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Indian farmers in the IT age

According to the Census of India 2011, there are 118.9 million cultivators across the country, or 24.6% of the total workforce of over 481 million. The proportion was about 50% in 1951. On the other hand the number of people working as agricultural labourers has increased from 19% in 1951 to 30% in 2011, standing at 144.3 million. According to IndiaSpend, “If we add the number of cultivators and agricultural labourers, it would be around 263 million or 22% of the population (1.2 billion).
 
Then where does the common perception of 53% of population being involved in agriculture... Read more..

Date : Nov 24
Source: Live Mint

Rag-pickers to be trained in managing waste

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation along with its South Delhi counterpart is going to start a zero waste management scheme on a pilot basis in East Vinod Nagar and Dwarka areas.
 
The aim of the project is to segregate garbage at source for further utilization and minimise the amount of garbage which is dumped at sanitary landfill sites.
 
The East Delhi civic body announced the project on Friday, during the presentation of its budget for 2015-16. The corporation claims this will strengthen Swachh Bharat Mission and will also ease pressure on sanitary landfill... Read more..

Date : Nov 24
Source: Hindustan Times

Three restaurants in Bengaluru switch over to biogas

As a part of a pilot project, from the past one month three restaurants in Bengaluru have been using compressed biogas (CBG) produced from wet waste generated by 80 restaurants in north Bengaluru.
 
While Konark Residency on Residency Road and Konark Kanteerava on Kasturba Road rely completely on CBG using 85 kg and 50 kg a day respectively, the third restaurant, Adiga Residency, has substantially replaced liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) with CBG in its kitchen.
 
Maltose Agri Pvt. Ltd. picks up wet waste from restaurants, processes it into slurry and sells the... Read more..

Date : Nov 24
Source: The Hindu

Hazardous Urban Solid Wastes Management - Need of the Hour

The Urban Solid Waste (USW) management has assumed greater importance in recent years for cities of India, in view of their location in sensitive areas and hazardous effect on environment and public health. The urban solid waste handling involves effective collection, transportation, processing and safe disposal of the inert materials.
 
The general methods to be adopted for urban solid waste management should take into account the concept of “3Rs” i.e. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. At first, necessary steps have to be taken to collect all types of solid wastes in the urban areas... Read more..

Date : Nov 24
Source: Odhisha Diary

Indus not to use diesel for 40k mobile towers; save Rs 300 cr

Indus Towers today said it will have 40,000 mobile towers by March that will use alternative energy sources instead of diesel to reduce carbon emissions, saving around Rs 300 crore annually. 
 
"We have already invested Rs 360 crore in making 35,000 mobile towers green. Our definition of green tower is mobile towers running without diesel. This has led to saving of Rs 300 crore for us in energy cost which we will continue to save annually," Indus Towers Chief Executive Officer BS Shantharaju told reporters here. 
 
The company expects to turn another 5,000 green by... Read more..

Date : Nov 21
Source: Business Standard

Spanish wind energy firm Gamesa to invest over 100 million euro in 5 years in India

Spanish wind energy firm Gamesa plans to invest 100 million euro in the next five years and will produce larger turbines at the new production line at its plant near here. 
 
"Gamesa plans to invest over 100 million euro in India in the next five years. Our primary focus in India is to increase our manufacturing capability, developing our supply-chain and to increase our land bank to promote and develop wind farms", Gamesa Group Executive Chairman Ignacio Martin said after inaugurating a new production line at the company's facility at nearby Mamandur. 
 
He said... Read more..

Date : Nov 21
Source: Economic Times

Pvt players keen on setting up solar pwr plants in MP:Official

With Madhya Pradesh emerging as a solar power hub, private developers including Tata Power are keen on setting up such projects in the state, a senior state government official said today. 
 
Madhya Pradesh currently has an operational capacity of 356 MW of solar power from 114 projects and expects to reach 700 MW this fiscal. 
 
"Various public and private sector firms are coming forward to set up solar projects in the state. Tata Power is also planning to set up around 240 MW solar project here," Madhya Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary for New and Renewable... Read more..

Date : Nov 21
Source: Business Standard

Tata Power Renewable Energy to invest in wind energy firms

 The Tata group's renewable energy arm is in talks to invest in a wind energy firm, revving up deal activity in a sector that has lured General Electric, Goldman Sachs and the Asian Development Bank, as the company seeks to achieve its goal of adding as much as 300 MW to its portfolio annually. 
 
"We are currently speaking to three wind power companies based in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra...We hope to close a deal soon as we have a target of adding 200-300 MW of green energy projects into our portfolio this year, which can be done both organically and inorganically... Read more..

