Media/Press:
Green activists walk the talk at eco meet
Sudeshna Chatterjee | TNN, Times of India, 21st Dec, 2009
Mumbai: The Copenhagen summit may have done little to cheer green hearts but, back home, people and institutions are making genuine efforts for a sustainable life.
Anjali Parasnis from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) maintains that brainstorming sessions are on with the government of Maharashtra, to make recycling of water, solar water heating and processing of biodegradable waste in upcoming buildings mandatory. After all, if households in Bangalore can boast of a solar geyser, why should Mumbai lag behind? Another city-based interior designer who by his own conviction has turned green in his designs, Sandeep Goswami, explains how 3,000 tons of carbon emission occur from
manufacturing one ton of steel or cement.
By intelligent designing and a conscious lifestyle, one can prune down on such usage, he says. Some mothers from Bandra have combined strength to create cloth bags for carrying veggies rather than the ubiquitous plastic. In fact, they make cloth bags of all styles and shapes for all purposes.
We have all heard of organic cotton; but now, there are pure bamboo cotton-blended organic T-shirts. In fact, the city is dotted with stores specialising in not only organic food articles, but also an exhaustive range of organic lifestyle products, from non-toxic incense sticks to PVCfree yoga mats, soya candles, natural potpourris, chemical free crib sheets for the little ones and post-partum kits.
Noted environmentalist Vandana Shiva adds that organic farming reduces green house emissions by 40% and, if the Rs 1.5 lakh crore chemical subsidy (the amount that the government gives as subsidy to the fertiliser and pesticide sector) be alternatively given here, the price of the finished products will automatically come down.
At an ongoing eco meet titled Vishwa 2009 in Rabindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi, people across the nation are walking the talk. Take the example of Tushar Shah from Vapi. He uses tetra pak waste (renewable resources), which is turned into sheets strong enough to be used for low-cost housing roofs, paper, furniture et al. More and more tetra pak factories around the world now use green energy rather than fossil fuel-based energy.
Almitra Patel from Bangalore and a litigant fighting it out at the Supreme Court for cleaner cities across the country for over a decade now is all for eco friendly packaging and waste minimisation. Prithvi Raj from Bangalore converts newspaper waste into materials for similar use and more. “His paper sheets threaten to displace thermocol’’ says convener of Vishwa 2009 Yogendra Vora.
Then there is an eco architect from Bangalore, Chitra Vishwanathan, who has two decades of experience in creating green homes (meaning no skyscrapers); instead of steel and cement, he uses mud, bamboo, solar panels and LED lights that conserve and harvest energy. Waste is recycled to ensure zero-bin garbage.
Patel also gives a reminder that the government of India has laid down rules for disposing of municipal solid waste in 2000.
SIMPLE STEPS Interior designer Sandeep Goswami suggests five easy ways to turn green
1) Segregate your waste into wet and dry. Use-and-throw pens and toothpastes from medicated tubes made of steel and aluminium can be given to scrap dealers
2) Buy electrical goods after looking at energy star ratings. Five stars is the best
3) Grey water from shower and kitchen can be used to wash car. A simple water treatment plant can be installed
4) As sunlight primarily touches the western side of a building, using hollow brick walls creates natural thermal installations. This will automatically reduce AC energy by 15%
5) Bathing under a regular shower results in usage of three litres of water per minute. A significant portion of total water goes waste in sprinkling. So either have low floor shower fixtures or start using buckets
Energy credits may reach Rs 74K cr
Govt in talks with power exchanges to set efficiency targets by March
Natalie Obiko Pearson. Mumbai, DNA Money, 14th January 2010
The government plans to start trading energy efficiency credits, which could curb carbon-dioxide emissions growth and develop into an Rs 74,000 crore market by 2015, a government official said.
The government is setting up a system that will assign targets for businesses to improve energy efficiency, allowing companies that exceed the goals to earn credits for their savings and sell them to those that don't, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) director-general Ajay Mathur, said.
India, the fourth-largest emitter of gases blamed for global warming, plans to cut its carbon intensity, or the amount of carbon dioxide released per unit of gross domestic product, by as much as 25% from 2005 levels, by 2020. The country along with the US, China and Brazil are among countries that declared plans to slow emissions at the climate talks last month in Copenhagen.
