Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Pollinate Energy, inspired by two-day blackout, uses solar light to boost conditions in impoverished India communities

An Australian solar company is shining a light on impoverished communities in India, helping to improve the lives of locals and boost employment.

Pollinate Energy aims to help India's urban poor by giving them access to solar lights. The business has so far sold over 6,000 solar lights to 500 communities in Bangalore. The company was founded by Emma Colenbrander and four friends using $50,000 of their own capital following a two-day blackout in 2012 which left more than half a billion Indians in darkness.

"The blackout made media headlines all over the world but what didn't... Read more..

Tea companies like Tata Global, HUL go green on pesticide fears

Greenpeace India's report on pesticides in Indian tea has prompted leading companies including Tata Global Beverages, Hindustan Unilever, Wagh Bakri Tea and Goodricke Group to take steps to allay fears about the beverage in the domestic market and overseas. 

Tata Global BeveragesBSE 0.73 % said its tea is safe and meets standards set by its overseas buyers. The company has roped in group companies Tata Chemicals and Rallis IndiaBSE -0.16 % to find natural methods and resources that will cut or replace chemicals used to control pests in tea estates that belong to two associate... Read more..

Solar3D Pursues International Patent Protection for Its Breakthrough Solar Cell Technology

Solar3D, Inc. (OTCQB: SLTD), a leading solar power company and the developer of a proprietary high efficiency solar cell, today announced it is in the process of nationalizing its Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patent application for the production of its proprietary high efficiency solar cell in four strategic countries -- the United States, China, Singapore, and India.

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international treaty subscribed to by most industrialized nations. The PCT patent application allows the patent applicant to file a single patent application (often called... Read more..

India needs a national policy on waste management

Bengaluru unfortunately, managed to defer a path-breaking concept in waste management. True, there are other municipalities that have also blundered, but without either a concrete plan, or even a transparent tendering process.

A case in point is the way the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has gone about awarding contracts for managing its waste. First, there appears to have been little work done on finding out how much waste the city generates. The estimates of how much waste the city generates vary significantly with those compiled by experts in the field.

Second, it has... Read more..

Govt considering National Electric Mobility Mission Plan

The government is considering National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020, which would provide incentives to the tune of about Rs 14,000 crore for promotion of cleaner electric vehicle technologies in India, Parliament was informed today. 

"A Scheme under the National Electric Mobility Mission 2020 has been proposed for Expenditure Finance Committee and Cabinet. The scheme is to be approved by EFC and cabinet," Deputy Heavy Industries Minister P Radhakrishnan said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. 

The Mission plan projects a potential for 6-7 million units of... Read more..

Pune Residents call for stir against garbage issue

Protesting the Pune Municipal Corporation's failure to resolve the garbage issue, residents of Urali Devachi and Phursungi have threatened to stop garbage-carrying vehicles from entering the garbage depot and have planned an agitation from August 8

While speaking to reporters on Friday they said the civic body has been dumping garbage at the landfill. The residents, along with Vijay Shivtare, a member of legislative assembly from Purandar, demanded the PMC begin dumping garbage at a new site soon.

"A number of resolutions have been made to create new landfill sites. But the... Read more..

Consumer demand propels green projects

As the realty business is getting more organized and professional, consumers too are now becoming more aware of the New Age technological advancements. Having understood the benefits of living in a green, eco-friendly, and environmentally-sustainable space buyers and corporate occupiers are now showing their preference for green projects. A number of development firms are now building two categories of projects-one with normal specifications and regular features, and the second with slightly modified specifications incorporating green technologies.

A startup develops a technology that may make solar cells cheaper than natural gas

A startup company based in Durham, North Carolina says they have developed a technology that will make solar cells cheaper than natural gas.

The company is called Semprius, and they say that their revolutionary solar panels will – if mass produced – allow for solar energy prices lower than 5 cents per Kwh.

For reference, the EIA projects that new natural gas plants can produce electricity for around 6 cents per Kwh.

TCS pledges Rs 100 cr for Modi's clean India initiative

Information technology firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Monday said it would spend Rs 100 crore on hygienic sanitation facilities for girl students across 10,000 schools in the country.
In a filing to the BSE, the company said the significant investment in school sanitation will help girl students to participate in school education for a longer period of time.
The firm is supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Clean India campaign announced on Independence Day.

How Saurya EnerTech's purifier Swajal uses solar energy to give clean water at an affordable rate

What if India was able to provide clean drinking water to its poorest citizens at truly affordable rates? What if that water was harvested from the ground and purified by clean solar energy so efficiently that it used less than one third the energy a regular solar purifier used? What if the actual purification of water could be customized to the region — areas with high flouride or arsenic versus areas with high bacterial pollutants getting different cleaning processes working for them — and the water dispensed with the help of a smartcard?

NTPC, NVVN and SECI to develop solar projects in AP

With NTPC, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd and Solar Energy Corporation of India showing an interest in developing and facilitating large solar power parks in Andhra Pradesh, the State Government is readying a policy that will provide an escalation clause to make investments attractive.

A decision to the effect has been taken by the State and a meeting of developers of solar energy projects and wind energy companies was convened here on Saturday to hold discussions with them.

With NTPC, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd and Solar Energy Corporation of India showing an... Read more..

Pepsi Bottles Cashew Juice, Scales Up Sustainable Supply Chain

PepsiCo will begin incorporating cashew juice into its blended juice products next spring, in a partnership with the Clinton Foundation that aims to encourage sustainable agriculture and improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Maharashtra, India.

At the center of the partnership is cashew fruit, the swollen stem of a cashew tree from which cashew nuts are formed.

Cashew fruit, which typically goes unused by most cashew nut farmers, is high in nutritional value. It is rich in potassium and contains as much as five times the vitamin C of an orange and 50 times the... Read more..