Date : Nov 21
Source: Times of India

Nearly half of capacities recently bid under JNNSM to face the heat

Following delays in signing power purchase agreements (PPAs) under various state solar policies, developers have shifted focus to solar projects initiated under the Central Government’s National Solar Mission which received bids nearly three times the capacity on offer.
 
However, Crisil Research expects only half of these capacities to be commissioned as returns are expected to be under pressure on account of aggressive bidding and risk arising from non-availability of domestic solar cells.
 
The strong interest of developers in Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar... Read more..

Date : Nov 21
Source: The Hindu

MEIL Green Power commissions 50 MW solar farm

MEIL Green Power Limited has commissioned a 50 MW Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Project farm at Pamidi in Ananthapur District of Andhra Pradesh.
 
MGPL, a unit of Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd., Hyderabad, has invested Rs. 848 crore on the project set up on a 600-acre site located about 350 km from Hyderabad.
 
Uma Maheshwar Raddy, Associate Vice-President of MEIL, said the company expects to generate revenues of about Rs. 110 crore per annum from the solar plant.
 
"Having taken up the EPC works for this project, we have taken several... Read more..

Date : Nov 21
Source: Business Line- The Hindu

India's solar capacity swells to 3GW, but still a letdown

With plenty of sun and dry land, India has seen an increasing number of solar power investments. Generation capacity has swelled to 3GW, which could have been higher if this year's capacity addition had done better than the 800MW forecast, according to Mercom Capital Group, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm.
 
So far, there is about 734MW of solar capacity installed in 2014. But it will be a disappointment, with calendar year installations representing a 20 per cent drop year-over-year.
 
Land acquisition delays due to elections and... Read more..

Date : Nov 21
Source: EET India

India ready with draft policy to reduce emissions from deforestation

Taking forward an agreed framework of the 2013 Warsaw climate conference, India has come out with a draft national policy on ‘reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation’ (popularly known as REDD+ initiative) which will enable local communities to get financial incentives for increasing forest cover.
 
The REDD+ initiative is a global mitigation mechanism under a UN body, linking deforestation, degradation, conservation of forest carbon stocks and sustainable management of forests with reduction of greenhouse gas emission.
 
It has provision of... Read more..

Date : Nov 21
Source: Eco-Business

Finnish firms to set up waste management plants in Vadodara

The city may finally have quality animal waste and solid waste management system in coming years. Companies from Finland are planning to set up animal waste management, solid waste management and sewage treatment plants in the city. A group of delegates from Finland will sign an MoU with the state government during the Vibrant Gujarat summit in 2015. 
 
"After signing the MoU in Vibrant Gujarat summit, the Finnish firms will work towards setting up waste management and sewage treatment plants in the city. They are also planning to establish an integrated waste management park... Read more..

Date : Nov 21
Source: Times of India

UK's bus powered by human waste hits roads

The UK's first ever bus powered on food and human waste was rolled out on Thursday which engineers believe could provide a sustainable way of fuelling public transport - cutting emissions in polluted towns and cities. The 40-seater Bio-Bus, which runs on gas generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste that's unfit for human consumption, helps to improve urban air quality as it produces fewer emissions than traditional diesel engines. 
 
Running on waste products that are both renewable and sustainable, the bus can travel up to 300 km on a full tank of gas generated... Read more..

Date : Nov 21
Source: Times of India

India plans solar army, to train 50,000 people

The government is planning to train around 50,000 people in areas related to solar power—a so-called solar army that would help India achieve ambitious targets in harnessing the power of the sun. The workforce will be trained through organizations such as the industrial training institutes (ITIs) under the government’s national skill development mission. While India has a solar generation capacity of 2,900 MW, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has substantially revised an earlier target of achieving 20,000 MW capacity by 2022 to 1,00,000 MW.
 
This would require... Read more..

Date : Nov 20
Source: Live Mint

India to shoot for 100GW solar target

India’s energy minister Piyush Goyal wants the nation's 2022 solar target enhanced fivefold to 100GW, PV-Tech reports, citing several news services.
 
The minister in August said “Renewable power is the future of the country and will be supported fully" as he announced the government was freeing up land for utility-scale projects, the website says, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious electricity for all vision.
 
The announcement comes after analysis earlier this week found rooftop solar on track to reach grid parity this year, which follows... Read more..

Date : Nov 20
Source: Business Spectator

India's solar power capacity addition to pick up after dismal 2014: Study

India is expected to add solar power capacity at more than twice the speed of this year in 2015, after a disappointing 2014 when installations of photovoltaic cells have fallen short of previous year's levels, a solar consultancy firm said. India's total solar installations have crossed the 3-gigawatt capacity mark with addition of 734 megawatt so far this year, and the country is expected to end the year with total additions of 800 MW, as much as 20% less than in 2013. 
 