The government expects to set efficiency targets for companies by the end of March and is talking with Indian Energy Exchange and Power Exchange India to set up trading protocols, Mathur said. Bloomberg.
Terminal market complexes coming up across states speeds up agri supply chain, cuts waste
Priyanka Golikeri. Mumbai, DNA Money, DNA Money, 14th January, 2010
To encourage private sector investment in agriculture, the Union ministry of agriculture is setting up terminal market complexes (TMCs), which, it believes, would reduce wastage of farm produce and thereby boost supply.
According to Prasanta Swain, director, marketing, ministry of agriculture, TMCs would be set up in different states. These will link farmers to markets by shortening the supply chain of perishables.
It would provide facilities such as cleaning, sorting, packing, storage, cold chain and transportation, which would help in reducing the wastage of farm produce.
"It would encourage participation of private enterprises which would be selected as promoters in the TMC project through competitive bidding and will be eligible for subsidy. Private enterprises would offer to provide up to 26% stake to producers' associations at project inception," Swain said.
Private enterprise could be any individual or consortium, while producers' association could be farmer societies, registered NGOs, etc and the TMC project will be implemented as a separate company to be registered under the Companies Act, 1956.
"We have already set up TMCs in Bihar (Patna), Orissa (Sambalpur), Tamil Nadu (Perundurai), Maharashtra (Nagpur, Nasik)," says Swain.
More are likely to be set up in Chandigarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, etc.
The Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board estimates say India produces about 58.7 million metric tonnes of fruits and 109 million metric tonnes of vegetables every year. About 35-40% of this is lost due to its perishable nature and problems in storage and transport, experts said.
TMCs will establish backward linkages with farmers through collection centres, which would be located in areas that allow easy access to farmers and forward linkages through wholesalers, processing units, retail stores, etc.
Swain says integrating with farmers would be the key to the functioning of the TMC.
However, according to Yudhvir Singh, general secretary, Bhartiya Kisan Union, farmer unions have till now not been approached by the government for such projects. "The scheme looks good, but it depends on how it is implemented and how much actually would farmers benefit from it."
Bhaskar Goswami, from the Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security, says that centralised terminals would mainly cater to exports and would not really benefit farmers.
According to New Delhi-based food policy expert Devinder Sharma, India needs a series of collection centres and food processing units at the taluka level, rather than TMCs in cities. "TMCs would mainly benefit retail chains."
Sun powers India to the top--Report Ranks Country 1st Along With US In Solar Energy Generation
Chittaranjan Tembhekar I TNN, Times of India - Mumbai, Times City-Page No. 5, 26th October 2009
Mumbai: The green energy revolution is not miles away from India. The country has emerged as the worlds number one, along with United States, in annual solar power generation. In wind power production, India ranks fifth in the world. And when it comes to space, scope and facilities for renewable energy expansion, India ranks fourth in the world.
McKinsey & Company, in its survey ended in May 2009, has stated that India has one of the worlds highest solar intensities with an annual solar energy yield of 1,700 to 1,900 kilowatt hours per kilowatt peak (kWh/KWp) of the installed capacity.
This is similar to the US and Hawaii, the two other countries which have been ranked first along with India. After India, US (mainly California state), Hawaii and Spain are the largest solar power producers with 1,500 to 1,600 kWh/KWp followed by Italy, Australia, China, Japan and Germany.
Similarly, in the BP statistical review of world energy , India has been ranked as fifth in the world. While United States contributes 20.7% of the total wind energy in the world, Germany produces 19.6%, followed by Spain (14%), India (8%), China (6%) and Denmark (3%).
According to Ernst & Youngs renewable energy country attractiveness indices , which ranks countries based on regulatory environment , fiscal support, unexploited resources, suitability to different technologies and other factors determining renewable energy growth in a country, India maintains a ranking within the top five countries in the world.
Besides solar and wind, Indias index for development of renewable energy resources in hydropower sector is the fourth topmost in the world after US, Germany and China.
Similarly, the countrys development index in biomass is ranked third in the world after US and Germany. Countries like Italy, UK, France, Canada and Australia lag behind India in this world index.
This implies enormous potential in energy generation running into several hundred Giga Watts with current solar technologies. As the cost of building solar capacity continues to fall over the next five to 10 years, a significant scale-up of solar generation (in multiples of tens of GW) is a very realistic possibility in India, the McKinsey report stated.
