Sustainability Outlook Headlines

TTK Prestige taps water purifier biz

 Aiming to become a total kitchen solutions brand, Bangalore-based TTK Prestige has entered into the water purifier category in partnership with Swiss firm Lifestraw SA.

TTK Prestige said it will use its existing distribution network besides own retail chain, Prestige Smart Kitchens, to penetrate into the category largely dominated by direct sales.

“Water purifier is a highly under-penetrated category. We wanted to enter as it will give us a total portfolio in the kitchen space,” said Chandru Kalro, CEO of TTK Prestige.

The company has presence in categories such as... Read more..

Doctors lack tools to discuss toxic exposures with pregnant patients: survey

Obstetricians recognize that exposure to chemicals and metals can affect a pregnancy, but said in a new survey that they face barriers to counseling patients about environmental hazards.

The first of its kind study found that U.S. obstetricians and gynecologists feel they lack the medical education and training, evidence-based guidelines and tools for communicating potential environmental risks to patients.

“The main barrier is something the doctors in our focus groups called ‘Pandora's Box’,” Dr. Naomi Stotland, who led the study, told Reuters Health in an email.

“... Read more..

Subsidy Phase-Out and Reform Catalyst Bonds

Current levels of public and private investment cover only a fraction of what is needed to decarbonize the economy, expand energy access, and adapt to unavoidable climatic changes. Yet, perversely, countries spend more on fossil-fuel subsidies that drive climate change than they spend trying to combat it.

The scale of these subsidies is vast. Worldwide, countries provide some $480 billion to $630 billion every year in fossil-fuel consumption subsidies, and more than $100 billion every year in production subsidies. According to the... Read more..

India's Energy Import Bill Could Shoot Up To $230B By 2023, Up From Current

In less than a decade, India could spend almost twice as much on energy imports as it does now, the Press Trust of India, or PTI, reported, citing a report from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).

According to the report, India could spend $230 billion on energy imports in 2023, up from its current annual bill of $120 billion. While India is expected to attract huge investments from within and abroad, drawn in by reforms expected from the new government led by Narendra Modi, the country faces a major challenge in matching growing demand with... Read more..

Grid-connected rooftop solar system to come up in Kolkata

 Together with the UK government, the West Bengal department of power and Kolkata Municipal Corporation are working on developing a grid-connected rooftop solar system.

"Over the next few months, we will be working with the West Bengal government and supporting Ashden India Renewable Energy Collective to help develop an affordable rooftop solar scheme through which Kolkatans will be able to reduce their power bills and greenhouse gas emission of the city," Scott Furssedonn-Wood, British Deputy High Commissioner to Eastern India said at a programme here today. 

Under this... Read more..

Investments in infrastructure pushing demand for PVC

Globally, plastics industry is one of the leading contributors to economic growth. In spite of recession and long-term consolidation trend, the plastics industry has been one of largest and fastest-growing industry sectors of the economy. In the second half of the 20th century, plastics emerged as one of the most universally-used and multipurpose materials in the global economy.

The plastics industry is the third largest manufacturing industry in the US, contributing significantly to the nation's economy. In Europe, plastics... Read more..

Vikram Solar joins hands with Dubai’s Unidaan to supply solar products

 Kolkata-based Vikram Solar has entered into a distributorship agreement with Dubai-based Unidaan FZ LLC to supply solar products and services in the Middle East and North Africa or MENA region. 

The two companies will work hand in hand to further foster the development of EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) and solar business in the MENA region, Vikram Solar said in a release. 

The company specialises in manufacture of photovoltaic solar modules and EPC contracts for solar power plants. "In line with our aim to deliver uncompromising value to our customers across... Read more..

Japan bets big on making fuel-cell cars a near-future reality

Japan's government and top carmakers, including Toyota Motor Corp, are joining forces to bet big that they can speed up the arrival of the fuel cell era: a still costly and complex technology that uses hydrogen as fuel and could virtually end the problem of automotive pollution.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's growth strategy, announced on Tuesday, included a call for subsidies and tax breaks for buyers of fuel cell vehicles, relaxed curbs on hydrogen fuel stations and other steps under a road map to promote hydrogen energy.... Read more..

Big brands flouting e-waste norms in Delhi , finds study

 Leading multi-national electronic and electrical equipment manufacturing companies are among the worst offenders when it comes to generation and disposal of electronic waste (e-waste) in the country, a latest study by Toxics Link has revealed. And with the huge amount of e-waste that Delhi produces, compounded by the abysmal management and disposal of such material, the Capital is at a high risk.

The study found 16 of the 50 leading companies (31 multinational and 19 national) to be wanting in their role on e-waste management and fared very poorly in the ratings developed by... Read more..

Mega solar project in Purulia, West Bengal

 The state government has placed a proposal to the Centre for setting up a 250MW solar power project near the Purulia Pumping Storage Project (PPSP) at Baghmundi for an estimated cost of Rs 1,700 crore.

This will be the world's biggest solar power project if the state government can sort out the issues of land availability and funds and gets the nod from the ministry of new and renewable energy.

Power minister Manish Gupta spoke about the plan at a national seminar organized on Tuesday by Ashden India Renewable Energy Collective—a group of Indian Ashden award winners headed... Read more..

MCC to pay the penalty for water pollution

 The Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has upheld an order directing the City Corporation and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board to pay damages of Rs. 5,000 to each of 35 families here for their failure to prevent pollution of their well waters.

The Dakshina Kannada District Consumer Disputes Redrassal Forum had, in Junuary 2013, asked the two bodies stop seepage of sewage water into wells. It had warned that failure to rectify the problem within a month would attract additional daily penalty of Rs. 50 each. They were asked to pay Rs. 5,000 as cost of... Read more..

Rs 272 crore water project gets rolling

 India is about to launch the largest bidding of solar power projects worth 1,500 MW under its flagship Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). In what the government officials claim is the first success story of converging the three energy ministries vis-a-vis coal, power and renewable energy, solar power would be bundled with conventional power at such a huge scale in one go. 

The bidding, which is a part of second batch of the phase 2 of JNNSM, aims to achieve a capacity addition of 10,000 MW by 2017. The government tendered 750 MW of solar power projects in January this... Read more..