Feature Article

Germany is outraged at major cuts for solar electricity and at the possibility of cuts to other renewables being snuck in through the back door.

To protect the climate and overhaul our energy supply, we will need to do more than just expand renewables, we will need to do more than just expand renewables - we also have to start using energy more efficiently. But planned EU regulations are meeting with fierce resistance.

India's ambitious solar mission has faltered in its first step. LANCO Infratech subverted government rules to corner a major share of solar capacity in first phase of the mission. This is an investigative report on the scam by Centre for Science and Environment in Down To Earth.

Environment ministry clears hydro project rejected twice by its advisory committee. The union environment ministry has given in-principle clearance to a proposed hydro-project on the Alaknanda river, a tributary of the Ganga, in Uttarakhand. The 300 MW project had been rejected twice by the statutory body which recommends forest clearances, the forest advisory committee (FAC). FAC says the project lies in the buffer zone of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR), a home to many endangered species.

About half the projects miss deadline. A number of power projects taken up under the first phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) are running behind schedule. A survey by Delhi non-profit Centre for Science and Environment shows many projects in the first batch of phase I, totalling 150 MW of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) power capacity, have missed their January 10, 2012 deadline. Thirty projects of 5 MW capacity each were auctioned in November 2010 and contracts had been signed on January 10, 2011 with a 12 month deadline.

The economic pain of a flattening supply will trump the environment as a reason to curb the use of fossil fuels, say James Murray and David King.

Country’s varied topography, space constraint make it an uphill task, they say. The telecom industry is finding it difficult to implement the recent directions issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on cutting carbon emissions. DoT had issued directions on January 4, wherein it asked the service providers to frame a Carbon Credit Policy detailing methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

When looking at biomass power, we must keep in mind the alternative uses. The nexus between food, water and energy has to be viewed in detail. A country like India produces nearly 500 million tonnes of agro waste annually.
Such agro wastes are used. (Correspondence)

Government asks service providers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With an aim to minimise carbon emissions from the fast-growing telecom sector in India, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked service providers to frame a Carbon Credit Policy, detailing methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The directions were issued on January 4 after much deliberation over the recommendations made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in its report, Approach towards green telecommunications, submitted last year.

Japan's Fukushima disaster has spurred public protest in India against government plans to build new nuclear power plants, despite the Atomic Energy Commission's reassurances. We should instead be considering solar energy — a safe and sustainable option. (Correspondence)