India Green News: India’s First EV Charging Station & More
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund
India Green News: India reaffirms its commitment to moving away from a coal-based energy; India-led solar alliance to add 1,000GW of energy by 2030; This city just got India’s first electric vehicle charging station
India Green News is a selection of news highlights about environmental and energy issues in India.
November 15 – 21, 2017
CLIMATE CHANGE
BCCL
India reaffirms its commitment to moving away from a coal-based energy
India reiterated its commitment to moving away from a coal-based energy system while stressing that achieving this goal would take time given the country’s development deficit.
“Steps are being undertaken to de-couple the Indian energy system from carbon in the long run. However, poverty eradication remains an overriding priority for us as we strive to ensure housing, electricity and food security for all,” Environment Minister Harshvardhan said in his address to heads of state, ministers and other leaders during the high level segment of the UN-sponsored climate talks.
The Indian environment minister’s statement came hours after the launch of the Global Alliance to Power Past Coal by Canada and the United Kingdom….
(Economic Times – November 17, 2017)
Global warming: NASA tool predicts which city will flood first; Mangalore, Mumbai at risk
Mangalore in Karnataka is at a higher risk of flooding from rising sea levels because of melting glaciers than coastal cities such as Mumbai and New York, data released by Nasa shows.
Over the next 100 years, glacial melt could push up Mangalore sea levels by 15.98cm compared to 15.26cm for Mumbai and 10.65cm for New York, says the study carried in the journal Science Advances. Mumbai and New York are traditionally believed to be the most vulnerable.
The findings are based on a forecasting tool, gradient fingerprint mapping (GFM), developed by the scientists at the US space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
It allows planners to see exactly how melting glaciers can push up sea levels for 293 major port cities, including three from India—Mangalore, Mumbai in Maharashtra and Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh….
(Hindustan Times – November 16, 2017)
ENERGY
Economic Times
India-led solar alliance to add 1,000GW of energy by 2030
Set to become a legal entity in December, the India-led International Solar Alliance (ISA) plans to add 1,000 gigawatt (GW) of solar power across the globe by 2030 with an investment of nearly 1,200 billion euros.
ISA’s future plans were made public here in Bonn on the sidelines of the ongoing UN climate change conference (COP23).
India had earlier planned to disclose details of ISA’s agenda next month during the alliance’s first global summit in Delhi. The inaugural summit has, however, now been deferred due to postponement of French President Emmanuel Macron’s India visit….
(Economic Times – November 16, 2017)
India to be mainstay in global energy scene by 2040, says IEA report
India is likely to lead global energy demand growth by 2040, the International Energy Agency said in its annual World Energy Outlook report 2017 on Tuesday.
The Indian energy demand may rise by 1,005 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe), between 2016 to 2040, accounting for 30 percent of the total growth in world energy demand. Thus, India will surpass the increase in energy demand of China (790 Mtoe), West Asia (480 Mtoe) and Africa (485 Mtoe) during the above period.
However, US, Japan and Europe may reduce their energy demand by 30 Mtoe, 50 Mtoe and 200 Mtoe, respectively, by 2040….
(Energy World, Economic Times – November 15, 2017)
India, World Bank ink $98 million loan pact for renewable energy
India and the World Bank on Monday signed a $98 million loan pact, and a $2 million grant agreement to help the country increase power generation capacity through cleaner, renewable energy sources.
The Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks Project will finance Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA), to provide sub-loans to states to invest in various solar parks, the World Bank said in a statement. The solar parks will be mostly under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s (MNRE) Solar Park Scheme, it said.
The first two solar parks are in the Rewa and Mandsaur districts of Madhya Pradesh, with targeted installed capacities of 750 MW and 250 MW respectively, it said. Other states where potential solar parks could be supported under this project are in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana….
(LiveMint – November 20, 2017)
Indian State Earns Nearly $1 Million Selling Excess Wind Power In 14 Days
The record wind energy generation that India witnessed brought in record revenue (and profit!) for the state of Tamil Nadu, the leading producer of wind power in the country.
According to officials, the state power distribution company sold 11.94 gigawatt-hours of wind power over 14 days in August of this year on the open market. Around 500 megawatts of wind power was sold per day in the market for two to four hours over the 14-day period.