It further reveals that Indias biomass potential could be as high as 70 Giga Watts, bagasse 5 GW and agro-waste 18 GW. Use of wasteland for growing feedstock (woody biomass ) is another potential source of biomass and a programme to cultivate such crops like poplars and cottonwoods on just a quarter of countrys 80 million hectares of degraded land, it could generate 45 to 50 GW of power.
The Ernst & Youngs report stated that Indias gross renewable energy potential (up to 2032) is estimated at 220 GW.
Clearly, with a renewable energy capacity of 14.8 GW i.e, 9.7% of the total installed generation capacities of 150 GW (as on June 30, 2009), India has barely scratched the surface of a huge opportunity . However, given that in the last couple of years itself, the share of renewable energy in installed capacity has grown from 5% to 9.7%, India is definitely looking to make up for the lost time rapidly, stated the report.
Adopt rainwater harvesting, get rebate in taxes
Linah Baliga, DNA, 31st January, 2010
In order to give a boost to rainwater harvesting (RWH), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to give a rebate in property tax as an incentive to buildings and housing societies who set up RWH systems.
The BMC proposes to award points to residential buildings that have adopted eco-friendly measures and thereby give an incentive in the form of rebate on property taxes. "There's already a provision in the new capital Property Tax amendment, that property tax rebate will be awarded to housing societies that go green. So, we have proposed that for every ten points that a housing society is awarded, it gets a 10 per cent rebate. If it fulfills all 30 points, there will be a 20 per cent rebate given on property tax. The rules are under formulation," said Anil Diggikar, additional municipal commissioner.
"We have already prepared a criterion for discount, depending on the points a building earns," Diggikar said. The important features considered for buildings and housing societies are rainwater harvesting, grey water recycling plants, solid water management, segregation of organic and non-organic waste, creating manure from waste etc.
The main objective of making rainwater mandatory in all buildings is to recharge groundwater and augment overall water availability. This measure will ensure that rainwater is tapped and directed to recharge groundwater or stored for direct consumption by occupants of the buildings. "Although RWH has been made mandatory for new buildings, it isn't gaining momentum the way it should and there is no monitoring agency to track its implementation," said a civic official.
However, the government intends to bring the eco-housing policy for new constructions into effect from April1, 2010.
Ninad Siddhaye, DNA Main edition, 24th February, 2010
Maharashtra's power situation is dismal, and the efforts to generate non-conventional energy are even more unimpressive.
Windmill energy, solar power and biogas should have probably been at the forefront of the state's mission to generate supplementary power, but it has woefully lagged behind in this. Now, it has been given an opportunity to fast-pedal the issue.
A significant provision for renewable energy has been made in the Union budget this year. The finance minister has increased the allocation for renewable energy sources from Rs622 crore to Rs1002 crore — which is an increase of 61%. According to senior officials of the state energy department, this will definitely induce more — and better — power generation through these sources.
"A major worry for solar energy generation is the exorbitant cost of production — it comes to Rs17 per unit. The state at present spends Rs3 out of it while the rest is borne by the Centre. If the allocation is increased to energy sources such as these, they will definitely boost renewable power generation," said a senior state government official.
According to Arvind Mahajan, head of energy and water resources division, KPMG, doubling of allocation to the power sector of Rs5,130 crore along with the proposal to set up a Coal Regulatory Authority has come to the rescue of the power sector.
"The government has also increased the allocation for renewable energy to Rs1,002 crore and proposed to establish a national clean energy fund. Special recognition has been given to solar energy and a separate sum of Rs500 crore has been allocated towards setting-up solar and small hydro-power units, which is a welcome move," added Mahajan.
BMC may open up the land bank to builders
No new taxes for now, but octroi and property taxes may rise later in the year
Team DNA. Mumbai, 4th February, 2010
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to throw open a sizeable part of its land bank, valued conservatively at over Rs7,500 crore, to developers to raise resources in 2010-11.
The civic budget, presented on Wednesday, has otherwise little to offer Mumbaikars. There’s no money for development work, no road concretisation projects, no new beautification schemes, as the bulk of additional spending will go to ensure adequate water for citizens and salary hikes for BMC employees.
