Sustainability Outlook Headlines

EU's carbon offset limits: a boon for brokers?

New European Union proposals to limit the use of industrial gas carbon offsets in its emissions trading scheme from 2013 could be a boon for reeling carbon brokers as exchanges wait for clarity before they alter their offerings.

EU climate chief Connie Hedegaard said on Wednesday she is considering post-2012 limits for the use of offsets, called Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs), in the wake of concerns over the environmental integrity of a United Nations carbon finance scheme.

Until the proposals are finalised, Europe's main emissions bourses said they have no plans to... Read more..

Pollution board tells BMC to tax Ganesh mandals

Ganesh Mandals may soon be charged a levy to ensure that waste and leftovers post immersion get disposed off in an environment-friendly manner within 24 hours. This was one of the suggestions made by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in
its guidelines issued this week to celebrate Green Ganpati.

The MPCB issued a list of formal dos and don'ts after the Central Pollution Control Board sent out an advisory to all state pollution authorities on it. So far, the BMC has made no decision on this suggestion.

There... Read more..

LED manufacturers band together

Indian LED manufacturers have formed LED products Manufacturers Association (LEDMA) with M V Ramana Rao, chairman and managing director of MIC Electronics Ltd as its president. It seeks to serve as a single platform to address the issues of the growing industry and to make people aware of the future lighting technology.

It aims to draw the attention of the Government and public about the industry which boasts a collective turnover of about Rs. 5,000 crores in India and hope to strengthen and develop the LED industry

The association aims to promote awareness about solid state... Read more..

ABB Opens Fourth Global Wind Power Generator Factory in India

Global power and automation technology company ABB Limited (NYSE:ABB) (Zurich, Switzerland) has opened a manufacturing facility for wind power generators at Vadodara in Gujarat, India. The factory, covering about 16,000 square meters, will produce up to 100 generator units each month and provide employment for about 150 people. The generator units will have ratings of up to 2.5 megawatts each and are aimed at both the Indian and global markets.

Mizoram gets eight air-monitoring stations

Mizoram has received a sanction for air quality monitoring stations under the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP), Mizoram Pollution Control Board (MPCB) said today.

One station each at Aizawl and Lengpui and two stations each at Lunglei, Kolasib and Champhai will be set up before the jhum burning season between February and March next year, the MPCB said.

The MPCB meeting, held at the office of chairman Er Dunglena, also discussed bio-medical waste management for hospitals in Mizoram.

Endorsing the health department's step to make use of... Read more..

Solar mission programme: 7 TN projects shortlisted

Seven projects from Tamil Nadu have been selected under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission programme.

According to official sources, these are: Noel Media & Advertising Pvt Ltd; Gemini Geoss Energy Pvt Ltd; B&G Solar Pvt Ltd; Harrisons Power Pvt Ltd; RL Clean Power Pvt Ltd; Great Shine Holdings Pvt Ltd; and Amson Power Pvt Ltd.

These were among the 21 projects shortlisted by the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency, the state-run nodal agency for the promotion of renewable energy, from more than 100 project proposals that competed for the support under the... Read more..

India continues ‘Per Capita’ approach on climate change

In a latest communiqué, the Union Government today informed that it has not abandoned its stance on the ‘per capita’ approach to equity in the climate change negotiations on the global carbon space.

India has consistently maintained that the long term goal of stabilisation of climate should be preceded by a paradigm for equitable access to the global atmospheric resources on the basis of per capita accumulative convergence of emissions, said the a statement issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest.

In the recent international negotiations on climate change, the... Read more..

India rejects Vedanta mining plan on green worries

India on Tuesday rejected a plan by UK-based mining group Vedanta Resources Plc to mine bauxite in an eastern state over environmental concerns, a blow to the firm already facing hurdles to a planned $9.6 billion energy deal in the country.

The decision comes after about four years of a global campaign against Vedanta's plan to mine in Orissa state that the government says could affect large swathes of forested hills considered sacred by indigenous tribes.

Vedanta set up a 1-million-tonne alumina refinery in Orissa in 2008 which was running on bauxite from a neighboring state... Read more..

Scientists Develop Self-Cleaning Technology for Solar Panels

Find dusting those tables and dressers a chore or a bore? Dread washing the windows? Imagine keeping dust and grime off objects spread out over an area of 25 to 50 football fields. That's the problem facing companies that deploy large-scale solar power installations, and scientists today presented the development of one solution - self-dusting solar panels ¯ based on technology developed for space missions to Mars.

In a report at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), they described how a self-cleaning coating on the surface of solar cells could increase... Read more..

Electric vehicles for Sustainable Transport

The recent high-profile acquisition of a small electric car company by an auto giant seems to have electrified the industry, which has been experiencing robust growth. As the world seeks solutions to high polluting and increasingly expensive fossil fuel transportation, electric vehicles could offer a viable solution.

"But where is the electricity?" people ask as they grapple with power cuts in the midst of a scorching summer. Whether it makes the power availability worse when everybody plugs their car into their home is a legitimate worry.

Why would the Delhi government even... Read more..

Govt earmarks 25,000cr for climate change

The government on Saturday said India was going to be affected "the most" by climate change, but it had made a provision of huge fund — to the tune of nearly Rs 25,000 crore — from different sources, including clean energy cess on coal, to mitigate its impact.

Replying to a debate in the Rajya Sabha on a private member’s resolution for setting up a fund for dealing with climate change, minister for environment and forest Jairam Ramesh said the government would come out with a "discussion paper" on financing of adaptation and mitigation in the domestic context in the next Budget... Read more..

TERI completes first phase of oil spill clean-up operations

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) on Saturday announced that it has managed to scoop up all the oil sludge, tar balls and oil stained sand from Awas Beach near Alibaug and start the bio-remediation process using its globally acclaimed Oilzapper technology.

Two cargo ships had collided off Mumbai coast, resulting in oil spill along the coast earlier this month.

Working with volunteers from National Cadet Corps, which were mobilized with the help of Sanctuary Asia magazine and PSUs like Indian Oil Corporation, technical experts from TERI managed to scoop up oil from... Read more..