Page 943 - Environment
Estimated Potential of Tidal Energy in India is about 8000MW
Tidal energy cannot be presently harnessed on commercial basis due to high capital cost ranging from Rs. 30 crores to 60 crores per MW.
Leopard on the prowl trapped
A leopard was trapped by forest officials in Dindori taluka of Nashik district yesterday, an official said today. The big cat had mauled to death a three-year-old boy from Mheluske village in September last year. The feline was last night trapped in one of the two cages placed by foresters in Jagtap Mala and Medhane areas in the village. "The leopard was shifted to Vani in the forest range," said Range Forest Officer Sunil Wadekar.
Haryana buildings to have solar power plants
Haryana Government has issued instructions concerning installation of Solar Photovoltaic Power plant for efficient use of electricity and its conservation in the state. All new residential buildings on a plot size of 500 square yards would have to install Solar Photovoltaic Power planteither of minimum 1 kilo watt peak or 5 per cent of sanctioned load, whichever is higher. The notification was issued by Haryana New and Renewable Energy Department. It said all new private educational institutes, schools, colleges, hostels, technical or vocational educations institutes, universities having sanctioned load of 30 KW and above would have to install similar plant having capacity of minimum 5 kw peak or 5 per cent of sanctioned load, whichever is higher. Similarly, it would be mandatory for all government buildings and offices, government colleges, Government Educational Institutes and Universities. All new private hospitals and nursing homes, industrial and commercial ...
Ways to improve weather warning system for fishermen
In the wake of cyclone Ockhi,ways and means to improve the weather warning system for fishermen will be discussed at an international symposium, being held here this month by Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute. The international symposium on Societal Applications in Fisheries and Aquaculture using Remote Sensing Imagery (SAFARI), from January 15 to 17, will host a special session to discuss ways and means to improve the weather warning system for fishermen in Kerala, a CMFRI release said today. Fishermen, experts from Indian Meteorological Department, scientists from Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service, Hyderabad and officials from Department of Fisheries will meet to analyse the efficacy of the system and propose the required amendments to improve the facility. The meet is generally aimed at strengthening the d dissemination mechanism of cyclone forecasts, besides creating awareness among them of existing facilities in this regard, including ...
Solar-based irrigation scheme to be implemented in Haryana
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today directed the irrigation department to implement the integrated solar-based micro irrigationscheme in all districts of the state. He constituted a committee under the Chairmanship of Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) chairman to chalk out a strategy in this regard. At present, such scheme is being implemented on pilot basis in commands of 14 different canal outlets spread over 13 districts of the state at a cost of Rs 24.65 crore. Khattar was presiding over a meeting regarding solar-based micro-irrigation system here today, an official release said. Agriculture Minister Om Parkash Dhankar was also present in the meeting. The committee would work out a comprehensive strategy for the implementation of solar-based micro irrigationsystem in all districts of the state and submit a report in this regard. The chief minister said solar-based micro irrigationsystem would not only save electricity and water ...
India can reach 17k MW renewable energy capacity by 2022: Govt
India can reach a capacity of 17,000 megawatts in renewable energy by the year 2022, the Rajya Sabha was informed today. During the Question Hour, Minister of state for power, new and renewable energy R K Singh said the share of renewable energy was progressively increasing in the Indian electricity mix. "In the year 2015-16, with 65.78 billion units, the share of renewables was 5.61 per cent. This increased to 6.59 per cent in the year 2016-17. In growth terms with 82 billion units, the renewable generation in 2016-17 was around 25 per cent higher than the previous year," he said. As per the share of renewable energy in the total electric power generation capacity, the addition was 52.2 per cent, he said. The minister said the installed capacity was consistently increasing.
No entry for visitors at Odisha sanctuary for two days
The Odisha forest department has imposed restrictions on entry of visitors at Nalabana Bird Sanctuary and Mangalajodi wetlands in Chilika lake for two days from today in view of the annual bird census scheduled tomorrow. Entry of visitors, VIPs, research scholars and movement of boats would not be allowed across the 15.59 square kilometre area of the bird sanctuary and in the 10 sq km wetlands. Divisional Forest Officer, Chilika Wildlife Division, Bikash Ranjan Das, said the restrictions have been imposed to ensure that the birds are not disturbed and the census is carried out smoothly. However, no restrictions have been imposed on fishing and other activities in other parts of the 1,100 sq km Chilika lake, he said. Around 100 enumerators who would participate in the headcount would be given binoculars and guide books for carrying out the bird census tomorrow, he said. As many as 21 teams will be formed for the purpose and each team will consist of four to five ...
Tibet's least populated village gets power
A sparsely populated remote township with just 32 residents in Tibet has been connected to the state electricity grid, local officials said. The 15-km-long 10-kilovolt power line, which took five months to complete, is connected to remote Yulmed Township in Luntse County, Shannan City, through 108 electric poles over a 5,000-metre-high mountain, the contractor, a Xining-based electric power company in neighbouring Qinghai Province said. Yulmed has an average elevation of 3,650 metres above sea level. In 2008, the local government built a small hydropower station, but it failed to meet increasing power demands, due to improved living standards of the residents, and power outages were frequent, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
TPREL commissions 50 MW DCR solar plant in Karnataka
Renewable energy company Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd(TPREL), today announced the commissioning of its 50 MW DCR solar plant at Pavagada Solar Park in the state. The project was won by the company on April 4, 2016 under the National Solar Mission Phase-II Batch-II Tranche-I State Specific Bundling Scheme, the company said in a release. With this development, TPREL's total installedoperating capacity now stands at 1664 MW, it said. The 50 MW solar plants have been built over 253 acres, TPREL said, adding, the sale of power from solar plant has been tied up under a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement with NTPC Ltd. at a tariff of Rs 4.84/ unit. TPREL CEO Rahul Shah said, "the commissioning of the 50 MW solar plant in Karnataka fortifies our position of being the largest renewable energy company in the country, with a strong presence in solar power generation." "... we continue to seek potential areas across India and in select International markets through organic and ...
