Cement Energy and Environment

RENEWABLES CAN FUEL snrii=TY, SAYS IPCC Renewable technologies could ~upply 80 per cent of the world's energy needs by mid- century, says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In a report, it says that almost half of the current investment in electricity generation is going into renewables. But, growth will depend on having the ri ght policies in place, it says. The summary of its Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (SRREN) was recently released, following a meeting in Abu Dhabi, at which representatives of all IPCC member governments signed off the wording. "With consistent cl imate and energy policy support, renewable energy sources can contribute substantially to human well-being by sustainably supplying energy and stabilizing the climate," said Professor Ottmar Edenhofer, co-chai r of the IPCC working group that produced the report. Courtesy: TERRAGREEN, June 2011, Pl. l Solar 'SOLAR POWER CAN SAVE OVER 30% OF INDIA'S COAL II\IIPl"'I~TS' J With the International coal prices witnessing an upward trend, switching to solar power could save over 30 per cent of India's coal imports, according to a survey conducted by consultancy firm KPMG. "Currently, 30 per cent of India's energy needs are met through imported sources such as oil, coal and LNG and this can go up to 59 per cent in the next 20 years if not addressed immediately", the survey titled 'The Rising Sun' said. "In the next 20 years, solar power will play an important role in securing India's energy future as well as in mitigating carbon emission. We believe that solar power can displace more than 30 per cent of India's coal requirement by 2021-22. This would translate in savi ng of $5.5-billion in imports per year from 2022 onwards." KPMG Executive Director, Santosh Kamath, told reporters. Courtesy: CPS/ Journal, Vol. 3 No.5, July 2011 , P39. Environment NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT BODY TO GRANT INDUSTRY CLEA.PANCFS SOON Recognising the need for a change in the way environmental clearances are granted, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the country would soon have a National Environment Appraisal and Monitoring Authority. "We hope to establish an independent regulator - the National Environment Appraisal and Monitoring Authority - soon. This authority could lead to a complete change in the process of granting environmental clearances," Singh said at the valedictory session of the in– ternational seminar on 'Global environment and disaster management: Law and society' here on July 24. Staffed by dedicated pro– fessionals, the authority will work on a full-time basis to evolve better and more objective standards of scrutiny. Incidentally, at the same event, Chief Justice of India (CJ I) S H Kapadia said that the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) should evolve a regulatory mechanism only for appraisal of projects as the project proponent's report can't be relied on. At present, the MoEF has expert appraisal committees (EAC), which are multi- disciplinary sectoral expert committees comprising various subject experts and are constituted for appraisal of sector specific projects. EAC is a recommendatory body. "As far as concerned, the mining is regulatory mechanism should be incharge of pricing also. Mining laws are there, but they are flouted at the state-level and illegal mining is happening in many states. Excavated minerals should have a price discovery mechanism as there is no machinery to supervise the pricing," Kapadia said. Earlier, he asked the ministry to simplify its green laws, which were at present so complex it took hours for the court to interpret them. Industry had long complained that the complicated procedures were a barrier to doing business. Environment minister Jayanthi Nataraj an said the CJI's suggestions would be taken up seriously. On the development versus environment debate, Singh said that in the public mind, there has always been a trade-off between economic growth and environmental sustainability. "But, this view is changing slowly as more and more people are reviewing their notions of 38