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New Tool Launched for Effective Water Management by Indian Industry and Others

Today, Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Water India 2015 event sees the launch of the new version of the India Water Tool (IWT 2.0), which helps users understand water risks and prioritise actions for sustainable water management. IWT 2.0, the first of its kind, is a country-specific tool developed jointly by a 14-member working group, including 10 companies (ACC, Ambuja, Aditya Birla Group, BASF, ITC, Jain Irrigation, Mahindra, Monsanto, Nestle, PepsiCo) and three knowledge partners (World Resources Institute, CII-Triveni Water Institute, and Skoll Global Threats Fund),... Read more..

Date : Mar 2
Source: Sustainability Outlook

Smart Cities find no mention in Budget 2015

Touted as one of the key pet projects of PM Narendra Modi, Smart Cities, an area that had been allocated funds of Rs.7060 crore in the previous budget presentation of FM Arun Jaitley, has found no mention in the Budget speech this year around. 
The IT, Infrastructure and Realty sectors were all looking forward to some implementation announcements on the smart cities front. The Digital India and the Make in India Progam however found significant mention in FM's speech. 
The ambitious Digital India programme, an integral plank of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, was "... Read more..

Date : Mar 2
Source: Economic Times

Budget 2015: Solar city scheme gets big boost

The Union budget proposal is bound to light up Chandigarh's dream of transforming itself into a model solar city at a quick pace. The reduction in tax rates on several important components that go into building solar power systems, including PV cells, will bring down the overall installation cost. This step, coupled with recently announced solar power buy back rates, will induce private individuals to adopt the system and recover the cost in a shorter span of time.
The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) had recently announced that private individuals will be paid Rs 9.43... Read more..

Date : Mar 2
Source: Times of India

India raises coal cess; electricity tariff to go up by 4-6 paise per unit

The government on Saturday proposed to raise levies on greenhouse gas-emitting coal, a move that will increase electricity tariffs while strengthening India’s position at upcoming global climate change negotiations. “I propose to increase the clean energy cess from Rs.100 to Rs.200 per tonne of coal, etc. to finance clean environment initiatives,” finance minister Arun Jaitley announced in his budget speech. The cess, which applies to coal mined in India as well as imported coal, will result in a tariff increase of 4-6 paise per unit.
This comes in the backdrop of India working on a... Read more..

Date : Mar 2
Source: Mint

Budget 2015: Jaitley puts India on green road to development

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said that the government is committed to make development process as green as possible.
While presenting the Budget 2015-16 in Parliament today, Jaitley said that the country's de-facto 'Carbon Tax' on most petroleum products compares favourably with international norms.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. PTIUnion Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. PTI
The minister said, with regard to coal, there is a need to find a balance between taxing pollution, and the price of power.
Jaitley said that the government is launching a scheme for... Read more..

Date : Mar 2
Source: First Post

Green solution to bio-waste

A biogas plant treating Bengaluru’s waste is supplying 600 kg of CNGa day to hotels, says M.A. Siraj
A way from the public gaze, South India’s first plant producing CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) from waste from hotels and poultry farms has completed its first year of operations. The plant is supplying 600 kg. of CNG to the Bengaluru’s restaurants every day.
Tucked in Huskur village, 14 km west of Doddaballapur, the plant named Maltose Agri Products Private Ltd. (MAPPL), not merely takes away some amount of city’s waste, but also turns it into energy and averts release of... Read more..

Date : Mar 2
Source: The Hindu

Biogas plants show way in waste management

Here is a lesson the Corporation of Chennai can learn from its own experiments with garbage management-small is efficient. 
The civic body had proposed several projects in the past for scientific closure of dumping yards in Kodungaiyur and Perungudi, but nothing has materialised so far. Meanwhile, small biogas generators set up in places like Koyambedu and Pulianthope are showing the way for efficient waste management. Neighbourhoods like Otteri, Velangadu, Vanagaram, MRC Nagar, Anna Nagar and Harrington Road are also likely to get biogas plants in the next few months. 
Experts... Read more..

Date : Mar 2
Source: Times of India

Doctor plans 15 more biogas plants across state

Country's largest biogas plant producing 5,000 cubic meters of gas per day using agriculture waste and animal dung has become operational in Sundarpur village of Umreth taluka in Anand district. 
The man behind this biogas plant Dr Bharat Patel, an Ahmedabad-based orthopedic surge, now plans to set ups 15 such plants in other parts of the state with an estimated cost of Rs 350 crore. The biogas plants are planned in north Gujarat districts of Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Mehsana and Junagadh, Rajkot in Saurashtra regions. Patel also want to set up three more biogas plants in Anand. ... Read more..

Date : Mar 2
Source: Times of India

Withdraw GO on green norms: builders

Even as builders are grappling with issues of abnormal hike in the price of cement and sand, the State government has issued a new GO which they say will further affect the realty sector.
 
According Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (Andhra Pradesh) chairman K. Subba Raju and president Are Siva Reddy, the GO 33 issued following a direction by the Central government, has made certain provisions based on the National Green Building Convention.
 
It stipulated that for apartments with above 100 KW of power consumption, 25 per cent renewable... Read more..

Date : Mar 2
Source: The Hindu

Indian Railways Plans 1,000 Megawatts of Solar Energy Projects

Indian Railways plans to tap the sun for energy needs so that it can reduce its dependence on electricity generated by fossil fuels. The rail network plans 1,000 megawatts of solar-power projects in the next five years, Minister Suresh Prabhu said in parliament on Thursday. Developers can use the railway land and buildings to set up solar panels, he said. The minister was presenting the railway budget for the year beginning in April.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is asking state-run companies to start investing in clean energy as world’s second-most populous nation targets 100... Read more..

Date : Feb 27
Source: Bloomberg

Prabhu proposes more environment-friendly rail system

 Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday proposed a slew of measures to make the country's largest public transporter more environment-friendly.
 
Apart from allocating resources for infrastructure development, Prabhu -- in his maiden budget presented in the Lok Sabha -- outlined proposals to erect and maintain an environment-friendly railway system. 
 
The minister proposed setting up of an 'environment directorate' in the railway board to give increased focus on environment management.
 
Prabhu focused on rationing the energy consumption of the... Read more..

Date : Feb 27
Source: Zee News

Freight charge hike to hit steel, energy sectors

The industry has expressed its shock at proposed increase in freight charges of certain commodities fuelling speculation that it might impact wholesale price index.
 
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, will be forced to shell down an additional amount of Rs.20 crore on account of increase in freight rates. RINL spends Rs.700 crore on rail freight every year. Steel major SAIL will also be badly hit.
 
Incidentally, the steel industry is now in a bad shape with shrinking profit margins due to abnormal increase in shipment... Read more..

Date : Feb 27
Source: The Hindu

India Spending $956 Million on Waste Plants Along Ganges

India is spending 59 billion rupees ($956 million) on sewage and waste treatment to begin cleaning its biggest and holiest waterway, the Ganges River. Of the 80 effluent treatment and water-monitoring projects planned by the National Ganga River Basin Authority in five states, 25 have been completed, Sanwar Lal Jat, India’s junior water minister, said Thursday.
 
The authority, formed in 2009, plans to build 702 million liters (185 million gallons) a day of sewage-treatment capacity across the five states to help improve the health of India’s most threatened river, Jat said in... Read more..

Date : Feb 27
Source: Bloomberg

Hollande tours typhoon-hit Philippines ahead of climate deal

The "Call of Manila" urges the international community "to conclude a universal, equitable and ambitious climate deal ... to preserve our planet as a livable place for future generations".
 
French President Francois Hollande on Friday took forth his message about the need for funds for a landmark climate deal at a central Philippine town that was devastated by a killer typhoon in 2013.
 
“There will be no agreement concluded in Paris if the countries, the poorest countries, are not convinced that there will be a fund ... which would be made available to them,” Mr.... Read more..

Date : Feb 27
Source: The Hindu

Google invests $300 million in US residential solar projects

SolarCity Corp on Thursday said it created a $750 million fund to finance about 25,000 residential solar projects, with Google Inc investing nearly half the funding.
 
The money will be used by SolarCity to put solar panels on homes. Homeowners then will pay a monthly fee to lease the panels from the company. The growth of such financing has made generating electric power from the sun an option for households who do not want to shell out the $20,000 to $30,000 upfront cost of a typical residential solar system.
 
The fund is the largest ever created for residential... Read more..

Date : Feb 27
Source: Economic Times

French firm makes world's first organic photovoltaic module

French enterprise DisaSolar, a company specialising in custom-made solar modules, demonstrated the world's first polychrome photovoltaic module aimed at developing organic solar modules that can be used for military and civilian applications.
 
The module is the result of a three-year programme funded by the Directorate General of Armaments, French Army, in collaboration with French academic laboratories CNRS-XLIM-MINACOM and the CEA-INES.
 
"This is a new step towards custom-made energy," said DisaSolar CEO Stéphane Poughon. Organic photovoltaics (OPV) offers... Read more..

Date : Feb 27
Source: EET India

JK govt to harness 111 GW solar power in Ladakh

The Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir also known as cold desert has a vast potential to produce 111 Giga Watts (GWS) of solar power and the state government is planning to harness it, a senior official said here today.
 
"The Ladakh region has a potential of 111 GW of solar power and the Governor NN Vohra, has called for urgently removing all existing impediments in effectively harnessing the solar power potential in the State," a Raj Bhawan spokesman said. 
 
He said that the Governor has directed the Chief Secretary Iabal Khanday to hold an urgent meeting to... Read more..

