Plastic waste- a burgeoning issue Plastics have become indispensable to human beings over the course of the last few decades, largely due to their utility value and cheap, easy availability. We are indeed so dependent that, in spite of the fact that they have been classified as environmentally hazardous material by the UN, the production [...]

The REC trading for the month of December concluded yesterday. The results of the trading session are hearting. Non-solar REC reached record trading volumes at IEX with the traded volume peaking at 1,05,942 RECs In total 1,11,621 RECs were sold. IEX extended their dominance in the REC trading market with 1,05,952 (95%) RECs traded while [...]

Renewable energy usage, energy saving possibilities and an obligation to be environmentally benign, has been associated with the commercial and industrial sector for a long time now. The domestic / residential sector, which has stayed away from such commitments, has now slowly started looking towards renewable energy sources for their energy needs and has started [...]

At a global level, the c-Si wafer industry is dominated by a few companies (LDK solar, REC, GCL Poly, MEMC, Yingli Energy and Renesola) sharing over 80% of the market. There are however, many smaller companies fighting for share and market consolidation is already underway.  Indian however has been lagging behind in the solar upstream for [...]

The rapid development and versatility of solar PV has provided the rural community with wide variety of choices, regardless of the capacity/size or location. Despite government’s initiatives and the various schemes, there remains a lot of rural communities which do not have access to off grid solar products and solutions. It is evident that the [...]

Following my previous post on the industry perspectives on the various methods that have to be adopted for sustainable feedstock procurement (http://eai.in/blog/2011/12/industry-perspectives-and-strategies-for-effective-biomass-feedstock-procurement.html), today’s article showcases the various feedstock (emerging) that could be used as  a potential source for biomass-based power generation. As you might be well aware, the first generation feedstock such as sugars, starches from [...]

One of the most critical bottlenecks for biomass power plants is the supply chain bottlenecks that could result in non-availability of feedstock. A related problem is the volatility, or more precisely increase, in the feedstock price. Both these could render the project unviable. Highlighted in this article are some of the industrial perspectives in overcoming [...]

Biomass gasification, with its capability to work in kW scales (as low as 20 kW) and its ability to utilize a wide and diverse range of biomass feedstock is ideally suited for rural areas without access to power but with easy access to significant amount of biomass. Discussed in this post are some of the [...]

The off-grid manufacturing and services industry has a lot of untapped potential. It lacks wide-spread adoption owing to lesser awareness and policy frameworks. While the government is coming up with subsidies and incentives, it becomes necessary to spread awareness among people or else this market will remain in the nascent stages only. This can be [...]

Solar thermal applications have long known to be associated with residential water heating purposes but what is not known is its potential to cater to the various industrial process heat requirements. The technology for harvesting the maximum heat energy out of the sun’s incident radiation has developed considerably and offers tremendous opportunities for industries to [...]

For many people, off grid industry is all about roof top solar power and telecom industry applications. However, the industry is much beyond that. It is desirable that a company acquire an understanding of all the available sub-segments and the opportunities that they represent before deciding to venture into this sector. In addition to the [...]

If you are a follower of the solar scene in India, unless you had been in a cave, you would have heard about the celebrity (or notoriety)  status achieved by Solairedirect – with their audacious (or atrocious) bidding of Rs 7.49 per kWh in the Batch II of Phase I NSM. Now, let’s for a [...]

All right, so I am also a diesel basher. But like all others like me, I am a closet diesel user – psst, let it be between us. The sad fact is, I know that I cannot completely avoid diesel. For my transport, yes – well, make that may be. But for backup power? Not [...]

Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secy, MNRE was a prominent fixture at the Intersolar Mumbai 2011 edition. He appears to be getting quite quick into his role and also appears to have gathered a lot of inputs quickly enough. Anyways, to the point of this post. I heard in one of his speeches that MNRE plans to [...]

I recently read an opinion piece in the Hindu Businessline which argued that the subsidy given to diesel for non-priority sectors should be removed. Sane enough, and who knows, our even our government might become sane enough to do it! Just imagine the consequences. At about Rs 45 per liter, a number of industries (in [...]

One would have thought the solar fatigue would have set in. Heck, who would like another solar show in which the usual suspects (in order words, people like me), spoke the same faded and jaded words! Somehow, the just-concluding Intersolar edition 2011 at Mumbai appears to have done a decent job. The conferences were reasonably [...]

Long reeling under indefinite delays and lack of consensus at the various talks, the Kyoto protocol has been given a new lease of life. The protocol, set to expire in 2012 had not been renewed for some time now as the various nations of the world could not agree on the contents of a legally [...]

The financing community has long known to be reserved and watchful about funding solar power projects mainly because of the lack of familiarity with the industry and due to their natural instincts about investing in safe projects with short term returns. It was only recently that the banks have slowly understood the solar energy sector.  [...]

The recently concluded bidding for solar PV project allotment under the second round of JNNSM phase I and the results from the bidding has shown signs of solar becoming genuinely cost competitive with grid power. While sub 10 bids were obviously expected, the bid price falling below 8 was indeed a stunner for many. The Rs [...]

The cost of solar will be Rs7.49 /kWh by 2012 and the journey towards grid parity has received significant boost. The journey was accelrated by French project developer Solaire Direct’s astonishingly low bid in the recently concluded aggresive bidding for project allotment under JNNSM batch II under first phase. The allocation of solar PV projects in Phase-1 [...]

The call for RfP concluded today and the bid prices were disclosed. Preliminary information suggests that the tariffs were in the region of about Rs. 7.49 per kWh to Rs. 9.39 per kWh (concrete numbers will be known at a later time). Some sources suggest that the lowest price was quoted by Solar Direct, Welspun [...]

The REC trading for the month of November concluded yesterday. Figures reveal that the trading has increased significantly both in volume of RECs traded as well as the price. In total 105,527 RECs were sold. Keeping with the trend of previous months, IEX had a higher share of the market with 96,154 (90%) RECs traded [...]

The Gujarat Electricity Regulation Commission (GERC) recently issued a draft document to outline the process they used to determine feed-in tariffs (FiT). This is for developers who wish to put up solar power plants (both PV & CSP) under the state solar policy for megawatt and kilowatt scale projects. The document also issued basic guidelines [...]

A journalist for thirty years, M R Menon has seen alternative energy and clean technology take centre stage across the globe. His strong passion for this field has motivated him to start a energy and environment bi-monthly magazine ‘Energy Blitz’ that is published from Kerala. When I first spoke to Mr.Menon, what amazed me was [...]

Following the success of the previous four international algae congresses, the organisers are pleased to announce the fifth International Algae Congress. The fifth International Algae Congress takes place in Berlin, Germany on 1 & 2 December next. It is organised by the European Society of Microalgal Biotechnology (ESMB), the German DLG e.V. (German Agricultural Society) and DLG BENELUX from the [...]