Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Railways to add 1000 MW of solar, 200 MW of wind energy: Suresh Prabhu

Railways plans to use renewable energy in a "big" way and is looking to add 1,000 MW of solar and 200 MW of wind energy, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today said.

Prabhu along with Power Minister Piyush Goyal also launched a new report, which said Railways can draw up to 25 per cent of its electric power needs from renewables and achieve the target of 5 GW of solar power by 2025.

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Reebok: New Kicks Created from ‘Things that Grow,’ Will Return to Soil to Grow More Shoes

Reebok will bring plant-based footwear to the market later this year in an initiative that the company says will create shoes that are “made from things that grow.” The first release will be a shoe that has an upper comprised of organic cotton and a base originating from industrial grown corn (a non-food source). While the company doesn’t expect the line to be a significant sales driver initially, the goal is to expand the range over time. “This is really just the beginning,” Bill McInnis, head of Reebok... Read more..

Namami Gange project in a shambles, Narendra Modi intervenes

India's $3 billion plan to clean the holy Ganga river is badly behind schedule with large stretches contaminated by toxic waste and sewage, forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene, according to government officials and documents seen by Reuters.

Much of the money allocated to the project, a flagship initiative for Modi's Hindu nationalist government, remains unspent, say officials from the... Read more..

India, UK to set up 240 million pound fund for green energy

India and the UK today decided to set up a 240 million pound fund to finance clean energy projects here, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.

The Green Growth Equity Fund will be a sub-fund of NIIF.

"We have established the NIIF. Our first major step in the fund has been taken and there is going to be... Read more..

New software for solar power billing from May in Haryana

Haryana Renewable Energy Department (HAREDA) has said the billing software as per guidelines of the 2014 solar plant scheme is now ready. The development comes amid complaints that consumers were not getting the rebate mandated as per the solar policy, owing to glitches in ‘net’ meters.

Naveen Verma, DHBVN superintendent engineer, said power bills for the next cycle will be generated through the software. On... Read more..

Odisha government joint ventures with University of Chicago for research, knowledge and capacity building

Odisha government on Monday signed a statement of interest (SOI) with University of Chicago and its charitable trust in India to collaborate in fields of research, knowledge and capacity building. The leading university will help in setting up a virtual academy, work for improving energy efficiency and pollution control, health and sanitation sectors and also in capacity building of personnel and institutes.

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India-born chemist Swaminathan Ramesh, develops a mobile reactor to convert waste plastic to diesel in US

A mobile reactor to convert waste plastic into fuel, that uses technology developed by an India-born chemist, is soon to make its debut in California in a demonstration project. “Using our efficient Plastic to Fuel (PTF) conversion units, we are hoping to address the problems of plastics pollution on land and theocean,” Swaminathan Ramesh, a product of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru and President of Michigan-based EcoFuel Technologies, told IANS in an email.

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Adani Ports will go green, focus on logistics business

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone chief Karan Adani is charting the next growth phase for his company which entails usage of greener energy sources as well as a sharper focus on the logistics business, even as he keeps looking at fresh port projects, both in and out of India.

In an interview to ET, the Adani Group scion said a focus on cleaner forms of energy will shave operating costs by as much as 10%-... Read more..

Soon, deposit waste at this ATM and get money in Vijayawada

A good news for citizens in the city. Soon you can "make money" by depositing waste in a different  ATM machines to come up in the city.

The municipal administration and Urban Development department have come up with an unique idea - Waste ATMs.

Demonstrating the idea to  mediapersons at the Interim... Read more..

Government announces incentives for solar plants' performance

In a bid to check the performance of small on-grid and off-grid solar power plants, the Central government on Monday announced that it would not give any incentive to solar power plants which would perform at less than 40 % of its sanctioned strength during the sanctioned period.

The Centre has asked all departments, public sector units and state governments which are planning to install solar roof top... Read more..

NGT declines to modify Supreme Court order on BS-III vehicles

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has refused to allow registration of 10 new diesel vehicles conforming to Bharat Stage-III norms in the wake of the ban imposed by the Supreme Court.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar declined to grant the relief to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) saying that it has no jurisdiction to entertain the plea.

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Industrial Energy Ltd launches solar micro grid project in Odisha

Industrial Energy Limited (IEL), a joint venture of Tata Power and Tata Steel, today inaugurated a solar micro grid project at Baliapal village in Kalinganagar in Odisha.

The project will benefit 255 people at Baliapal village with uninterrupted power. The village was facing frequent power cuts that hampered studies of students and daily household works of women, a company release said.