Sustainability Outlook Headlines

STP to be must for new apartments with five or more houses: Bengaluru

Newly constructed and upcoming apartment complexes having five or more houses must have mini sewage treatment plants (STPs), the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) decided at a meeting held in the first week of this month. 

The board had earlier decided that STPs would be must for apartment complexes having 10 or more houses. 

Apartment complexes and commercial establishments spread over 10,000 sq ft and above must instal mini STPs, said T M Vijay Bhaskar, Chairperson, BWSSB. 

He said citizens must take a conscious decision to treat their own waste water... Read more..

Rays Power wins Rs. 300 cr order from NHPC

Rays Power Experts has bagged Rs. 300 crore order from state—run NHPC Ltd for setting up a 50 MW solar power project at Sattur in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu.

“Rays Power Experts bagged a Rs. 300 crore order from National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) limited,” the company said in a release.

As part of this order, Rays Power will implement the Engineering Procurement & Construction (EPC) Contract for development of 50 MW solar power project in Tamil Nadu.

The project will commence by the end of October 2015 at Sattur in Virudhunagar district of... Read more..

Renewable energy comprises over 60% of new capacity in the U.S

Renewable energy sources which include biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind accounted for more than 60 percent (60.20 percent) of the 7,276 MW of new electrical generation placed in service in the United States during the first nine months of 2015, said Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC).

According to the recently released “Energy Infrastructure Update” from FERC Office of Energy Projects, 26 new “units” of wind accounted for 2,966 megawatts (MW) of new generating capacity – or more than forty percent (40.76 percent) of all new capacity year-to-date.

Solar... Read more..

Climeworks Builds Commercial-Scale Carbon Capture Plant

Carbon capture technology firm Climeworks AG, says it will construct and operate an industrial-scale CO2 capture plant that will be operational by mid-2016 and annually capture 900 tons of CO2.

Climeworks says the carbon capture plant will, for the first time worldwide, sell atmospheric CO2 to a customer: Gebrüder Meier Primanatura AG. Gebrüder Meier will use the CO2 to enhance the growth of lettuce and other vegetables in its greenhouse by up to 20 percent, the company says.

The plant, located in Hinwil, Canton of Zurich, Switzerland is part of a three-year pilot and... Read more..

India’s ReNew Power Raises $265 Million In Fresh Funding Round

One of India’s leading independent power producers in the renewable energy sector has raised significant equity funding in a recent round.

ReNew Power Ventures, a leading renewable energy projects developer in India, announcedthat it raised $265 million following a fresh round of equity funding. The latest round was led by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which acquired stake in the company with an investment of $200 million.

Goldman Sachs was the largest equity investor in the company prior to this funding round and acquired an additional stake worth $50 million. Goldman... Read more..

Trucost Research Points to $10B #BusinessCase for Circular Economy for Electronics

Last month, the Green Electronics Council (GEC) unveiled new research carried out by Trucost that highlights the importance of advancing best circular-economy practices throughout the electronics sector.

The GEC engaged Trucost in order to better understand the intersection of environmental stewardship and return on investment when natural capital considerations are included in the equation. While many individual enterprises have implemented circular-economic principles such as the incorporation of recycled content in products, little research has explored the global implications of... Read more..

Could Nanotechnology Dramatically Reduce Clothing's Environmental Impact?

If washing and drying clothes is a major culprit in the environmental waste wars, what if there were more natural fabrics that repelled stains, resulting in fewer washings? One such solution, introduced by Kelby & Co. at the Fashion Tech Lab incubator demo day this summer, is being rolled out in the market next month.

Dropel fuses hydrophobic (water- & stain-repellent) nanotechnology with cotton fibers to create enhanced cotton that resists stains as stubborn as soy sauce and red wine. Spills can be rinsed off with a squirt of water.

Founders Sim Gulati and Brad... Read more..

Indian Wind Turbine Maker Inox Wind Reports 76% Jump In Quarterly Profit

A stream of large orders and an overall positive outlook for the Indian wind energy market, one of the country’s two listed wind turbine makers has reported a spectacular jump in profit.

Inox Wind reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 89.13 crore (around $13.7 million) for the quarter ending September 2015, representing a 76.5% jump in profit quarter-on-quarter, and a 64.8% increase in year-on-year profit.

The huge profit come on the back of equally strong sales volume. Net sales increased to Rs 1,008 crore (around $155 million), up 58.7% quarter-on-quarter. However, the... Read more..

Utility Scale Solar’s Impact On The Land

The joint study from Stanford University and UC Riverside reads like a report card. The authors recognized that “solar energy has one of the greatest climate change mitigation potentials” of all renewable energy sources. It can play a leading role in helping the United States reach its goal of reducing emissions to 80% of 1990 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This would require covering a great deal of land surface. Using current technology, close to 71,428 square kilometers  (44,383 sq.  miles), or an area roughly comparable to South Carolina, would be covered with panels. Rebecca R.... Read more..

Thane civic body mulls converting abattoir waste into energy

The civic body is working towards ensuring zero waste dumping by abattoirs, fish markets and poultry farms in the city by scientifically processing leftovers from these areas into producing energy or bio-products, officials said.

As per the plan, Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) wants to ensure that the nearly 20 tonnes of waste, including meat and bones, generated daily will be used to generate power and bio-products.

The leftovers from these spots will be collected by the TMC and scientifically processed later. Procedures, including bio-methanisation, incineration,... Read more..

Delhi International Airport contracts Enerparc Energy for 5.7MW solar plant

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has put in an order for Enerparc Energy to set up a 5.7MW solar plant and perform O&M services over ten years at T3 terminal.

This is a repeat order following Enerparc’s successful 2.1MW solar installation for DIAL near the runway, which was commissioned in January 2014.

The new project will be spread over 10 hectares.

Enerparc has already installed 270MW of solar projects on runway side of airports worldwide.

Santosh Khatelsal, managing director, Enerparc Energy, said: “We have also commissioned a 5MW solar project... Read more..

Major hospitals might get solar power systems installed

For an energy efficiency upgrade in civic buildings, offices and institutions, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is contemplating on installing solar power systems, starting with Lokmanya Tilak Sion, Topiwala Nair and King Edward Memorial (KEM). 

The decision to install the green energy mechanism was approved at the recent Standing Committee meeting at the civic headquarters in CST. "We need to recognise the need to lower carbon footprint of BMC. The corporation pays lakhs of rupees of bill to power companies. We can save money if we use solar energy which is more... Read more..