Land acquisition delays due to elections and uncertainty caused by an anti-dumping issue contributed to... Read more..

Date : Nov 20
Source: Economic Times

Cheap Electricity for Poor Undermining Modi's Vision of Rural Solar in India

The villagers of Dharnai in northern India had been living without electricity for more than 30 years when Greenpeace installed a microgrid to supply reliable, low-cost solar power.
 
Then, within weeks of the lights flickering on in Dharnai’s mud huts, the government utility hooked up the grid -- flooding the community with cheap power that undercut the fledgling solar network. While Greenpeace had come to Dharnai at Bihar’s invitation, the unannounced arrival of the state’s utility threatened to put it out of business.
 
“We wanted to set this up as a business... Read more..

Date : Nov 20
Source: Bloomberg

PM Modi wants India Inc to increase green energy intake

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants the Indian companies to mandatorily increase “clean” green energy intakes, an official said here today.
 
“Industries have already been asked to get a portion of total power requirement from renewable sources. But everyone has not implemented it. Therefore, the Prime Minister wants the corporates to mandatorily increase clean energy intakes,” a senior government official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
 
The government especially wants to promote use of solar power. It has also set a target of 100 GW solar power production... Read more..

Date : Nov 20
Source: Niti Central

Kashmir's solar potential highest in India

Which is a better place for locating a solar power plant? Hot and sunny Rajasthan or snow-clad Kashmir? If your answer is Rajasthan, you are wrong. A recent study by Indian researchers has identified the eastern parts of Jammu and Kashmir and the eastern part of Uttarakhand -- in the chilly shadows of the Himalayas -- as areas "with the highest potential for solar energy generation in India". 
 
Traditionally energy that can be generated from sunlight is estimated solely on the basis of the amount of solar radiation incident in a particular place. But a new study says other... Read more..

Date : Nov 20
Source: Economic Times

Why Google halted its research into renewable energy

 Back in 2007, Google had a very simple idea for addressing global warming — we just need to take existing renewable-energy technologies and keep improving them until they were as cheap as fossil fuels. And, voila! Problem solved.
 
That was the logic behind the company's RE-C project, which aimed to produce one gigawatt of renewable electricity for less than the price of coal. The hope was to do this within years, not decades. Among other things, the company invested in new geothermal drilling R&D and put $168 million toward Brightsource's Ivanpah solar tower in the Mojave... Read more..

Date : Nov 20
Source: Vox

Pilot project with Infosys to reduce power consumption

Information Technology major Infosys, which has campuses across the country, has reported substantial savings in consumption of scarce electricity and water through smart and sustainable design and operational practices.
 
An Infosys delegation, led by Rohan Parikh, Vice President and Head Infrastructure, today made a detailed presentation to a group of Union Ministers including Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Power Minister Piyush Goyal, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Skill Development Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Minister of State for Urban... Read more..

Date : Nov 20
Source: Economic Times

Karnataka drives e-waste recycling to recover metals

Karnataka has taken a lead in e-waste recycling to recover precious metals, including gold, silver, copper and palladium, from electronic products, computers and peripherals.
 
"We have tied up with the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) and e-waste recycler e-Parisaraa to set up a 100-tonne per annum integrated processing plant near here for recovering precious metals from electronic goods like printed circuit boards," IT Minister S.R. Patil told IANS.
 
According to a study by the electronic hardware industry apex body Manufacturers... Read more..

Date : Nov 20
Source: Business Standard

Coal Rush in India Could Tip Balance on Climate Change

Decades of strip mining have left the town of Dhanbad in the heart of India’s coal fields a fiery moonscape, with mountains of black slag, sulfurous air and sickened residents. But rather than reclaim these hills or rethink their exploitation, the government is digging deeper in a coal rush that could push the world into irreversible climate change and make India’s cities, already among the world’s most polluted, even more unlivable, scientists say.
 
“If India goes deeper and deeper into coal, we’re all doomed,” said Veerabhadran Ramanathan, director of the Center for... Read more..

Date : Nov 19
Source: The New York Times

Cities should look to nature to bridge investment gap in water sector

From Los Angeles to Mumbai, natural solutions have the potential to save cities $890m a year in water treatment costs alone.
 
The water sector has always struggled for investment, and each year the gap between dollars being spent and dollars that need to be spent on critical water infrastructure grows. The US, for example, is facing an $84bn funding gap by 2020, and it is estimated to grow to more than $140bn by 2040. 
 
Despite numbers like these from around the world, investment in water remains low as cities struggle to keep annual budgets out of the red.... Read more..

Date : Nov 19
Source: The Guardian
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