Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Gujarat is India's key carbon- & cost-cutting trade hub

Gujarat will be the ideal cost- and carbon-cutting supply-chain point for businesses shipping goods between north and south India. This significant assessment is a part of a report released by Ernst &Young, a multinational business consultancy, and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The report, ‘Coastal Shipping in India: From Challenges to Opportunities’, observes that manufacturers in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu)transporting goods, such as textiles, to New Delhi have the option of using road transport for the entire journey. “Alternatively, the manufacturers may transport... Read more..

US faces competition from India in clean energy tech: Obama

The US President Barack Obama has said the US, being the world leader, cannot afford to lag behind in clean energy technologies amid the fast growth of India, China and Germany in the field and sought efforts to prevent any country from “out- competing” America in future.

“We know that whoever leads the clean energy revolution is going to lead the 21st century economy... And we can’t wait. Because China is not waiting. India is not waiting. Germany is not waiting. We can’t afford to wait,” he said at a grassroots fundraiser for Senator Michael Bennet in Denver, Colorado.

“We... Read more..

Saving energy to save the environment

At 16, Ahaan Mohan has great passion and deep knowledge of matters about the environment. He believes that reducing energy consumption in buildings, accounting for 46 per cent of India’s total energy use, will help preserve environment.

In November last, Ahaan, an 11th grader at DPS Noida, conducted an energy audit in his school in coordination with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and ICF International and devised an energy management programme for the school.

“My principal was very encouraging and decided to implement my energy-efficiency measures,” he says.

Mohan,... Read more..

India govt official warns against mixing climate, trade

Trade Secretary Rahul Khullar on Thursday warned there was a growing trend for countries to use unreasonable environmental and health standards as a covert form of protectionism, blocking trade already hit by global slowdown.

Rahul Khullar said countries were using anything from proposed cap and trade schemes to the level of toxins found in Indian shrimps to bring standards on goods into the World Trade Organisation without proper international debate.

The statement from a key trade official from a country that plays a major role in WTO negotiations, underscores worries in... Read more..

Spain Approves Carbon Offset Projects in China, India, Peru

Spain approved seven clean-energy projects to offset its carbon emissions with reductions in the developing world, the Environment Ministry said.

The projects, under the United Nations’s Clean Development Mechanism, will cut CO2 emissions by 2.17 million tons a year through 2012, the ministry said on its Web site. Spain said it has approved 126 projects for emissions cuts totaling 150 million tons.

The projects involve generating electricity from wind, biomass, gas and hydroelectric dams in China, India, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, the... Read more..

15 US companies participate in Solar Energy Trade Mission

An international Trade Mission on Solar Energy from United States comprising 15 US companies, headed by acting Assistant Commerce Secretary Mary Saunders, is on a three-day visit to the city.

US Ambassador Timothy J Roemer said the two countries had a great prospect of promoting bilateral trade and President Barack Obama wanted to double it in a short span of period.

''We are hopeful that President Obama will be coming to this great country sometime in spring or summer and see... Read more..

Shyam Saran to get minister of state rank

Shyam Saran, prime minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy on climate change, will soon get the rank of minister of state, a status that was given to Shiv Shankar Menon when he was recently appointed national security adviser.

An official order is likely to be issued soon, PMO sources said today.

Saran is a former Foreign Secretary and was three years senior to Menon in the Foreign Service from which both retired. Menon retired as foreign secretary late last year.

With climate change issue taking a centrestage in the international arena, the prime minister was keen on... Read more..

US to associate itself with climate accord

The US will associate itself with the Copenhagen climate accord even if India and China do not do so, a top US Climate envoy said on Wednesday, as he described it is an important document though it was not formally adopted.

“Copenhagen Accord, we think is a very important document that was produced very importantly through the intervention of leaders, a great number of leaders from countries there. It was, at the end of the day, not formally adopted as a decision of the Con ference of the Parties, but was supported by overwhelming number of them,” Mr Stern said.

The Special... Read more..

466 Million Electric Two-Wheel Vehicles to Hit the Road by 2016

While the electrification of the automobile has captured strong attention over the past few years, a significantly higher volume market opportunity lies with a different kind of EV - the electric two-wheel vehicle.According to a new report from Pike Research, unit sales in this category, which includes electric bicycles, motorcycles, and scooters, will grow at a rapid pace over the next several years.The cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that more than 466 million e-bikes, e-motorcycles, and e-scooters will be sold... Read more..

India, Saudi influencing world energy trends’

With crude reserves of 260 billion barrels and annual production of 3.26 billion barrels, Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest producer and exporter of crude oil. Its subsidiary, Aramco Overseas Company (AOC), has recently opened an office in India to source manufacturers and contractors for Saudi Aramco.

Abdulrahman F. Al-Wuhaib, senior vice-president (operation services) of AOC, said the office would create significant opportunities for Indian businesses. Excerpts...

On plans for India

The opening of the new Aramco Overseas Company office in New Delhi... Read more..

British Airways to buy jet fuel from city waste

The biofuel made from municipal waste that will account for a small proportion of British Airway's jet fuel from 2014, has yet to pass regulatory approval in Britain, according to the Guardian.

The British airline said on Monday it had signed a deal to purchase all the "sustainable jet fuel" that U.S.-based biofuel company Solena Group could produce from a plant expected to be sited in London and operational from 2014.

But the DStan department in the Ministry of Defence which regulates aviation fuel in Britain, wants to conduct further tests to make sure the biofuel does not... Read more..

Bengal Aerotropolis plans solar-equipment hub

Bengal Aerotropolis Projects (BAPL) plans to set up a solar power equipment manufacturing hub within the proposed Rs 10,000-crore airport city coming up in West Bengal. Coined as the ‘solar valley’, the area is expected to attract an investment of Rs 4,000 crore.

BAPL, in which Singapore’s Changi Airport International holds a 26% stake, has just received 1,090 acres from the West Bengal government for the airport city project. It has roped in IL&FS to prepare a detailed roadmap for the solar valley project, which will be a part of the science and technology park being planned by... Read more..