Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Coal India signs first 100 MW solar power purchase agreement

State-owned CIL on Friday said it has entered into its first ever power purchase pact with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL) for sale of 100 mw solar power.

The tenure of power purchase agreement (PPA) is 25 years, Coal India Ltd (CIL) said in a statement.

"We feel upbeat that we could win in our first ever competitive bidding of solar auction. We will aggressively participate in more such auctions in future," CIL said in a statement.

In March, CIL had won a 100 mw solar power project in a reverse auction conducted by GUVNL.

For the 100 mw bid that it won,... Read more..

Lululemon launches new sustainability initiatives: garments made using ‘earth-friendly’ dyes

VANCOUVER – Canadian apparel brand Lululemon Athletica has announced the impending launch of two new sustainability initiatives to coincide with Earth Day.

In May, the company will introduce both a recommerce programme – called Lululemon Like New – and Earth Dye, a collection of garments made using ‘earth-friendly’ dyes.

Calvin McDonald, the brand’s CEO, said: “Our initiatives are both meaningful steps towards a circular ecosystem and demonstrate the sustainable innovation underway in product development and retail.”

Need concrete action at high speed and on large scale to combat climate change: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pitched for concrete action at a "high speed" and on a large scale to combat climate change, and asserted that India was doing its part to deal with the challenge. Addressing a US-hosted virtual summit of 40 global leaders, Modi also said sustainable lifestyles and guiding philosophy of "back to basics" must be important pillars of the economic strategy for the post-COVID era.

The Prime Minister said he and President Biden are launching the 'India-US climate and clean energy Agenda 2030 partnership'.

"Together, we will help mobilise... Read more..

India Smart Grid Forum and ASEAN Centre for Energy executed MoU for Cooperation for Decarbonization Initiatives in ASEAN Member States in the areas of Smart Grids Electric Mobility and Renewable Energy Developments on Fast-track

The following press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire. PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.)
NEW DELHI, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has long standing international partnerships on energy cooperation which have been mutually beneficial to all stakeholders (including the donors). These international partnerships support the implementation of the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2016-2025, a regional blueprint for energy cooperation which was endorsed by the ASEAN Ministers on... Read more..

Design of Robust Time of Use (ToU) Framework for Electricity Tariff in Gujarat and Launch of ToU Tool for Utilities and Regulators by ISGF

NEW DELHI, April 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pricing of electricity is one of the key challenges in the efficient functioning of the power sector. Electricity tariffs typically do not reflect the true costs of generation, transmission and distribution in India. Knowledge about the demand-price relationship, consumers' willingness-to-pay for electricity, and demand forecasts are necessary to plan the supply and design of tariff structures. Increase in distributed energy resources (DER) such as solar photovoltaic (PV), wind turbines and electric vehicles (EVs) will result in unanticipated peaks... Read more..

China to cut coal use share below 56 per cent in 2021

BEIJING, - China aims to cut its coal use to below 56 per cent of energy consumption in 2021, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said in a statement on Thursday, but said the fuel would still play a vital role in ensuring the nation's energy security.

China, the world's biggest coal consumer, lowered the share of coal use in its primary energy mix to 56.8 per cent in 2020, from around 68 per cent at the beginning of the previous decade.

The NEA also plans to raise electricity use to 28 per cent of end-use energy consumption in China, up from the 2020 goal of 27 per cent... Read more..

Launching of India RE Dashboard

India has set a massive target of achieving 175 GW of Renewable capacity by year
2022 and is undergoing an energy transition. Around 94.4 GW of RE capacity has
been installed as on 31.03.2021. CEA has been actively monitoring and tracking
detailed information for conventional fuel plants, similar data is not readily available
for RE plants. In this connection RE dashboard so developed in collaboration with
Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) is Scheduled to be launched on
21st April 2021 at 1530 onwards.

India ranks 87th in global energy transition index

India has been ranked at the 87th position among 115 countries in the Energy Transition Index (ETI) that tracks nations on the current performance of their energy systems across various aspects, according to a report.

The report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) released on Wednesday and prepared in collaboration with Accenture also draws on insights from ETI.

The top 10 countries in the index are Western and Northern European countries, and Sweden is in the first position followed by Norway (2nd) and Denmark (3rd).

'China (68) and India (87), which collectively... Read more..

NTPC tenders 1 GW of solar capacity

State-run power producer NTPC has invited bids to set up an aggregate 1 GW of grid-connected solar power projects anywhere in India. The installations will be set up on a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis on the land identified and arranged by the developers.

Developers can compete for 250 MW up to all of 1 GW capacity on offer, in 10 MW multiples.

NTPC shall purchase the solar power from these plants at an initial tariff of INR 1.91/kWh for the first contract year, which shall be escalated at 01 paisa/kWh per year for the duration till the 25th year.

The power... Read more..

Rajasthan: Solar pumps to quench thirst of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve animals

Jaipur: Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) is now taking pride in using clean energy in the park for water supply.

To ensure wild animals don’t go thirsty because of water scarcity in summer, the forest department has installed 40 solar-powered pumps at the reserve that will be used to replenish water in the tanks across the woods.

Be it Rann Plateau Talai situated at a height of 450 metre or Khandoj water point, the department will provide sufficient water by replacing tanker points with piped water and installing solar pumps. There are many other plateaus including Indala,... Read more..

Experts from India & Japan discussed collaborations for innovations on Hydrogen based technologies

Experts from India and Japan discussed possibilities of collaboration for promotion of hydrogen-based technologies as well as related innovations, trends, concerns, and solutions at a webinar on De-carbonisation: Exploring the Hydrogen Prospects and Innovative Technologies.

“Challenges for India-Japan hydrogen research is cost reduction and improved performance for fuel cells, hydrogen storage, challenges for viable green hydrogen process routes, significant investments required for research infrastructure and support for commercialisation,” Rangan Banerjee, Forbes Marshall Chair... Read more..

BP "lobbying to weaken" EU green investment, watchdog says

(Alliance News) - Oil giant BP PLC is pushing the EU to weaken what qualifies as a sustainable energy source, which could make it "more challenging" for the bloc to meet its net-zero emissions goal, an industry watchdog told AFP.

The European Commission will publish Wednesday a "green taxonomy" classification system defining what constitutes as sustainable investment as the EU moves towards carbon neutrality by 2050.

As part of the process, a group of experts were tasked with setting criteria, including emissions thresholds, for various infrastructure, energy, agriculture and... Read more..