Cement, Energy & Environment Jan-Mar 2002

Most scientists, however, hold "global warming" responsible for the phenomenon which h as given climatologists and glaciologists across the world sleepless nights. "Glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world and, if the present rate continues, the likelihood of them disappearing by the year 2035 is very high," theWorking Group on Himalayan Gl~ciology of the International Commission for snow and Ice concluded in 1999. The Alps have lost nearly 50 per cent of their ice in the last 100 year, the Lewis glacier on Mount Kenya has lost 40 per cent of its mass between 1963-87,14 if the 27 glaciers in Spain have disappeared and of the 150-odd glaciers in Montana in 1850, only 50 remain. The government has announced its decision to se t up an institute to s tudy the phenomenon, the National Centre for Field Operations and Resea rch in Himalayan glaciology. The Gangotri glader, says minister of state for science technology, Mr. Bachi Singh Rawat, will be taken up for detailed investigations. Courtesy : The Statesman, New Delhi, Friday 15 March 02, P-7. IREDA SIGNS MoU WITH ECONOLER INTERNATIONAL OF CANADA IREDA has si gned a Me.morandum of Understanding (MoU) With Econoler International, Quebec, Canada, to co llaborate for a Technical Assistance project to prepare and implement a Demand Side Management (DSM) model for guarantee of Ca rbon emiss ion reduction with State Electricity Boards (SEBs) and private utilities 44 in India. The project will be funded from the Canadiah Climate Change Development Fund (CCCDF) and administered by the Canadian International DevelopmentAgency (CIDA). This follows contribution agreement be~ween Econoler and CIDA signed on November 1, 2001. The project would address market barriers including transaction cost of introducing new technology, market t!ansformation process and guaranteeing energy savings, and to establish the GHG reduction impact of DSM activities. The agreement was signed b y Dr V. Bakthavatsalam. , MD, IREDA, and Ms Veronique Marier, India Country Director of Econoler. Econoler International subsequently submitted a proposal to CCCDF with IREDA as the local partner, which was finally selected by CIDA. IREDA w ill help Econoler International to identify utilities to implement DSM projects for energy saving in their command a rea. IREDA may consider financing such DSM projects subject to technical, financial, legal and commercial viability of the project. CCCDF can also directly provide some grant fund to such utilities. IREDA w ill also arr ange DSM-related information dissemination activities. IREDA will also receive training locally in subjects such as Monitoring and Verification (M&V) of energy saving and Carbon Emission Credits. The project is budgeted for Canadian 52 million (about US 51.34 million) of which CCCTF will fund 80 per cent and Econoler International / IREDA together provide value of in-kind the remaining 20 per cP.nt. Madhya