Clean energy crosses 62 GW mark; solar over 16W, wind 32.7GW
The country's renewable energy capacity stood at 62.05 GW by November 2017, which includes 32.75 GW of wind energy and 16.61GW of solar power, Parliament was informed today. "A total of 62.05 GW of renewable energy capacity has been installed as on November 30, 2017 which includes 32.75 GW from wind, 16.61 GW from solar, 8.29 GW from bio-power and 4.40 GW from small hydro power (up to 25 MW)," Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today. The minister informed the House that the power generated from these sources is fed into the grid and then utilised by distribution companies to provide the same to consumers. The government has fixed a target of installing 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, which includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from Bio-power and 5 GW from Small Hydro power. In a separate reply to the House, Singh said that tidal energy cannot be presently harnessed on commercial ...
Traffic woes in Delhi continue
Commuters in the national capital had a harrowing time for a second day today as many roads were choked up with traffic. Motorists faced difficulties while crossing DND flyway which connects Delhi with Noida, and Sarai Kale Khan. The carriageway from Moolchand to Ashram Chowk was closed due to the ongoing repair of Lajpat Nagar flyover, increasing traffic load on surrounding roads. Traffic movement from Dhaula Kuan towards Gurgaon was disrupted after a truck broke down near Jharera village. The Delhi Traffic Police kept posting updates about the traffic situation on its Twitter handle. "Traffic will remain heavy in the carriageway from Patel Chowk to Jantar Mantar due to demonstration.Kindly avoid the stretch," according to a tweet. "Traffic will remain heavy in the carriageway from ISBT to Nigam Bodh Ghaat & Hanuman Mandir Yamuna Bazar to ISBT due to gathering of devotees near Hanuman Mandir. Kindly avoid the stretch," another tweet read. More than two lakh people ...
NASA-inspired 'speed breeding' method boosts wheat production
Researchers in Australia have found a way to increase wheat production by up to three times through their "speed breeding" procedures inspired by NASA experiments to grow the crop in space.
Cong seeks PM's intervention for drinking water supply in KTK
Congress in the Lok Sabha today sought the immediate intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in resolving the drinking water problem in Karnataka. Raising the issue during Zero Hour, S P Muddahanumegowda said people in the state, particularly in the northern region, were facing a severe water crisis. Karnataka is seeking water from Mahadayi river for meeting drinking water requirements in its northern parts, where it has become an emotive political issue. "Prime Minister's intervention is required to resolve this issue. I request the Prime Minister to immediately intervene and see that this water dispute is resolved," he said. Responding to the matter, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has already written a letter to former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa for outside negotiations to resolve the matter. At this, Congress members started noisy scenes asking why the letter was written to a former chief ...
Global warming of 2 degrees may up drought, wildfires
A rise of just 2 degrees Celsius in global warming could make over a quarter of the world's land to become drier and more desert like, increasing the threat of widespread drought and wildfires, new research led by one of Indian origin has found.
Himalayan littering leading to brown-bear habit changes (Environmental Feature)
Large-scale littering in the Himalayas by trekkers and campers have led to Himalayan brown bears -- a critically endangered species close to extinction -- being drawn to human detritus and losing their natural abilities to hunt. Conservationists say such bears rescued recently from different regions of Jammu and Kashmir will never return to the wild.
NASA-inspired technique boosts wheat production threefold
Inspired by NASA's experiments to grow wheat in space, Australian scientists have developed the world's first 'speed breeding' technique that can boost the production of the crop by up to three times. The NASA experiments involved using continuous light on wheat which triggered early reproduction in the plants. "We thought we could use the NASA idea to grow plants quickly back on Earth, and in turn, accelerate the genetic gain in our plant breeding programmes," said Lee Hickey, Senior Research Fellow at University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia. "By using speed breeding techniques in specially modified glasshouses we can grow six generations of wheat, chickpea and barley plants, and four generations of canola plants in a single year - as opposed to two or three generations in a regular glasshouse, or a single generation in the field," Hickey said. "Our experiments showed that the quality and yield of the plants grown under controlled climate and extended daylight ...
World to become drier with global warming of 2 degrees Celsius
Over a quarter of the world's land could become significantly drier even if global warming is limited to the target of two degree Celsius, according to scientists including one of Indian origin. The change would cause an increased threat of drought and wildfires. However, limiting global warming to under 1.5 degree Celsius would dramatically reduce the fraction of the Earth's surface that undergoes such changes. Researchers from University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK and Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in China studied projections from 27 global climate models. They identified the areas of the world where aridity will substantially change when compared to the year-to-year variations they experience now, as global warming reaches 1.5 or two degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Aridity is a measure of the dryness of the land surface, obtained from combining precipitation and evaporation. "Our research predicts that aridification would emerge
SRF update on upcoming third multipurpose plant at Dahej
Completes commissioning of phase 1 on 31 December 2017
