Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Launch of green initiatives marks Earth Day

Earth Day on April 22 has started getting more buy in from corporates. Going beyond customary tree plantation under their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, companies are now increasingly marking the annual day with the launch of green products and services. The emphasis is also on striking partnership between governments, companies and NGOs.

Of course, awards stay all time favourites to mark the day. This year Indian-American venture capitalist Vinod Khosla got the top UN green award. Earth Day also witnessed Ingersoll Rand unveiling its last mile refrigeration... Read more..

India, Japan agree to collaborate under UNFCCC

India and Japan on Friday reaffirmed their determination to collaborate closely in negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) towards an agreed outcome to be adopted at the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties in Mexico in 2010.

Issuing a joint statement on the occasion of the fourth meeting of the Japan-India Energy Dialogue here, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Japanese Trade Minister Masayuki Naoshima noted with satisfaction that India's formal joining of the International Partnership for... Read more..

Antarctica was once a warm 'greenhouse' world

Antarctica, the ice-covered mass of land on the earth was once a warm "greenhouse" or "hothouse" world, according to results of a research expedition in Antarctic waters.

The findings revealed that some 53 million years ago, Antarctica was a warm, sub-tropical environment and during this period-called the known as the "greenhouse" or "hothouse" world- atmospheric carbon dioxide levels exceeded those of today by ten times.

Then suddenly, Antarctica's lush environment transitioned into its modern icy realm.

Newly acquired climate records tell a tale of this long-ago time... Read more..

Two nuclear energy parks planned in A.P.

HYDERABAD: With the Andhra Pradesh government declaring a strong intent to promote nuclear power, two nuclear energy parks at Kovvada (Srikakulam district) and Nizampatnam (Guntur) are to be established with a whopping investment of over Rs. 1,50,000 crore.

Disclosing this to reporters here on Thursday, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) Chairman and Managing Director S.K. Jain said that pre-project activities had begun at Kovvada where six imported reactors of 1,400 MWe would be set up in phases.

Land acquisition would start in due course.

He was in... Read more..

Competitive Web 2.0 Climate Race Begins for Students in America, China, and India

On May 5, 2010, 350.org, in collaboration with global partners, will launch the Great Power Race, a clean energy competition between America, China and India. This web 2.0 race will reveal who can rise to the challenge of the climate crisis with the most, and the most creative, clean energy action.

(PRWEB) -- Students in America, China and India leverage social media and take to the streets in the first ever Great Power Race, a clean energy competition pitting country versus country to reveal who can rise to the challenge of the climate crisis with the most action.

350.org... Read more..

EU Emitters Face Deadline as CO2 Rises Above Recession

More than 11,000 emitters face rising carbon prices and a European deadline today for handing over permits to the world’s largest cap-and-trade system.

European Union carbon-dioxide allowances for December are up 20 percent this month, twice as much as Brent crude, closing yesterday at 15.35 euros ($20.33) on London’s European Climate Exchange in London. That’s the biggest monthly gain in a year as carbon markets overcome concerns about the recession, an oversupply of permits through 2012 and fraudulent trading.

“We may see prices rising further over the next two months to 16... Read more..

SAARC plans expert group on climate change

THIMPHU: With the more vulnerable Bangladesh and Maldives seeking firmer commitments to combat climate change, a watered down declaration was issued at the end of the 16th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, which ended here on Thursday. Climate change was the theme of the conference, held for the first time in Bhutan with generous assistance from India.

The eight-member SAARC decided to convene a meeting on the issue before the meeting of the Committee of Parties to be held in Mexico. Bangladesh and Maldives were in favour of some sort of commitment on... Read more..

Madhya Pradesh urges PM to intervene on Maheshwar project

Bhopal/ New Delhi, Apr 29 (ANI): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivaraj Singh Chauhan has reportedly written a letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, expressing dissatisfaction over a Union Environment and Forests Ministry’s order to stop the Maheshwar Dam construction.

Maheshwar is one of the large dams being constructed over the River Narmada.

On April 23, Union Minster of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has ordered for the immediate suspension of the Dam construction following an agitation by project oustees.

Thousands of oustees led by the... Read more..

Ecotech Institute Launches as First and Only College Entirely Focused on building careers in Clean Technology

Education Corporation of America, a leading owner and operator of private higher education institutions in the United States, announced today the launch of Ecotech Institute, the first and only college focused entirely on preparing America’s workforce for careers in renewable energy and sustainable design.

Ecotech Institute launched its first campus in the Denver metro area, offering seven associate’s degrees and a certificate program for people seeking careers in the emerging cleantech economy. Once its flagship Colorado campus, located in Aurora, is fully established, Ecotech... Read more..

Updated Biogas Technology To Save Lives From Indoor Air Pollution

A new biogas technology will now be able to save the lives of many people who die due to indoor air pollution by cooking with wood, dung, coal and crop waste.
 

Justin Henriques, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Virginia and co-executive director of Least of These International (LOTI), thinks he might have an answer to help solve the problem.
 

Henriques explained how his team updated the 1930s biogas digester technology to allow the units to convert animal waste into enough methane gas daily to sustain a household of... Read more..

Climate change increases floods

Washington - Deaths from heat waves, property damage from floods and rising seas from melting glaciers are a few of the things Americans can expect as a result of climate change, the US Environmental Protection Agency said in a report released on Tuesday.

The report, called "Climate Change Indicators in the United States", examined the impact of global warming on 24 environmental indicators, such as ice cover and ocean temperatures.

It said there was scientific evidence that climate change was making 22 of the 24 indicators worse.

For instance, eight of the top 10... Read more..

Bharatbook : Policies Driving the Growth of Carbon Trading Markets

Bharatbook added a new report on "Global Carbon Policy Handbook 2010 - Policies Driving the Growth of Carbon Trading Markets" which gives the investment growth in Carbon Trading Markets.

Global Carbon Policy Handbook 2010 - Policies Driving the Growth of Carbon Trading Markets This report provides an in-depth analysis on the carbon policy initiatives by the European Union(EU), the US, Canada, Australia and other developed and developing economies. It details the regional climate change initiatives and the Kyoto Protocol and its mechanisms. It also provides an analysis on Clean... Read more..