Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Honeywell Powers India’s Auric And Faridabad Smart City Projects

Honeywell has stated that it is working with the Aurangabad Industrial Township Ltd. and Faridabad Smart City Ltd. to run cities more effectively and improve citizens’ living standards through smart building technologies and services that seamlessly connect an array of city services, including emergency response, traffic management, road congestion, crowd monitoring, pedestrian safety, and crime prevention.

The Aurangabad Industrial City and Faridabad smart city project were inaugurated this weekend by Shri Narendra Modi, Honorable Prime Minister of India. The Smart Cities Mission... Read more..

India, China to cooperate in R&D for developing new tech for manufacturing solar cell

India and China have agreed on cooperation in R&D for developing new technology for manufacturing solar cell from alternate material and improvement of efficiency of solar cells, Niti Aayog said on Monday. Both sides have also agreed on cooperation in the field of e-mobility and energy storage.

This among issues was discussed during the sixth India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, which was concluded on Monday.

"Both sides agreed on cooperation in R&D for developing new technology for manufacturing solar cell from alternate material and improvement of efficiency of... Read more..

Government likely to reduce GST to 5 percent on Hybrid Vehicles like EVs: Nitin Gadkari

Just like electric vehicles, the government will consider reducing GST on hybrid vehicles too. The Government of India earlier reduced the GST on EVs from 12% to 5% at the 2019 Budget, said Minister of Road Transport & Highway, Nitin Gadkari at SIAM Conclave.

In July, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the reduction of GST on electric vehicles from 12% to 5%. She said that the government has already moved GST council to lower the GST rate on electric vehicles (EV) from 12% to 5%. Also to make EVs affordable for consumers, government will provide additional income tax... Read more..

RK Singh: YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s move to review PPAs started

The Centre, which has been vehemently opposing the YS Jaganmohan Reddy government’s initiative to review wind and solar power purchase agreements (PPAs), has indicated that it has started feeling its result.

Union minister for power and renewable energy RK Singh told media persons in Hyderabad on Monday that the initiative of the AP government had affected global investments in the energy sector in India. He, however, chose not to reveal the quantum of investments affected.

He termed the decision of the YS Jagan Reddy government as ‘unfortunate’ and said his efforts to... Read more..

Developing countries trapped in collapsing carbon market

All the talk about reversing climate change is far from reality. Developed countries are not doing as much as they had promised to help Africa and Asia tackle climate change.

A Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) study presented at United Nation’s Conference of Parties 14, currently assembled to discuss desertification of land, has revealed that Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) — an initiative which helps developing countries sell carbon credits and lets developed countries invest in helping communities conserve their forests — is not working... Read more..

Project for solar power on farmland to kick off in Delhi next week

Delhi government’s plan to generate solar energy on agricultural land is set to take off next week. The power department will soon float tenders to invite companies to set up the solar plants under the Mukhyamantri Kisan Aay Badhotari Solar Yojana under the public-private participation model. A power department official said they have got the consent of farmers to install the solar panels on almost 150 acres of agricultural land in outer Delhi. The scheme was approved by the government in July last year, but picked up speed only after Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) notified... Read more..

Bigbasket aims to increase EVs in delivery fleet by 10-20 times in a year

Online grocery platform Bigbasket on Friday said it is planning to increase electric vehicle-based delivery feet by 10-20 times within a year. Currently, the e-commerce firm claims to have 150 electric vans and 50 electric bikes and "plans to increase the numbers to 1,000 vans and 2,000 bikes within the next one year". "Bigbasket has always been committed towards carrying out its processes in a sustainable manner. Apart from undertaking other environment-friendly initiatives, we were the first to introduce electric vehicles (EVs) for our last-mile delivery operations in 2016," K B Nagaraju... Read more..

Mumbai-born researcher invents alternative to Li-ion batteries

Mumbai-born scientist Dr Gautam Yadav has invented a new high-voltage, energy-dense rechargeable manganese dioxide (MnO2) zinc|(Zn) battery, which could be an alternative to Li-ion batteries that have dominated the energy storage landscape for decades. “High voltages in Li-ion batteries have allowed it to capture the electric vehicle, mobile electronics and grid-storage markets. Li-ion batteries contain elements which are geopolitically sensitive and not common to India, so development of energy storage technologies has taken a backseat, while countries like China have benefited... Read more..

State mulls solar water supply system for 12 villages

The state government is planning to launch a solar-powered water supply system to provide running water to 12 villages of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts by next month. The state-of-the-art facility will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 6 crore. The project has been conceptualised under the central government scheme to bolster piped water supply coverage areas across the country. In Uttarakhand, the project is being handled by the Swajal department, which has already invited bids for the project. The project’s nodal officer, executive engineer, Sunil Tiwari told TOI, “The... Read more..

IEEFA India: Grid, storage, policy, and regulation: Areas of new focus to meet India’s ambitious renewable energy targets

Finding the right pricing signals to drive technology adoption to solve the integration of an ever increasing share of variable renewable energy into India’s grid is becoming a central new challenge for policy makers and regulators, critical to enabling the ongoing transition away from coal to meet India’s ambitious renewable energy target of 523 gigawatts by 2030, finds a new IEEFA report out today. Written by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), the report Flexing India’s Energy System Through Market Mechanisms – A Recipe for India to Achieve a Least Cost,... Read more..

Climate change threatens to tear ecosystems apart, warns Amazon rainforest expert

Climate change is threatening our wildlife, and nowhere is that more apparent than the Amazon rainforest. As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon spans 2.3 million square miles (twice the size of India) and has within its borders the world’s largest river basin. It’s also one of the richest biological communities, home to 10 percent of the world’s known species, as well as many flora and fauna unique to the region. But if we don’t shape up — and by shape up, we mean slash greenhouse gas emissions at a rapid pace — we might lose this vast empire of wildlife. “It is very clear... Read more..

Blue economy potential largely untapped: experts

Potentials of blue economy in the Indian Ocean, which is worth $25 trillion, remain largely untapped due to shortage of investments and absence of comprehensive research on marine resources, according to experts. “The countries bordering the Indian Ocean extracted resources worth only $2.5 trillion, whereas its value is worth $25 trillion,” said Rear Admiral (Retd) Khurshed Alam, secretary to the maritime affairs unit of Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The amount of resources extracted by Bangladesh is worth only $9.6 billion, but its potential is much more, he said at a press... Read more..