Reply filed by the Director, Environment-cum-Special Secretary, Forest, Environment and Climate Change Department, Odisha and Member Secretary, Odisha Coastal Zone Management Authority, May 1, 2025. NGT, had registered suo motu in response to the news item in the Hindu, May 4, 2024 titled "Swell waves likely to strike coastal areas …
breaking with tradition, Union finance minister Jaswant Singh chose not to conform to the two-part format while delivering his maiden budget speech on February 28. But there was no departure from practice in this year's Union budget as it was at the end of the day another populist document. No …
Automated Teller Machines (atms) and solar energy. Now that's a unique combination! If all goes well as planned, the next generation atms in India could be solar powered or battery operated
By being home to the world's first solar tower, Australia is scaling new heights in its quest for tapping renewable energy resources. The one-kilometre-high structure would generate electricity to cater to a population of more than 0.2 million people. It will heat air at its base through the use of …
insert a card and get electricity. This is the new mantra of the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (wbreda). Known for its innovative methods of promoting renewable energy, the agency has come up with yet another unique way to provide power to the Maushuni islands in the Sunderbans. The …
A P Mitra couldn't believe it. He along with 200-odd scientists from India, Europe, Maldives and the us was conducting an intensive six-week field experiment in 1999 to study the effect of airborne tiny particles called aerosols on climate. The tropical Indian Ocean, where clean air from the southern Indian …
RAINFALL Aerosols may be reducing rainfall and threatening the Earth's fresh water supplies, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego. "Initially we thought that aerosols were mainly a cooling agent, offsetting global warming. Now we find that these have a big impact on the water budget of the …
Scientists are yet to unravel all the mysteries about the tiny and yet complex three-dimensional particles. Key details about their properties and their effects remain elusive. So far, it has not been possible to make reliable measurements to determine their distribution and properties on a global scale. Large uncertainties remain …
the biggest barrier to commercialisation of renewable energy in the country remains political apathy. Our non-conventional energy programme, when it began way back in 1980, was lauded, particularly for the system of subsidies and tax benefits. In fact, India's solar energy programme ranked among the largest in the world. Today, …
A protest against globalisation took a unique turn, on the eve of the G-8 summit. It was a demonstration against G8 nations' support for an oil economy and refusal to fund non-conventional energy development. Greenpeace activists gathered in Calgary, and served the people organic French fries cooked with solar power. …
Scientists have always thought that the Sun was the most dependable body in the heavens. But with a new peak in solar activity, researchers are discovering a frightening new face of our star. As a raging ball of super-heated plasma and gas, the Sun can be violent and erratic. Researchers …
The proposed 140 megawatt (mw) integrated solar combined cycle (iscc) power plant, coming up in Mathania near Jodhpur in Rajasthan, has already undergone many changes (see: Down To Earth, Vol 9, No 24, May 15, 2001). Now it is going in for a fuel switch-over. The Rajasthan State Power Corporation …
Keeping in mind the enormous potential of renewable energy in India and given the government's target to electrify 18,000 villages, two crucial issues need to be addressed. There is an urgent need for the government to come out with a policy on renewable energy. Today, whatever little is invested on …
LESTER Brown, founder of Worldwatch Institute, recently published the book 'Eco-Economy' - an ambitious and broad sketch of a new global economy that prioritises the ecological imperatives of our time. Brown refers to Thomas Kuhn who, to recapitulate, is the philosopher of science who made 'paradigm shifts' famous. It is …
IN THE midst of the Australian desert, a group of musicians play live music powered by a solar power system. The large images projected on the screen are operated by a wind power system. The truck in which they travel from forests to deserts runs on vegetable oil. That is …
tapping renewable energy seems to be in the blood of the residents of Auroville, the little township located on the outskirts of Pondicherry. Beginning with solar energy to power their houses way back in 1970's, the community is today exporting energy efficient equipment like PV pumps, wind turbines and biogas …
geyser manufacturers could soon be out of business in Haryana. As a part of its energy conservation effort, the state government has made the use of solar water heating system (swhs) mandatory in private functional buildings such as hospitals and hotels. A regulation that makes the installation of swhs compulsory …
aerosols may be the culprits weakening the Earth's water cycle by reducing rainfall. This was discovered during a study conducted by researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, usa. According to the researchers, the tiny aerosols that are primarily made up of black carbon could …
come winter and the inhabitants of Lahaul Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh face bleak days ahead. Heavy snow brings life to a grinding halt. But an exception is the Mayad valley, where solar home lighting systems have brought more than a glimmer of cheer on the faces of its inhabitants. …
