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Dear Reader,
 Renewable Energy Programme at Centre for Science and Environment has been working in the area of decentralized distributed generation both for rural and urban areas.
In the rural areas, the focus on rural electrification has culminated into report –
Mini-grids: Electricity to all. The report suggests that decentralised distributed in the form of renewable energy (RE) based mini-grids can manage the local household and commercial electricity demand efficiently by generating power at the source of consumption. The report was released in a meeting organised by CSE in Guwahati on August 11-12, 2016 – “100% renewable energy future for North East”. The meeting was attended by stakeholders from across the region – all the state nodal agencies, developers operating in the region, academicians and students and media personnel.
 The second day of conference focused on developing rooftop solar in the North East region for urban areas. CSE believes rooftop solar would democratize solar power generation - make solar power available to every house. We released Solar Rooftop calculator (Beta version) designed for the domestic houses, which has a huge untapped market for solar power in the country. The calculator covers of nearly 600 Indian cities. It would help consumers design the system based on their electricity requirement and gives you both the economic and environmental benefits of such a system.
CSE welcomes feedback and opinions from users. Please forward all comments and feedback to Sridhar Sekar (sridhar@cseindia.org).
You can access all the presentations and press release - Northeast can generate its entire electricity from renewable sources, says CSE. CSE also shared a Factsheet on Energy and Energy Access in North East. |
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REPORTERS DESK
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| August 11, 2016 |
| Moving towards a green future in transport |
| Energy use in transportation sector accounts for around one-third of global final energy consumption and the demand is increasing at about 1 per cent annually and will continue to do so till 2030. For a more sustainable future, using renewable energy to drive the sector is crucial. Technological development in renewable energy gives us hope for a green future where demand can be met sustainably. |
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| July 31, 2016 |
| Past their prime |
| India's thermal power sector is extremely polluting. Of all the emissions from the industrial sector in the country, coal-based power plants account for 60 per cent of particulate matter, 45 per cent of sulphur dioxide, 30 per cent of oxides of nitrogen and 80 per cent of mercury. There are several reasons for this: dated technology, poor operating practices, inadequate investments in renovation and low quality of Indian coal. |
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| July 27, 2016 |
| Not as Cool: Ensure real world energy savings from ACs |
| Responsible consumers are expected to buy air conditioners (ACs), star labeled by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) based on their energy efficiency to save energy, costs and the climate. But new results from testing of split room air conditioners (RACs) released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) shows that during high summers, when temperatures are in the 40-50 degrees Celsius range, a "5-star" rated split AC becomes worse than a 2- or 1-star rated unit. |
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| July 26, 2016 |
| For border villages in Rajasthan, electricity remains elusive |
| Exactly one year has passed since the Narendra Modi government announced the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) to provide continuous power supply to rural India. Still, hundreds of villages and hamlets of Barmer and Jaisalmer districts in Rajasthan use chimney lamps. Though electricity has reached the border villages, lines have not been laid and connections are yet to be given. |
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| July 26, 2016 |
| In next 20 years, India may need massive power transmission |
| corridors: CEA |
| Central Electricity Authority’s (CEA) report on Advance National Transmission Plan for India, which was released online in mid-July, indicate that the 48 major high-transmission corridors that have already been planned and which are under implementation (expected to be completed by 2017) would be sufficient to meet the import/export of power among various regions till 2021-22. |
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| July 22, 2016 |
| One-third power plants follow new, strict mercury emission |
| standards in US |
| Data released by the United State’s Energy Information Administration indicates that one-third of the country’s coal plants have retrofitted pollution control equipments to meet its new mercury emission standards.The new mercury emission standards were announced by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in 2012, limiting emissions to 0.0017 micrograms per cubic metre. These standards have been considered one of the most strict in the world. |
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| July 14, 2016 |
| Australia's energy sector is in critical need of reform |
| Over the next few decades Australia, like many countries, faces the prospect of an energy transformation that will challenge every aspect of stationary and transport energy: from production, transmission and distribution to consumption and exports. The ultimate imperative is to move our economy to a low-carbon footing, while ensuring that consumers don’t pay unnecessarily high costs. |
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| July 12, 2016 |
