Sustainability Outlook Headlines

ADB raises US$1.25 billion in global Green Bonds for climate mitigation projects

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has raised US$1.25 billion to help finance climate change mitigation and adaptation projects by issuing dual-tranche 5-year (US$750 million) and 10-year green bonds (US$500 million). 

Proceeds of the green bonds will go towards supporting low-carbon and climate resilient projects.

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Growth in coal use falls in last 10 yrs as India eyes Paris goal

Coal will continue to have a prime place in India's total energy mix for the next many years but data shows that the country's coal boom may have been over a couple of years ago, much earlier than expected. 

Over the past two years, the country's coal use has increased by an average of just 2.2%, a sharp fall from the previous 10 years when average annual growth was over 6%. 

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66.72 crore energy saving LED bulbs sold in India: Piyush Goyal

The Central Government motivated drive to transform India into an ‘energy efficiency’ country has received a major push having sold 66.72 crore LED bulbs against its target to replace 77 crore incandescent bulbs by March 2019.

In the move, which is expected to reduce import bills along with an increase in bulb’s life by 50 times than ordinary bulbs and 8-10 times that of CFLs, the state-run Energy Efficiency... Read more..

Gurugram civic body and RWAs to install zero waste garbage plants

In order to keep a check on garbage generation the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) in collaboration with various Residential Welfare Associations (RWAs) of Gurugram has decided to install zero waste garbage plants in various sectors of the city.

According to the officials, with the installation of zero garbage plant, no garbage will be sent to the landfill site and the whole waste will be recycled... Read more..

Odisha State Pollution Control Board slaps closure notice on 16 industries

The Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) on Tuesday slapped closure notices on 16 small industries in Puri and Bhubaneswar for their failure to check water pollution. The move follows a directive of the Supreme Court. Sources in the pollution board said these small industries include rice mills, automobile overhaul and repair units and prawn processing units. None of these units have wastewater treatment plants, as a result of which the bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD) level in the wastewater is much... Read more..

Delhi High Court demands report of bye-laws for solid waste management

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday questioned the three municipal corporations of Delhi (MCD) on their efficacy to curtail the increasing cases of malaria, dengue and chikunguniya in the city after the onset of the monsoon season.

According to a recent report by the civic bodies, there have been 288 cases of malaria, 180 cases of dengue and 220 cases of chikunguniya till July 29.

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Pimpri Chinchwad Small Industries Association demand waste plant, drainage lines

The Pimpri Chinchwad Small Industries Association has urged the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to look into several issues in the industrial area, including construction of a common effluent treatment plant (CETP), rehabilitation of industries in residential areas, laying of underground drainage lines in the MIDC area, setting up a fire brigade station and inadequate number of PMPML buses.

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Bhandewadi waste to energy plant to be completed in 2 years: Nagpur Municipal Corporation

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) on Wednesday informed the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court (HC) that it would complete the much-needed waste to energy project at Bhandewadi within two years.

The NMC, through its health department, submitted a time-bound schedule for the commencement of solid waste management project.

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Income from rooftop solar panels may fall in Tamil Nadu

While the number of people opting for solar-net metering of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) has increased from 320 in 2015 to 480 in 2016, income from roof-top solar power panel installation may be reduced by half soon.

According to Tangedco officials, a proposal has been sent to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (Tnerc) seeking separate tariff to be set for... Read more..

India Insisted On Dues From Global Sources To Fight Climate Change: Government

India has insisted on its rightful dues from international sources in its fight against climate change and any statement to the contrary is "factually incorrect", the government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump, after pulling out from the Paris agreement, had argued that India would get billions of dollars for meeting its commitment under the pact and also double its coal-fired... Read more..

Schneider Electric, WWF Install Solar-Storage Mini-Grids on Diminishing Islands in India’s Threatened Sundarbans

Stretching across the Bay of Bengal from on to offshore the coasts of northeast India and Bangladesh, the Sundarbans is the world’s largest remaining mangrove ecosystem. Island residents and communities, or what’s left of them, have largely maintained their traditional renewable natural resource-based livelihoods and lifestyles in the face of poorly conceived, at times corrupt and exploitive, industrial shrimp farming and property development. Now they face a much more profound threat: rising seas.... Read more..

Rooftop solar target of 40 GW by 2022 'unrealistic': Parliament panel

A Parliamentary panel today said the rooftop solar target of 40 GW by 2022 is "unrealistic" and it needs to be "reconsidered". 

"The Committee feels that the rooftop solar target of 40 GW by 2022 is unrealistic and it is highly unlikely that this target will be achieved," the Standing Committee on Energy (2016-17) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said in its latest report tabled in Parliament... Read more..