The math is simple. In a Rs20,471 crore budget, the salary component alone is Rs7,476 crore — up by Rs1,521 crore. The capital expenditure is down by Rs1,290 crore — making it clear that the city’s development is being sacrificed for staff salary increases.
The good news is that there is no additional taxation for now. But all bets are off for the future. Octroi rates could be raised later this year and the capital value-based property tax may be speedily introduced to bring in additional revenues. Higher octroi means higher prices for products on which this tax is levied. The big policy shift is on municipal land. Portions on 19 civic-owned plots in the city and 17 in the suburbs could be parcelled out to developers and private parties to subsidise the cost of building houses for 27,000-and-odd conservancy workers.
“A part of the floor space index (FSI) could be shared for commercial exploitation,” municipal commissioner SS Kshatriya said.
The housing project for conservancy workers, referred to as the Ashray project, was first announced by the BMC two years ago. The houses were to be created using public money. The project, however, failed to make headway due to paucity of resources. If it is now implemented under the privatisation model, the project will open up huge land areas for developers. The plots, many of which are located in prime areas, collectively measure 1.88 lakh sq m. Officials said that these were worth Rs7,652 crore in all. The privatisation option was also being considered for many other high-value projects.
Apart from an assurance that there won’t be any immediate tax hike and that adequate funding was being earmarked for an improvement in water supply and distribution, the budget documents paint a grim picture of the city’s finances.
Even as the overall size of the budget has been increased by Rs485.77 over last year’s estimates, no new development works were announced. A phenomenal rise in establishment costs by 26% is largely due to a hike in employee salaries - and this absorbed most of the additional budget.
While BMC employees’ interests were addressed, spending curbs were imposed on projects relating to citizen’s welfare. Arguing that “BMC’s current financial position was not robust enough to accept any additional liability on a large scale”, Kshatriya announced that a decision was taken to withhold all new road concretisation projects. The BMC has also suspended the idea of taking up beautification of theme parks, medical colleges, swimming pools, sports complexes and open air theatres, among other things. “Huge cost is incurred on the construction and maintenance of these facilities. These are not obligatory duties of the municipal corporation. An unwarranted spending on these would lead to a paucity of funds for performing obligatory duties,” he said. The zoo modernisation project, however, gets Rs 188.95 crore
While the BMC has justified the curbs in expenditure on the ground that otherwise it could mean additional taxes for citizens, the tax relief could well be temporary in nature. Kshatriya stressed on the need to increase revenues from existing sources and identifying new avenues. The possibility of an increase in octroi rates and tariffs was highlighted.
The grim financial future has forced the civic body to consider raising a loan of Rs 3,000 crore to manage expenses during the year. It is also reining in its establishment costs. Restricting day-to-day expenses by various departments, and extending the gap between employee pay revisions from five to 10 years are two ideas being considered.
On the other hand, a speedy switchover to property taxation based on capital values and modernisation of octroi nakas have been proposed. The civic body is also hoping for additional revenue once the court case relating to the grant of additional FSI in the suburbs is settled.
Extra FSI to townships that generate own power
CM Ashok Chavan said new projects coming up on a minimum area of 100 acres can avail the benefit provided they use non-polluting sources like solar and wind power
SUDHIR SURYAWANSHI
The State Government on Tuesday announced an additional incentive of 0.5 Floor Space Index (FSI) for all upcoming housing developments spread over 100 acres on the city’s outskirts provided they generate their own power using renewable sources of energy.
Announcing the incentive, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said townships coming up on a minimum area of 100 acres will get the benefit of an additional 0.5 FSI without developers having to pay any extra premium. The developers, in turn, must ensure that the new townships do not draw electricity from the grid. Electricity generated should be from non-polluting sources like solar and wind power.
The government’s move may work wonders for a city that is already reeling under daily load shedding in some parts. This is largely because of the disparity between the State Government’s capacity to generate electricity and the actual demand for it. Currently, the state is producing around 9,700 MW as against the demand of around 13,900 MW.
The government’s recent stimulus may benefit large township projects coming up in the outskirts of the city like Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan, as also in other cities like Pune and Nashik. Presently, all townships get 0.5 FSI, and the extra FSI will bring up the total FSI to 1. This means developers will now be able to construct structures with an area equal to that of the plot.
