Sustainability Outlook Headlines

India to Launch Renewable Energy Certificates Program to Stimulate Clean Energy Growth

New regulations announced by the Indian government reward the renewable energy producers not only for the generating power but also for preventing emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The new rules would allow the renewable energy power plants to increase their scope of revenue generation and thus reduce the payback period significantly. The renewable energy power plants can now either sell power to preferential tariff rates or sell the electricity generation and environmental... Read more..

India can lead world in green technology, says US professor

Developing countries like India must work towards building sustainable organisations that not just uses green technology but also employs people at the base of the income pyramid.

That’s what Professor Stuart Hart of Samuel C Johnson Chair in Sustainable Global Enterprise, Professor of Management, Cornell University, US, pointed out at a talk on Saturday.

Hart is one of the world’s top authorities on the implications of sustainable development and environmentalism for business strategy.

He was in the city to speak on ‘Strategies and leadership for creating sustainable... Read more..

Indian solar story gathering speed

India's first decentralised solar photovoltaic rooftop power generation system in the industrial sector with a 2x100 kWp capacity was successfully commissioned over the weekend at Manesar and Daruhera on the outskirts of the Capital.

The renewable energy system was inaugurated by Deepak Gupta, Secretary in the Union Ministry for New and Renewable Energy, at Omax Autos, a major in manufacturing automobile parts, at their Manesar and Dharuhera facilities.

The system has been provided 30 per cent financial support by the Ministry and installed on a turnkey basis by Moserbaer... Read more..

In rural India, IKEA solar-powered lamps light a path for girl students

When Mantasha was 13, her mother brought her to the home of a rich family to work. She told her daughter that if she worked hard, the family would put her through school and eventually help her to marry.

But the reality of working life was very different. Mantasha was paid nothing in return for the family’s left-over food. She was beaten with a rolling pin and made to work long hours, often past midnight.

Thanks to several new programmes taking root across rural India, however, Mantasha now leads a very different life. She is enrolled at a local residential school for girls.... Read more..

Kender Energy Signs Indian Distributor

Kender Energy Inc. today announced that it has signed a Distribution Agreement with NanoBright Solar Ltd of Hyderabad, India.

NanoBright Solar Ltd (http://www.nanobrightsolar.com/) is a solar infrastructure company serving the individual homes market, as well as the solar water pumping industries. Kender Energy's present distribution agreement pertains to the Andhra Pradesh province, which encompasses the main cities of Hyderabad, Warangal, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Nellore. On July 2009, India unveiled a $19 billion plan to produce... Read more..

India has 12GW power in all; China adds 12GW every year

After a rough spell that saw company debt rise to a high of Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) and stock valuation drop, the world's third-largest wind turbine company, Suzlon, is looking forward to renewed and rapid growth.

Chairman Tulsi Tanti spoke to Business Standard at a recent World Economic Forum conference in Brussels about his view on a post-Copenhagen environment for wind and why green growth and development are complementary rather than contradictory. Edited excerpts:

Does high debt continue to be a big worry for Suzlon?

We have repaid $... Read more..

Clenergen Corporation (OTCBB: CRGE) to Commence Commercial Trials on 900 Acres of Land Under Agreement in India, Ghana, Guyana and Philippines

Clenergen Corporation (OTCBB: CRGE) announced today that it had signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Growmore Biotech to undertake commercial trials of Clenergen's tree species and bamboo on 900 acres of land under agreement in India, Ghana, Guyana and Philippines. Currently the company have scheduled 22,000 acres under 49 year lease agreements in these regions, which are projected to yield over 880,000 tonnes of biomass per annum by 2014 and provide fuel supply for 110MW/h of biomass power plant capacity.

The company intends to produce up to 200,000 saplings per week from tissue... Read more..

Rare-earth metal recycling needed to power green tech

Specialty metals, such as lithium and indium, and rare-earth elements, such as neodymium, are required for production of many green-technology products, including batteries for hybrid cars, LED lights, fuel cells and solar panels.

But to ensure future supply of these resources, recycling rates needed to increase substantially, according to a report from the United Nations Environment Program. Preliminary findings were issued last week, with a full report planned for later this year.

The recycling rates for specialty metals are only about 1 percent, according to a U.N. panel... Read more..

Farooq Abdullah reviews renewable energy projects in J-K

Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Dr. Farooq Abdullah, who is on a two das visit to Jammu and Kashmir, met with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here and reviewed ongoing renewable energy projects in the state.

Deepak Gupta, Secretary and other senior officers of his ministry, accompanied him.

Others at the review meeting included the State Minister for Power and the State Minister for Science and Technology, besides senior state bureaucrats.

Ongoing projects for remote village electrification, solar photovoltaics, small hydro power, biogas etc. sanctioned by the... Read more..

India green energy to power jump in CER issuance-study

A surge in renewable energy investments could drive a tripling of U.N.-backed carbon offsets issued to emission reduction projects in India by end-2012, a report said on Thursday.

And a jump in issuance of carbon credits to renewable energy projects alone could be worth 40 billion rupees ($890 million) by end-2012, leading Indian research house CRISIL said in the study.

The study said ambitious renewable energy policies will lead to greater wind and biomass investments and lure more project developers to opt for carbon offsets as an additional sweetener. But the positive... Read more..

India not to accept any climate pact that erodes Bali Plan

As UN members meet in Bonn this month to discuss climate strategy, India has said it will not accept any pact that ''erodes'' the differentiation between rich and developing nations set forth in Bali Action Plan centred on historic responsibilities on greenhouse gas emissions.

The move is aimed at thwarting the developed nations' attempt to dilute Kyoto Protocol and look for a new mechanism which would make growing economies like India take up legally binding emission cuts.

India has submitted its position on various aspects to Ad-hoc Working Group on Long Term Co-operative... Read more..

'Tough task for Delhi to clean air before CWG'

All is not well on the pollution front ahead of the upcoming Commonwealth Games. An air quality assessment in the national capital released Monday found that pollution levels are climbing in Delhi.

The assessment carried out by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) based on air quality data provided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for the first four months of the year found that levels of tiny particles (PM10), nitrogen oxide and ozone in the air are very high and climbing.

“Delhi, like Beijing, has come under increasing pressure not only to lower the... Read more..