Date : Feb 27
Source: Business Standard

India’s off-grid, rural mobile towers are creating new businesses—and lighting up homes

Henri Winand runs a fuel-cell company. Fuel cells run on hydrogen to produce energy. So why has Intelligent Energy, Winand’s firm, just agreed a deal to manage some 16,000 diesel-powered mobile network towers in India?
 
One reason is that the deal will bring in an estimated £1 billion ($1.5 billion) in revenue for the company over the next decade. For a business that posted a £48-million loss on revenue of £13.6 million for the last full year, the income certainly helps. But the larger reason is that Winand plans, over time, to replace the diesel generators that power rural... Read more..

Date : Feb 27
Source: Quartz India

IIT Madras to power 1 lakh houses

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras will soon power on a trial basis about 1 lakh houses in north India with its innovative 48V Uninterrupted Direct Current (UDC) technology. Delivering the first extra mural Omnibus lecture series, titled ‘Can decentralised solar power help in overcoming power cuts in Indian homes?’ at the institute on Wednesday, Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala, a faculty member who developed the UDC technology, said that this first-of-its-kind system guaranteed uninterrupted power from the grid even during a black-out.
 
DC driven brushless fans and LED... Read more..

Date : Feb 27
Source: Deccan Chronicle

Yes Bank raises Rs 1,000 crore via green bonds, double the target

Private sector Yes Bank today raised Rs 1,000 crore against a targeted Rs 500 crore by issuing green infrastructure bonds. The bonds are of 10-year tenor and the money raised will be used for funding renewable energy projects in solar, wind, biomass and small hydel plants, the lender said in a statement here.
 
The bank, which had set out with a target to raise Rs 500 crore, saw demand from insurance companies, pension and provident funds, foreign portfolio investors and mutual funds, which resulted in the greenshoe option being utilised.
 
Yes Bank Managing... Read more..

Date : Feb 26
Source: DNA India

India approves NTPC's 15,000 MW solar power projects

The union cabinet on Wednesday approved state-run power producer NTPC Ltd's plans to set up 15,000 megawatt of grid-connected solar projects, which would be completed in three tranches. The rapidly falling cost of solar power has ignited interest in its potential in Asia's third-largest economy, which relies on coal for three-fifths of its energy needs while solar supplies less than 1 percent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to make India one of the world's largest renewable energy markets, targeting 100,000 MW of output by 2022 from just 3,000 MW currently.

Date : Feb 26
Source: Reuters

Punjab, Haryana agree to make river pollution-free

The Punjab and Haryana government have agreed to make Ghaggar river pollution free by the end of the year, a senior Punjab government official said on Wednesday. "With the operationalisation of 25 Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) located in 21 towns in the vicinity of Ghaggar, as per deliberations between Mr. Parkash Singh Badal Chief Minister Punjab and Mr. Manohar Lal Khattar Chief Minister Haryana recently, the river will be made pollution free," Punjab chief secretary Sarvesh Kaushal said.
 
The Punjab government has asked district authorities to speed up work on the STPs.... Read more..

Date : Feb 26
Source: Zee News

Punjab offers rewards to stop stubble burning

The Punjab government on Wednesday announced rewards to districts and villages across the state which curb the unhealthy practice of burning stubble (residue of harvested crops). "The Punjab government has announced an incentive for each district and village with a financial grant of Rs.1 crore and Rs.1 lakh respectively, which were free from the burning of stubble," a state government spokesman said here.
 
"This decision has been taken to curb the practice of straw burning, which was not only a health hazard but equally detrimental to the fertility of soil," the spokesman... Read more..

Date : Feb 26
Source: Zee News

A Tale of 100 Smart Cities

Twelve kilometres from Ahmedabad, the Sabarmati river runs dry. Two buildings, 122 metres high, tower over parcels of construction-ready and waste land beneath. Newly built serpentine roads sometimes lead to nowhere. As the sun sets over Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), construction workers make a beeline out of a nearly complete data centre.
 
A decade from now, the place would rock. The river would brim with clean blue water. High rises with sparkling glass facades would form a necklace around the river curve, much like Shanghai. The tallest of them all would be... Read more..

Date : Feb 26
Source: Business Today

New technology to conserve energy

The Danfoss Advanced Drives Laboratory was inaugurated ont the VIT University campus here on Wednesday.
 
The lab has been set up to help solve India’s energy problems through a collaborative research between the industry and the research scholars of VIT on energy efficiency using the drive technology, according to Ravichandran Purushothaman, president, Danfoss India, Chennai. The laboratory was established at a cost of Rs.50 lakh.
 
Mr. Ravichandran told reporters that huge energy deficit was a major challenge faced by the country. “Our country needs to add 500 MW... Read more..

Date : Feb 26
Source: The Hindu
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