| Gurgaon to get India's first smart grid, end use of |
| diesel gensets |
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| By the end of 2017, Gurgaon will become the first city in India to get a full-scale smart grid. The Millennium City, which has been struggling with prolonged power cuts, frequent tripping of feeders and voltage fluctuations, finally sees some progress in the Smart Grid project that was approved in October 2015. If all goes well, the city will soon see an end to diesel generators and chronic power woes. |
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| July 08, 2016 |
| What about recycling for solar PV? |
| Solar power in India received the much-needed boost through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) in 2010. It is safe to assume that the majority of solar installations in the country were set up after that and the end of life for already-operating solar panels would happen after 2035.This is one of the reasons why no one is thinking about what will happen to solar panels once they are not able to generate power. The question is how will India dispose 100 gigawatt (GW) worth of solar panels in the next 20 years? |
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| July 01, 2016 |
| How about solar units on lakes if land is scarce? |
| The two largest man-made reservoirs in the US are drying up. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the Colorado River’s reservoirs are falling prey to droughts and chronic overuse. Vast quantities of water are also being lost to evaporation due to searing desert sun. What if the same heat is harnessed for electric power? That’s the idea proposed by Philip Warburg, a leading environmentalist and former attorney at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, DC, in Yale Environment 360 journal. |
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| June 30, 2016 |
| Fall of the black diamond |
| KING COAL appears to be in trouble—at least in the US. On April 13, Peabody, the largest privately held coal miner in the US filed for bankruptcy. Peabody’s filing follows bankruptcies of some of the largest coal miners in the US, including Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources—these firms are among the four largest in the US with around 40 per cent of the total US capacity. |
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| June 30, 2016 |
| World Bank to lend $1 billion to India’s solar programme |
| In a major push for India’s solar programme, the World Bank has committed more than US $1 billion in lending over financial year 2017. The Bank will support small and large initiatives, from the installation of solar panels on rooftops to setting up of massive solar parks. This is the Bank’s largest ever support for solar power in any country and the announcement comes as World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim visits the country this week. |
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| June 23, 2016 |
| 10 interesting facts on India’s largest solar power plant |
| Questions were raised in the past as to whether we should invest in large and expensive solar power plants that will feed electricity into a leaking grid, especially when the transmission and distribution loss in India has been higher than global average. Over the past few years, India made efficiency upgrades to its transmission grid to reduce the losses. Still, almost 20 per cent of the total generation, which is more than twice the world average, doesn’t reach intended customers. |
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| June 22, 2016 |
| Report pitches for nuclear energy in future |
| The nuclear industry continues to grow thanks to Chinese projects, with eight new ones connected to the grid in 2015. The Indian government is also pushing for it and is undergoing negotiations to unlock long-standing agreements with French, Russian and US companies to build nuclear power plants across the country, the World Nuclear Performance Report, published on Tuesday, said. |
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| June 22, 2016 |
| India is hedging its bets on coal to bring power to the people |
| More than a fifth of India’s population lacks access to electricity, posing a major development challenge. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to bring affordable access to electricity to all of these people by 2019.While Modi has committed to increasing renewable generation, India is also increasing coal production. India is the world’s third-largest coal producer and its second-largest coal importer.This is creating a growing tension between development and India’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. |
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| June 17, 2016 |
| NPCIL pays compensation to workers injured at Kudankulam |
| The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has paid Rs 50,000 each as relief to six workers, who suffered injuries at one of the nuclear plants. The development has come after an intervention by the National Human Rights Commission, that saw a violation of human rights in the case. The workers in question suffered burn injuries due to the lack of safety measures while maintaining its Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu on the May 14, 2014. |
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Renewable Energy unit
Centre for Science & Environment
New Delhi |
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Centre for Science and Environment,
Renewable energy Department
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi. India - 110062
Tel: +91-11 29955124, 29956110 | Fax: +91-11 29955879 | E-mail: k_aruna@cseindia.org |
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