Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Rajasthan: Wind power firms to lose government land for not starting projects

The wind power developers who had taken government land and have not been able to execute the projects are set to lose their land. Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Ltd (RRECL) has written a letter to the revenue department to expedite the process for cancellation of the land. In the letter, RRECL said that more than 3000 bigha has beenallotted to about 20 companies which has not developed projects. “The revenueland allotted to the projects in these cases was either not utilized bydevelopers within the... Read more..

Ford plans for all cars sold in Europe to be electric by 2030

Ford has pledged that all of its cars on sale in Europe will be electric by 2030, in the latest move by the world’s biggest auto manufacturers to set out plans to move away from polluting internal combustion engines before looming bans on fossil-fuel vehicles across the world. The US car giant said on Wednesday that it was going “all in” on electric vehicles and would invest $1bn (£720m) converting a vehicle assembly plant in Cologne, Germany, to become its first electric vehicle facility in Europe. It said... Read more..

UK witnesses India's ambitious work on renewable energy ahead of COP26 summit

Alok Sharma, President-designate of 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), witnessed India's ambitious work on renewable energy, and held vital discussions with government leaders, including Prime Minister Modi, businesses and civil society during his two-day visit to New Delhi. According to an official statement issued by the British High Commission, Sharma congratulated PM Modi on his personal leadership on climate action and his recent commitment to deliver 450GW of renewable energy by 2030... Read more..

Draft liquefied natural gas policy aims to run more trucks on LNG

The government has already announced plans to have 1,000 LNG retail outlets, entailing investment of Rs 10,000 crore, in the next five years, and the policy will work towards the target. The Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas has prepared a draft liquefied natural gas (LNG) policy which aims to set up a framework for the promotion of gas and find ways for LNG adoption in sectors which currently does not use it as a fuel. To make LNG the fuel of the future for heavy transport, the policy targets to... Read more..

Solar-based water supply project set up in Punjab's Jalandhar

Punjab's water supply and sanitation department has set up first-of-its-kind solar-based water supply project at Jagrawan-Muradpur and Talwara villages of the Jalandhar district. An official spokesperson on Tuesday said that besides installing 150-metre deep tube-wells, 25,000 litres capacity water tanks have also been constructed to provide piped water supply to every household in these villages. The solar-based pilot projects were commissioned at a cost of Rs 67.71 lakh. Now, panchayats of these villages... Read more..

Japan's stressed power grid faces new test with Arctic blast on way

Japan's overstretched electricity grid is likely to receive another Arctic blast in the coming days, which is already pushing up wholesale prices and may stress generators as they struggle to keep units running after a powerful quake. While the world's third-biggest economy is unlikely to see millions plunged into blackouts as in the United States currently, the country narrowly avoided power cuts only last month in another wintry spell. Utilities and independent power providers got another jolt at the... Read more..

Jaguar To Turn All Electric By 2025, Land Rover EVs Start In 2024

Jaguar will pivot away from its heritage to become a full electric car brand within five years, while its Land Rover stablemate will have six EVs by 2025, the British company announced this morning. The first all-electric Land Rover was due in 2024, Jaguar Land Rover CEO Thierry Bolloré admitted, to be followed by five more in rapid fire within two years. The announcement makes Jaguar the biggest legacy OEM to commit its future to electric cars, following similar announcements from Volkswagen Group-owned... Read more..

MNRE to Remotely Monitor Solar Assets Under KUSUM Program

The United Kingdom (U.K.)-India Power Sector Reforms (PSR) Program will assist the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in the conceptualization, design, and development of the Solar Energy Data Management (SEDM) platform. The platform will be implemented at the national level and in the states of Haryana and Gujarat under the Pradhan Mantri-Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) program. In July 2019, India announced the PM-KUSUM program to encourage the wider deployment of solar water pumps. The program focuses on the installation of both off-grid and grid-connected... Read more..

SECI Asked to Compensate Maharashtra DISCOM for Delay in Commissioning Solar Projects

The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has asked the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to compensate the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) for the short supply of energy due to which it had look to other sources to fulfill its renewable purchase obligation (RPO).

It directed SECI to return the money if the bank guarantee was encashed after creating the payment security mechanism. It also asked SECI to reimburse the money accrued following the tariff reduction due to delay in commissioning of the projects.

MSEDCL had... Read more..

Thomas Lloyd’s Sustainable Infrastructure Income Fund (SIIF) has surpassed €100m in assets under management.

ThomasLloyd’s Sustainable Infrastructure Income Fund (SIIF) has surpassed €100m in assets under management.

The SIIF is the world’s first fully regulated, open-ended public infrastructure fund, listed on the Luxembourg stock exchange’s Green Exchange, a dedicated platform for green, social and sustainable securities.

The SIIF invests directly in a diversified portfolio of privately held, sustainable infrastructure assets. These investments, in high growth and emerging markets, predominately in the Indian subcontinent and south-east Asia.
The portfolio consists of three... Read more..

India joins race to develop high-efficiency solar cells

The Indian government is funding research at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) and state-owned engineering company Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) to develop high-efficiency solar cells, in line with ongoing efforts to introduce an incentive scheme to support PV cell production.

Research team are now developing crystalline silicon solar cells with a minimum efficiency of 21%, in addition to roll-to-roll perovskite solar cells.

“Under the ministry’s renewable energy research and technology development program, various research institutions and industry are... Read more..

EU readies reforms to energy treaty as climate criticisms mount

BRUSSELS/MADRID: The European Commission is expected to propose reforms to an international energy treaty as early as Monday, EU officials said, after some governments have said the bloc should consider quitting the agreement because it could threaten climate goals.

Signed in 1994 to protect cross-border investment in the energy sector, the Energy Charter Treaty has faced growing criticism from environmental groups and governments that say it impedes countries' efforts to phase out fossil fuels.

The agreement enables foreign investors to seek financial compensation from... Read more..