Obama's environmental adviser calls on Naidu

Environmental adviser to US president Barak Obama and chairman of Rocky Mountain Institute, Amory B Lovins, on Sunday called on Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at his residence and discussed prospects of sharing of environment technology for the development of the state.

Among the various aspects discussed at the meeting, energy saving measures and retrofitting of industrial units also figured. The US government official expressed willingness to share the latest green technologies with the AP government, confirmed official sources in the government.

Meanwhile, at a special interactive session organised at the CII-Godrej Green Business Centre on Saturday, Lovins said most of the infrastructure in India was yet to be built, and that there was substantial opportunity for India to go the greener way.

"By 2050, there is an opportunity for the US to generate 70 per cent of its energy requirements through renewable energy sources, resulting in about 150 per cent increase in the economy and savings of about $5 trillion. Similar opportunities also exist for India," he said.

The US can eliminate its addiction to oil and coal by 2050 and use one-third less natural gas while switching to efficient use and renewable supply, and similar opportunities exist in India," he added.

Highlighting that the need of the hour was to foster and promote efficient and effective energy management practices across sectors, retrofitting of existing buildings and focus more on distributed renewable energy sources, Lovins said this would go a long way in bringing down dependency on oil.