last year... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Zee News

EV battery price to drop by 75 per cent

Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner predicted that the price level for traction batteries will drop by 75 per cent within the decade ahead. He made the forecast during the technology congress of the German Automotive Industry Association (VDA). Electronic systems are also expected contribute to make vehicles more energy-efficient.

In his keynote speech at the VDA congress, Denner held out the prospect of doubling the energy density of Li-ion batteries by 2020. During the same period, the price level could well decline by 50 per cent, Denner said. In the long term, the Bosch rainmaker... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: EET India

A mini hydropower plant for charging mobile devices

The all-new Blue Freedom kit offers yet another alternative to solar panels, fuel cells, muscle-powered dynamos, wind turbines, AC-charged back-up batteries and other portable power solutions. "The world's smallest hydropower plant" transforms the power of running water into phone chatting, internet browsing, music listening, GPS navigating and other mobile device activities, and it does so from a package built to fit in a backpack.

The micro turbine flows in the current while the base station stays on land The Blue Freedom weighs just under 1 lb and fits in a backpack The... Read more..

Date : Mar 26

Source: Giz Mag

Clean Ganga mission notice to 118 local bodies and 764 industries

The National Mission for Clean Ganga has issued a notice to 118 urban local bodies and 764 industries asking them to clean up their act with regards to release of untreated domestic sewage and trade effluents respectively into River Ganga and also submit – in reply to the notice – a detailed action report on controlling and preventing pollution within 15 days. The notice was sent in the backdrop of several directions that have been passed by the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal in multiple matters related to pollution in Ganga.

At the heart of these various... Read more..

Date : Mar 25

Source: DNA India

India has Rs 5K crore market for off-grid solar products

The largely untapped market for the off-grid solar products and equipments in India is to the tune of Rs 4000 crore to Rs 5000 crore, said Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secretary of India’s Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. He was speaking at a Solar Lantern Press Meet in New Delhi.

According to Kapoor more than five crore households in India need the off-grid products. Open market will be helpful for furthering the cause of solar energy in the country. “We need to eliminate the kerosene lit lamps. Once the consumers start getting more choice in terms of products, not only will... Read more..

Date : Mar 25

Source: Zee News

Special Purpose Vehicles to be created to implement 'Smart City' project: Venkaiah Naidu

Gearing up to roll out its 'Smart City' scheme next month, the government today said it has planned to form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for each of the cities to execute the ambitious project.

NDA government has announced to create 100 smart cities across the country.

Given the challenges of building smart cities, a SPV will be created for each city to be included in the 'Smart City' scheme, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said here today.

He said the smart cities and the new urban renewal mission scheme for 500 cities would be... Read more..

Date : Mar 25

Source: Economic Times