Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Tenders to lease sea blocks for wind farms early next year

The Government will float tenders early next year to lease out sea blocks to companies for setting up wind farm projects along the 7,600-km coastline.

“Tenders will be floated in three months time to invite companies for setting up offshore wind farms,” New and Renewable Energy Secretary Upendra Tripathy said on the sidelines of a conference.

On the blocks to be offered in the first round of the bidding, Tripathy said, “The number of offshore blocks will depend on clearance from the Defence Ministry and others.”

About the consideration for the bidding, he said, “It... Read more..

Kohler to pilot sanitation project for low-income homes in Coimbatore

Top-end sanitaryware and bath works brand Kohler is known worldwide for its premium image. In the Indian market too, Kohler has a 40 per cent share in the premium end of the Rs. 8,000-crore sanitwaryware market, growing at twice the market growth of 14 per cent. But, what Kohler has been quietly working on under the radar is a closed sanitation system that will address the acute sanitation issues India deals with. The pilot project is all set to be installed in Coimbatore and if it proves successful, Kohler will look to scale up this project.

David Kohler, President & CEO, the... Read more..

Dubai power, water facility to use electric cars

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has become the first government organisation to use electric cars after it added eight of such vehicles to its fleet, the media reported on Tuesday.

DEWA aims to implement the Dubai Green Transport initiative and encourage the use of sustainable transportation with hybrid and electric vehicles, which will cut total carbon emissions in the city by 19 percent.

“The move supports the Smart Dubai initiative and the vision of Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to... Read more..

Portable Anaerobic Digestion Unit Ready For Demonstration

What do we do with our food waste? It’s become the issue du jour lately as environmentalists, policy makers, and even chefs and restaurateurs take into account the fact that 40% of the food we produce goes to waste. If food’s still edible, than we want to figure out ways to get it to people who will eat it. If not, we want to figure out how to best recycle it… without creating further environmental challenges.

The HORSE is a new technology aimed at that latter category of food waste. This portable anaerobic digester provides the means for turning inedible food waste into energy and... Read more..

Digital Windfarms Promise 20 Percent Productivity Gain

Few people embody the backyard inventor better than Charles Brush. In 1887, he built behind his mansion in Cleveland, Ohio, a 4-ton wind generator with 144 blades and a comet-like tail, and used it to power a set of batteries in his basement. Although by today’s standards the huge, 60-foot machine was massively inefficient, it started a new industry that pushed generations of engineers to make it better. Now GE has decided to go further and improve on the entire wind farm in one fell swoop.

“Every wind farm has a unique profile, like DNA or a fingerprint,” says Keith Longtin,... Read more..

Government hopes to free Rs 40,000 crore fund soon for afforestation

The Centre is hopeful that the bill to utilize close to Rs 40,000 crore currently locked in the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) will be passed by wide consensus in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament.

The funds have been lying utilized following a 2009 order of the Supreme Court and the government intends to ensure that they are accessed by states and the Centre for compensatory plantation, environment and forests minister Prakash Javadekar said. Afforestation is a big part of India's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (... Read more..

Rural Energy Access in India: A Comprehensive Report

Rural energy poverty is increasingly recognized as a major obstacle to sustainable economic development. The United Nations Sustainable Energy for All initiative has played an important role in the international policy effort, and, to the delight of many social scientists, Sustainable Development Goal #7 reads “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”. The reality, however, remains that one-fifth of the world population does not have electricity at home and almost one-half of the same population uses traditional biomass for cooking.

In... Read more..

Delhi Secretariat to run on solar energy

The Delhi Secretariat will be the first in the country to run completely on renewable and solar energy, the Delhi government announced on Monday.

“The Delhi government in association with ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) will set up a three MW solar power plant at the Indraprastha Power Station,” an official statement said.

“The plant will directly supply power to Delhi Secretariat for the next 25 years, making Delhi the first state secretariat running completely on renewable and green energy,” the statement said.

The Delhi government was committed to making... Read more..

GE Hitachi, DTE Energy collaborate for ESBWR development

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and DTE Energy have announced collaboration to explore advancing the detailed design of the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR).

In May, DTE Energy received the first-ever ESBWR-based combined construction and operating license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

DTE has not made a commitment to build, but is keeping the option open, given the long-term environmental and economic advantages of nuclear power, the company said in a statement.

Both DTE and GEH have plans to expand their cooperation to advance... Read more..

Intelligent Energy inks GBP-1.2bn fuel cell deal in India

UK fuel cell company Intelligent Energy Holding Plc (LON:IEH) on Thursday announced a deal to provide clean power to telecom towers in India that it said will bring contracted revenues of about GBP 1.2 billion (USD 1.8bn/EUR 1.6bn) over 10 years.

The transaction, described as a major milestone in hydrogen fuel cell development, will see the UK company buy contracts from India-based network services provider GTL Ltd (BOM:500160) to supply energy-management services to more than 27,400 mobile telecom towers. Through its Indian subsidiary Essential Energy, Intelligent Energy intends to... Read more..

Harish Salve moves SC for pollution tax on trucks transiting Delhi

The petition by three toddlers complaining about Delhi's toxic air has resuscitated the issue, with amicus curiae and senior advocate in the Supreme Court's Green Bench, Harish Salve, seeking imposition of a hefty pollution tax to rid the city of trespassing trucks.

Salve has been spearheading a pro bono campaign against diesel cars, terming them as the single largest cause for rendering Delhi's air unhealthy.

In his application before the court, Salve said every night nearly 40,000 trucks use Delhi roads as a transit route for their destination to save toll, spewing harmful... Read more..

Germany to give India clean energy push with 2 projects

Germany will give India a clean energy push and projects worth $1.6 billion could to be announced during the visit of Chancellor Angela Merkel even as German industry has expressed concerns that more needs to be done on the ease of doing business to attract investments.

Sources have told ET that two major projects on clean energy are likely to be signed when Merkel leads a delegation of six cabinet ministers to New Delhi next week for Inter-Governmental Consultations (IRC). One of the projects involves German investments into a new green energy corridor to cut down transmission... Read more..