Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Honda to start testing electric two-wheeler in India in 2020

Honda, India's second-largest two-wheeler maker, may finally jump onto the electric vehicle bandwagon as it prepares to take consumer feedback on a test vehicle later in the year.

The Japanese giant is the only scooter and motorcycle making company that was yet to firm up plans about electric scooters or electric bikes even as its rivals have been discussing launch plans of such vehicles.
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Activa 6G Minoru Kato, president, CEO and MD, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, said: "We will start testing an electric vehicle in India that... Read more..

Mercedes-Benz launches EQ brand in India

Mercedes-Benz India on Tuesday announced its entry in the electric space in the domestic market with the launch of its EQ brand. The luxury car maker plans to come out with its first full electric vehicle EQC in April.

The launch of EQ brand underlines Mercedes-Benz India's strategic initiative in the EV domain to establish luxury electric motoring in the country, the company said.

"The first vehicle that the brand as such as a full EV been able to deliver or aiming to deliver is the EQC, which is a sporty SUV, which has been unveiled today," Martin Schwenk, MD and CEO,... Read more..

2019 capped world’s hottest decade in recorded history

The past decade was the hottest ever recorded on the planet, driven by an acceleration of temperature increases in the past five years, according to data released Wednesday.

The findings, released jointly by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, detail a troubling trajectory: 2019 was the second-hottest year on record, trailing only 2016. The past five years each rank among the five hottest since record-keeping began. And 19 of the hottest 20 years have occurred during the past two decades.

The warming trend also bears the unmistakable sign of human... Read more..

Maharashtra: MERC withdraws compulsory gross metering for solar power

The Maharashtra Energy Regulatory Commission (MERC) has done away with the plan to have a compulsory gross metering for solar power generation. The measure was one of the alleged provisions in the draft regulations that did not find any place in the final regulations declared by the regulatory body. While the draft regulations had also envisaged an arrangement by which the power supplying companies were entitled to bill the power produced by solar users at allegedly higher rate, this too has been also made consumer-centric now. TOI had reported the outrage on part of stakeholders about the... Read more..

Chandigarh: 300 govt houses to get solar panels in Crest’s Rs 15cr project

Making way for more solar power generation in the city, Chandigarh Renewal Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (Crest), under the aegis of the environment department of Chandigarh administration, will install rooftop solar panels in 300 government residences of different categories. Under the project, which is estimated to cost Rs 15 crore, government schools were left with some room for more solar panels on their roofs in the previous drive will also be covered in this installation exercise. Since the work has started in some areas, its expected completion by March 31 will... Read more..

Ideaspring Capital, Rebright Partners and ABB Technology Ventures invest in Numocity

Numocity Technologies, a tech startup focused on providing digital solutions for electric mobility infrastructure raised an undisclosed amount from Ideaspring Capital, Rebright Partners and ABB Technology Ventures, informed the company in a release. Numocity has an end-to-end middleware solution with various use cases for the entire electric vehicle ecosystem ranging from fixed charging infrastructure, battery swap management, analytics for fleet operations and a value-added services platform built with mobility intelligence and data, claims the company. It further claims that Numocity's... Read more..

UK’s Intertek launches programme to support end-to end sustainability commitment in India

UK-based Intertek Group, an industrial quality assurance provider, on Tuesday said it has launched its Total Sustainability Assurance programme in India. It will provide companies with an assurance solution to enable them demonstrate their end-to-end commitment to sustainability. "With the effects of climate change becoming more apparent and requiring companies to balance rapid growth with a sustainable approach, today’s launch event follows on from the unveiling of Intertek’s Total Sustainability Assurance programme," said the company release. In India, the company has been supporting the... Read more..

Clean power push: Govt adds over 50,000 MW in 5 years

The renewable energy sector has made rapid strides under the Modi government with 50 GW plus of new capacity coming into the grid in the last five years. This is despite the doubts being raised over the government’s target of achieving of 175 GW by 2022. The December quarter of 2019 saw India’s cumulative clean energy capacity cross 85,000 MW, of which more than 50,000 MW of new capacity addition was achieved in the past five years. As on December 31, 2019, the total grid-connected installed renewable power capacity in India stood at 85,908 MW, aided by support of several policy measures... Read more..

Tata Power Solar bags Rs 1,505 crore project from NTPC under CPSU scheme

Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd has received a letter of award from NTPC for a 250 megawatt solar project under the central public sector undertakings (CPSU) scheme. The scheme aims to set up 12,000 MW of solar capacity by government companies by financial year 2022-23. The Cabinet has already sanctioned a viability gap funding support of Rs 8,580 crore towards the scheme capped at Rs 70 lakh per MW. "This is a prestigious project for us and we are thankful to NTPC for reinforcing their confidence in our capabilities," said Ashish Khanna, President (Renewables) at Tata Power. "It consolidates... Read more..

Ansys collaborates with major Indian OEMs for developing EVs

Ansys, the global engineering simulation and 3D designing software company is working with many major OEMs in developing electric vehicles in India. This is the direct outcome of the rising need for simulation in the ideation, designing and final execution of new age vehicles. As sustainable mobility and the EV megatrend rides high across the Indian automobile world, Ansys solutions are used across the life cycle of vehicles. Rafiq Somani, Area VP, India and South Asia Pacific, Ansys said, “There was pressure on automobile OEMs with BS VI and now the EVs. There are quite a lot of... Read more..

Global sustainable debt grew 78 per cent to $465 billion in 2019: BNEF

The volume of sustainable debt issued globally in 2019 stood at $465 billion, up 78 per cent from $261.4 billion in 2018. Also, all-time cumulative issuance of sustainable debt crossed the $1 trillion barrier reaching $1.17 trillion by December 31, 2019, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Sustainable debt covers a variety of instruments, from the area of green bonds to the fast-emerging category of sustainability-linked loans. "Green bonds, constituting more than half of the entire sustainable debt market in 2019, saw $271 billion issued – up from $182 billion in 2018,"... Read more..

Punjab seeks central assistance for biomass projects

Pointing out that the state government had already submitted a detailed proposal on the subject, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has written to the Centre reiterating his demand for Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for Biomass Power Projects and Biomass Solar Hybrid Power Projects to check stubble burning in the state. In a letter to Union Minister of State for Power, New & Renewable Energy, RK Singh, the Chief Minister has sought his personal attention towards framing of scheme/ guidelines for promoting biomass power projects by providing one-time viability gap funding in a... Read more..