The policy has been drafted and approved by the State Cabinet, and will come into effect from April 1. Confirming the decision, T Benjamin, principal secretary in the department of urban development, said the policy has been drafted to deal with the severe electricity shortage in the city.
Chavan's Mega City will re-energise state
The project, which will cost Rs50,000 cr, promises to employ at least 7.5 lakh people
Shubhangi Khapre
Finally, chief minister Ashok Chavan has something to showcase. The state government has given approval to start work on the world's second largest 'energy city' project with an investment of Rs50,000 crore in Panvel, 65km from Mumbai.
On Sunday, Chavan will lay the foundation stone for the Mega City project, which will include a state-of-the-art energy city, an entertainment city, and an information technology and telecom city, spread over an area of 2,100 acres.
According to a senior secretary in the chief minister's office, the only parallel to such a massive project including the three components of energy, telecom, and entertainment is in Qatar.
The official said the Panvel project would provide direct employment to 2.5 lakh people and indirect employment to 5 lakh.
The chief minister, who is personally monitoring the project, held a meeting last week with senior officials to streamline coordination among the various civic and infrastructure agencies that will play roles in the project.
The Mega City project is being financed by Gulf Finance House and executed by Valuable Properties Private Limited. An insider in the chief minister's office said, "Chavan initiated the project discussions in 2006 when he was industry minister in Vilasrao Deshmukh's cabinet."
Unlike the special economic zones (SEZs), which have hit roadblocks in many places with farmers refusing to give up their land, the Mega City scheme does not face any such hurdles.
Officials in the industry and revenue ministries said, "The total requirement of land is 2,100 acres. We have already taken possession of 1,465 acres."
Even for the remaining land, the government does not expect any opposition from local residents. The villages which have had to part with land for the project include Wandoli, Loniwali, Bherle, Chikele, Wangni-Vaze, Mohoshivkar, and Pali-Khurd.
The project, which is being funded entirely by private investors, will not need any subsidy from the state government. But the chief minister, who is also chairman of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, has committed his government to assist the project by providing infrastructure.
Mumbai realty goes 'green'
The eco-friendly concept is rapidly gaining momentum across locations with several new projects
If you had the option of buying a home in a normal project at prevailing market rates or in a 'Green' building offering lower energy and water bills at a nominally higher rate per square foot, which would you choose? A few years ago, this would have been a rhetorical question as there were no 'Green' residential options available for Mumbaikars.
However, the good news is that several 'Green' residential projects are fast coming up across Mumbai. While the concept took a while to get going, it has certainly begun to pick up speed in recent years with some landmark projects being launched.
Rising trend
There has been a steady spread of green buildings in India with more and more people understanding the benefits. India has close to 30 million square ft of green buildings; an amazing achievement given the fact that we had only about 20,000 square ft in 2003 when the movement started here. Market estimates take the figure to over 100 million square ft in the next five years.
Kalpataru Square, a commercial complex at Andheri East was the first project in Asia to earn the LEED Platinum Core and Shell certification.
Similarly, Kohinoor City Hospital, the first LEED - Platinum rated Hospital in Asia, is located at Kurla.
Palais Royale, an upcoming LEED platinum rated residential building is slated to be India's largest residential green building.
Nirmal Lifestyle Ltd. is setting up "Green" offices, residential spaces and clubs which will provide Lifestyle, Entertainment and Education inspired from the tenets of the Discovery Channel.
Concept extended
One Avighna Park, a project initiated under the cluster redevelopment scheme coming up at the New Islam Mill compound in Lower Parel, will have 'Green' buildings, which are IGBC certified even for the rehabilitation structures. They will not only have the advantage of energy savings but residents would get an incentive of 50 per cent on property tax as proposed by Municipality to incentivise Green projects. This is the first time that a rehabilitation structure will be a 'green building.'
Overall impact
When you evaluate the life cycle cost over a span of time and evaluate the impact of reduction in the carbon footprint in the building and reduced water usage, Green buildings can be between 40 to 50% cheaper than conventional buildings.
The overall cost reduction and the sustainable solutions in green buildings make them the best solution now and in the future.
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON RENEWABLE ENERGY [ICORE] 2011
RENEWABLES: GROWTH THROUGH ACADEMIA - INDUSTRY INTERFACE & TRADE SHOW
2-4 November, 2011 at Tezpur University, Assam
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