The Punjab Energy Development Agency has released a draft green hydrogen policy aiming to achieve a green hydrogen and ammonia production capacity of 100 kilo tonnes per annum by 2030. The policy proposes extending incentives under the existing “Punjab Industrial and Business Development Policy 2022” to new green hydrogen and …
A few years ago, social activist Pramila Dandavate had asked me at the end of a talk whether the Indian environmental movement had a symbol similar to Gandhiji's charkha during the freedom struggle. My answer was, of course, no, as indeed there is none. But I have since thought a …
FRANCE's nuclear testing shenanigans the Mururoa atoll have caused an international furore (see Down to Earth, 31, 1995). Among the most hostile ics of the French moves on the atol the international environmental gram Greenpeace. The group claims that 45 founder David McTaggart and 2 grove members had infiltrated the …
British scientists have developed an artificial hand that is as deft at handling objects as a real one. Homer Rahnejat and Russel Speight of the Bradford University in northern England, in association with Medi Mehdian of the Greenwich University, London, have constructed a prototype hand that has 16 degrees of …
JAPAN must get its act together on the energy front, says the International Energy Agency (iea). In a news conference organised in Tokyo in mid-June, Robert Priddle, director of the iea warned that unless the Japanese government made serious efforts to ease restrictions on the energy industry -- for better …
WITH the fossil fuels depleting fast, hot dry rock (HDR) found several kin under the earth's surface promises an ecofriendly, economically viable and virtually inexhaustible energy source. The Australian Geological Survey Corporation (AGs()) predicts that one cubic km of rock at 25(Y'C can produce the energy equivalent of 40 million …
What are the most serious environmental problems facing Russia at present? More than 15 per cent of Russia's territory is ecologically unsafe. The poor quality of drinking water and radiation are the main problems, along with air and chemical pollution. Some 75 per cent of Russia's waterbodies are highly contaminated …
India has been increasingly under pressure from the North to reduce her carbondioxide emissions. But many of the developed countries have not done enough to cut down their own emission levels. Doesn't this expose the North's double standards? We have called for a differentiated but common responsibility among the countries …
IN A French government report on the space sciences, strong recommendations have been made to the authorities to move away from the European Space Agency (ESA) partners who are allegedly holding "enterprising French scientists" back with their feet-dragging tactics when it comes to coughing up funds for research. The report …
Dorvial Michel, a scientist at Compagnie Industrielle de Tubes et Lamps Electriques Citel, a French company, has devised a lightning arrester. The device has an external metal casing containing a neutral gas (that does not react easily), a metal electrode and a fuse. Under normal conditions, the electrode is electrically …
A $91 million electricity generation plant, jointly financed by a French construction firm and the Ivorian government, promises to metamorphose the west African nation of Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) from an importer of power to a major supplier in the region. The plant will generate 100 megawatts (mw) initially, which …
ACTIVISTS of the environmental group - Greenpeace stopped a ship from dumping toxic wastes off Israel's coast. This incident occured in the first week of May, this year. To stall the dumping, inflatable Green-peace boats circled the Israeli ship - carrying toxic waste from the Haifa Chemicals Ltd company- off …
AN AMERICAN company, Ultralife Batteries, has launched the world's first lightweight rechargeable battery made entirely from solid materials. The battery, launched a few weeks ago, can be recharged more than 1,000 times with only a tiny loss of capacity. In comparison, conventional batteries can be recharged a maximum of 200 …
Slaughter goats to save the exotic Galapagos tortoises, says Julian Fitter, chairperson of the newly constituted Galapagos Conservation Trust. The cluster of islands in the Galapagos Sea survives on its tortoise- smitten tourism industry. But goats, breeding in their thousands every year on Mount Alcedo, are destroying the cloud forest …
The ministry of nonconventional energy sources (MNES) is in the process of drafting a policy for the increased use of renewable energy. In the light of the plan priorities set by the Planning Commission, what should the key areas be? The priority for the plan should be to promote research …
It's an Algerian SOS for protecting its energy-rich desert areas from Muslim militant attacks. It has already imposed strict controls on movements within its energy production zones. In a radio message transmit- ted across the nation, the interior ministry announced that oil and gas production areas would henceforth be declared …
BERLIN, almost 3 years after the Earth Summit at Rio. Once again, a storm buffets the I I day-long Climate Summit held here from March 28 to April 7. The issue is whether the threat - that there is a threat is undeniable - of a possible global climate change …
You can't tilt against these windmills. A good wind has literally swept into the lives of the inhabitants of Chile's Coquimbo region as 31 windmills have been set spinning to pump water. Some of the ranchers in this drought-stricken area spend more than 8 hours a day drawing up the …
IN RURAL areas, the use of collected biomass continues to burgeon because the availability of alternate sources of energy has increased more tardily than expected. The poorest of the rural poor are far more dependent on non-commercial sources of energy like wood, dung, and agricultural wastes than the urban poor. …
INDIAN industry has changed tack. Productivity and profiteering have acquired a new companion -- green intent. The 11th Indian Engineering Trade Fair-'95 (IETF), held in Delhi this February, marked the coming on stream of an industrial culture where conservation concerns become intrinsic, and cleaner operations a commitment the industry cannot …
ASSAM's Barak valley dam project will reduce the Sylhet region of Bangladesh to a sandy waste, screams the Khaleda Zia government of Bangladesh. Given a chance, the Zia regime would have the Rs 2,000 crore multi-purpose project sink into oblivion. Bangladesh is beseeching Japan's Overseas Economic Corporation Fund (OECF) not …