This exercise reaped revenue of more than Rs 61 million ($0.95 million). The average per unit cost translates into around Rs 5.16/kWh (7.9¢/kWh). The Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company Limited (TANGEDCO) buys wind power at tariffs of Rs 3.00-4.15/kWh (4.6-6.4¢/kWh)….
(Clean Technica – November 21, 2017)
India needs over $200 bn of investment in renewable infrastructure
India is on track to catalyze $200-300 billion of new investment in its renewable energy infrastructure in the next decade with global capital inflows playing an increasingly crucial role, a top financial analyst with a leading US-based institute foresees.
India’s decarbonization policy is in line with global trends which, since 2011, have been seeing investments in renewable energy infrastructure running at two-three times of that for new fossil fuel capacities, Tim Buckley, Director of Energy Finance Studies Australasia with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), said.
At present, India relies on thermal power generation for 80 per cent of its electricity, while hydro supplies a significant 10 per cent and renewables just seven per cent….
(Economic Times – November 21, 2017)
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND AIR POLLUTION
LiveMint
This City Just Got India’s First Electric Vehicle Charging Station
State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) today announced launch of nation’s first electric vehicle charging station at a petrol pump in Nagpur.
IOC, in collaboration with Ola, launched the country’s first electric charging station at one of its petrol-diesel stations in Nagpur, a company statement said. Nagpur, being the first city to introduce Electric Public Transportation Model in India, has added one more feather to its cap by adding the first electric charging station at IOC’s petrol pump in Nagpur.
The statement said: “As India’s leading oil refiner and marketer, IOC considers promoting ecological sustainability as part of its core business. Thus, this partnership with Ola is the right step forward as we re-imagine how India will commute in coming years.”
(NDTV – November 19, 2017)
Will air action plan now see light of day?
How many warnings will it take for the Gujarat government acts to fight air pollution in the city? On Thursday, Ahmedabad’s overall air quality index (AQI) had the unenviable honor of being forecast to hit 311 points, rated ‘very poor’ alongside Delhi’s whose AQI was 375 points.
This was a warning to citizens and the government, that any delay in the implementation of the ‘Action Plan for Control of Air Pollution in Ahmedabad’ (APCAPA), which is has been gathering dust for one and a half years with the state government will cost 65 lakh Amdavadis dear, forcing them to breathe ‘very poor’ air.
On Thursday, all the 10 monitoring stations of System of Air Quality And Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar showed AQI readings above 60 points….
(Times of India – November 17, 2017)
Coal-based power plants set to miss emission norm deadline
At a time when pollution-related deaths in India has seen a 17 per cent increase, most power plants in the country have not even started the planning to meet the strict emission norms that will come into effect from December 2017.
An analysis of the coal-based power sector released on Thursday by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) indicated that the industry—with active help from the Ministry of Power and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA)—is all set to avoid complying with the new emission norms.
Thermal power plants are one of the biggest polluters in India. Of the total emissions from the industrial sector, the power sector alone contributes 60 per cent PM (particulate matter), 45 per cent SOx (sulphur oxides), 30 per cent NOx (nitrogen oxides) and 80 per cent mercury emissions….
(Indian Express – November 16, 2017)
Delhi to get BS-VI fuel two years early to tackle pollution
The world’s cleanest fuel will be introduced in the national capital two years earlier than planned, the Union government said on Wednesday as it seeks to reduce vehicular pollution.
Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) fuel will now be available with effect from 1 April 2018 in Delhi, the petroleum ministry said, and added that it is examining the possibility of introducing BS-VI fuel across the national capital region by 1 April 2019.
Not only has the petroleum ministry committed to state-of-the-art technology, it is also making a political statement on tackling pollution—especially given that the Delhi government has come up short on solutions to tackle the problem….
(LiveMint – November 15, 2017)
EESL to float tender for 10,000 additional electric vehicles
In what comes as another boost for India’s electric vehicle program, state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has said it will float another tender of around 10,000 electric vehicles during March-April, much before it expects to complete the current bidding process in June.
“We will come up with another tender for similar number of electric vehicles. Basic specifications for those electric vehicles will remain the same,” Saurabh Kumar, managing director, EESL, said at a press meet on Wednesday.
EESL gave out a similar contract in September to Tata Motors Ltd and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, kicking off India’s electric vehicle procurement program….
(LiveMint – November 16, 2017)
Compiled by Laasya Bhagavatula
Note: The linked articles and excerpts in this post are provided for informational purposes only and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the India Initiative or of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
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