Sustainability Outlook Headlines

GSPCB issues show-cause notice to airport

 PANAJI: Goa state pollution control board (GSPCB) has issued a show cause notice to the Airports Authority of India management for discharging sewage and waste water from the airport facility at Dabolim into a nearby storm water drain.

The member secretary of the board, while issuing the notice, to be replied within seven days, noted that the airport facility was being operated without obtaining consent to operate of the board as required under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.

The new airport terminal at Dabolim had been recently inaugurated and... Read more..

China fuels highest solar silicon demand since 2011

 The polysilicon industry is headed for its biggest boom since a price war started three years ago. It can thank a burst of solar-panel orders in China and Japan.

Demand for the commodity used to make photovoltaic cells will jump 15 per cent this year, the most since 2011, Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecasts. The price of the material, made from super-heated silicon particles and sliced into wafers, has reached its highest since the middle of 2012. Global sales may top $6 billion at that price.

Manufacturers led by GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd of China and Wacker Chemie AG... Read more..

Rooftop panels may be the game changer

 GURGAON: In a seminar on renewable energy held in Gurgaon on Tuesday, senior government officials once again brought to the fore the issue of solar technology, which is touted as the future of green energy but still doesn't have many takers in Gurgaon's industrial and commercial sectors.

At the seminar, the focus was on rooftop solar panels for industrial units. Officials said that added subsidies on equipment and technical support will help provide the much-needed push to solar technology, and will get more industrialists to invest in it. These statements have a familiar ring to... Read more..

Solar projects: India says no to US on dispute settlement panel

 NEW DELHI, APRIL 29:  

India has rejected US’ request for a dispute settlement panel at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over mandatory domestic sourcing norms in solar projects on the ground that more discussions were required.

If the US makes a second request to the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO for a panel, as is likely, New Delhi will not be able to reject it again as per existing rules.

“We have rejected US’ first request for a panel as we do believe that the compulsory domestic sourcing of solar panels and solar cells in our solar projects do not violate... Read more..

Power-sharing plan for cheaper solar energy, electricity bills

 GURGAON: Pushing for the need to change the paradigm of interaction between consumers and the government, R N Parasher, the chairman of Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC), voiced his support for 'net metering' for the success of solar power use in Haryana.

Parasher also requested industry professionals to submit a set of recommendations to be included in a draft for the renewable energy policy in Haryana while addressing a seminar on 'Green Growth - Renewable Energy Opportunities in Haryana'.

Encouraging heads of various industries and commercial establishments... Read more..

How CdCl treatment improves solar cell efficiency

 A team of researchers from the USA's Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Toledo and DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, has claimed to have found the answer to a thin-film solar cell mystery boggle. The mystery points to why treating cadmium-telluride solar cell materials with cadmium-chloride improves efficiency.

The research team used electron microscopy and computational simulations to explore the physical origins of the unexplained treatment process. The results are published in Physical Review Letters (PRL) in a paper entitled 'Grain... Read more..

Thin film on path to greater growth by 2020

A recent study by the Global Industry Analysts (GIA) estimate that the thin film PV market is set to reach $22.8bn by the year 2020, and indicates that the rise of solar power as an alternative to fossil fuels is set to continue.

The report concludes that there are many significant factors that are driving the growth in the thin film PV segment, including many examples of government support and incentives to invest in the solar market.

In particular governments in the United States, Canada, and Japan have encouraged companies to manufacture thin film cells, as they utilise a... Read more..

Grant Thornton India Watch Index lags FTSE indices in Q1 2014

 Grant Thornton’s India Watch Index fell by 8% in Q1 2014, compared with a 1.2% and 2.2% drop in the FTSE AIM 100 and FTSE 100, respectively. Investors clearly remain cautious ahead of the general elections.

Winners and losers

India Watch Index April 2014OPG Power Ventures, a developer and operator of power generation plants, was the quarter’s clear winner – up 44.4%, having reported strong trading results in the fourth quarter of 2013. The company’s existing plants are performing well, while the construction of two additional plants is progressing ahead of schedule. OPG’s... Read more..

Wind energy sector gets $184m VC funding in Q1

 Sector sees a vibrant year in terms of funding both in India and abroad

The wind energy sector in India continues to attract venture capital (VC) funding. In the first quarter of the calendar year 2014, the sector has received around $184 million funds and project commitments for 164.4 MW. The sector, both in India and abroad, had seen a vibrant and strong year in terms of VC funding, M&A transactions and debt funding in 2013.

In India alone, there were 14 major transactions with deal value touching over $600 million. Of this, the disclosed deal value was worth $569... Read more..

Gamesa ropes 100MW in India

Gamesa is to supply 100MW of hardware to Indian developer and operator Greenko.

In addition to installing 50 G97 2MW turbines (pictured), the agreement caters for related operation and maintenance services for an initial five-year period, the Spanish manufacturer said.

The turbines will be installed at several wind farms being developed in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan, which are slated for commissioning in September 2014 and March 2015.

The order falls under the umbrella of the 300MW framework agreement reached in 2013 under which orders for... Read more..

Don’t write off biofuels yet, we will need them to get about in the future

 Bioenergy and biofuels have an important role to play in lowering the use of carbon-intensive fossil fuels – a point underscored by the IPCC report which confirmed the need for further research to improve such technology.

A key challenge is creating alternative transport fuels, which are currently overwhelmingly fossil-fuel dependent, and responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. Of the renewable energy alternatives such as wind, tidal and solar power, it is only non-edible biomass (broadly, any biological matter derived from plants or other organisms) that can... Read more..

Land acquisition problems dog solar power plants

 NAGPUR: State run power utility Mahagenco had planned to start work on two solar power plants in Osmanabad and Parbhani districts but they are held up due to problems related with land acquisition. Work has, however, started on a new plant in Baramati that was planned much later.

This has badly hit the company's obligation of buying solar power. Mahagenco's solar capacity should have been 344 MW in 2014-15 for meeting the obligation. However, it is only 155 MW at present. Another 125 MW was planned by 2013-14 but could not materialize, which is reason for the huge deficit.

... Read more..