Green Infrastructure

India can emerge as a hub for green shipbuilding: Maritime expert

India has "great potential" to emerge as a hub for green shipbuilding, backed by the government's strong focus on alternative fuels and renewable energy, a maritime industry expert said on Wednesday. Modernisation and upgradation of Indian shipyards is in progress, while older dockyards are being assessed for reopening and adding more capacities for green shipbuilding given a strong pickup in global demand, said Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria, Regional Manager South East Asia, Pacific & India, Maritime at DNV, a Norway-based testing, certification and technical advisory services provider. "We see great potential in India emerging as a hub for green shipbuilding, driven by its government's strong focus on alternative fuels and renewable energy like biofuels and wind power," said the industry veteran. The Indian government is encouraging investments and technology transfer from Japanese and Korean shipyards to establish shipbuilding and ship repair clusters in the country. This comes

Josler Energy, IGL, Heath Consultants join hands for safe, green gas infra

Oil exploration and production player Josler Energy on Monday announced its collaboration with Heath Consultants, Inc and Indraprastha Gas Ltd under the US-India Low Emissions Gas Task Force (LEGT). As per the collaboration, advanced gas leak detection technologies will be introduced into IGL's gas distribution network that spans Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The MoU, signed between IGL and Heath Consultants at GASTECH 2024, Houston, is a significant step towards reducing methane emissions and bolstering public safety across IGL's network, a company statement said. Josler Energy will provide technical support, field expertise, and training to IGL's employees, empowering them to utilize the latest technologies and best practices in gas leak detection. Since 2019, Josler Energy has surveyed over 20,000 kilometers of underground pipelines, preventing dangerous leaks that threaten public safety, the environment, and financial resources. "Partnering with Heath ...

Construction industry must focus on green tech for sustainable growth

India's construction market will be worth $1.4 trillion by 2025, becoming the third-largest in the world

India, UK explore green technology for recycling critical minerals

This initiative is designed to enhance the sustainability of critical mineral supply chains from exploration, mining, smelting, processing, and recycling

Microbes are helping businesses become green

Engineering biology is helping a wide range of industries to deploy and benefit from new molecules. It creates or redesigns biological systems for various uses

BASIC bloc slams rich countries for 'leadership void' on climate change

They called on developed countries to set ambitious new targets to reach net-zero "significantly ahead of 2050 (and) preferably by 2030" and to achieve "net-negative" emissions immediately after that

Tackling rising heatwaves in cities

As Singapore, New York and Melbourne have shown, cities can mitigate the impact of heatwaves if they have the will to create green infrastructure

How green is my building: Demand for sustainable homes, offices is rising

Amid increasing concern for the health of the planet, sustainability is emerging as more than just a trendy buzzword for developers

Contribute towards developing border areas: Defence secy to infra firms

Vibrant Villages Programme encourages border people to stay in border areas

Vestager defends EU merger rules, says competition creates strong cos

Telecoms companies have been the biggest proponents of looser merger rules as they look to consolidate to boost revenues and market power amid costly investments to roll out 5G and broadband

EU leaders to hear shake-up needed to match global rivals in new green tech

The EU faces new challenges from massive US subsidies drawing in investment and China's domination of new tech supply chains, on which it is dependent

Southeast Asia 'woefully off track' on green investment, says Bain & Co

"We believe that an acceleration of effort by countries, corporates and investors is imperative as Southeast Asia remains woefully off-track," said Kimberly Tan, GenZero's managing director

Yellen in China: Beijing worried US planning more tariffs on green tech

As US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen appeals to Chinese leaders to change their domestic manufacturing policies on the second day of an official visit, state media are receiving her message with skepticism, and anxiety about more US tariffs on green energy products. Yellen, who started her five-day visit in one of China's major industrial and export hubs, has focused thus far on what the U.S. considers to be unfair Chinese trade practices in talks with senior Chinese officials. The official Xinhua News Agency wrote Friday night that while Yellen's trip is a good sign that the world's two largest economies are maintaining communication, talking up Chinese overcapacity' in the clean energy sector also smacks of creating a pretext for rolling out more protectionist policies to shield U.S. companies. Chinese government subsidies and other policy support have encouraged solar panel and EV makers in China to invest in factories, building far more production capacity than the domestic ...

Green energy push: India's companies charge up on power policy shift

Rush to tie up green energy through open access in C&I segment after two key policy amendments last year

MCD develops 1.75 acre green cover in Wazirpur area to curb pollution

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has developed a 1.75 acre green cover in northwest Delhi's Wazirpur locality, a heavily industrialised region and among the top pollution hotspots in the capital, to mitigate the impact of the local sources of air pollution in the area. The civic body planted a total of 16,000 saplings of indigenous varieties on a vacant land that had turned into a garbage dumping point to develop a mini forest in the region using the Miyawaki technique, an official aware of the development told PTI. "The Horticulture department of the MCD in collaboration with an NGO converted the vacant land used for garbage dumping to create a mini forest in the area that will help in improving the air quality levels in the region. We have utilised 1 acre of land for plantation and the rest of the land is used to develop pedestal crossing, install swings, and benches," he said. Wazirpur is among the 13 identified pollution hotspots in the national capital that contribute to the

SBI seeks lower reserve requirement for green deposits, says chairman

"We have put across the asks. One, of course, is a reduction in CRR for green deposits and second, if at all as a policy it can be incorporated," Khara said

Uttar Pradesh govt targets 1 million tonne capacity and 120,000 jobs

The state had received investment proposals worth Rs 2.73 trillion for green hydrogen plants from 20 companies at the UP Global Investors Summit in February 2023

India ranks 3rd in USGBC's list on green building certification for 2023

India ranked third in the US Green Building Council's (USGBC) annual list of top 10 countries and regions in the world for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification in 2023. The United States has not been included in the list. LEED is a green building rating system and the certification is a globally recognised symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership. The rating system is available for virtually all building types, thereby providing a framework for healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings, USGBC said in a statement. India has retained its third rank, while mainland China, and Canada held the first and second positions, respectively, it said. As per the statement, "248 projects, across both buildings and spaces, were certified for LEED in the country covering 7.23 million Gross Square Metres (GSM). China topped the top 10 rankings for 2023 with over 24 million GSM certified followed by Canada with 7.9 million GSM," it said. Whi

Over 50% firms committed to achieving net-zero emission target: PwC survey

About 50 per cent of the Indian businesses surveyed expressed their commitment to achieving the net-zero target, reflecting their desire to address climate change issues and transit to a low-carbon economy, said a PwC report on Tuesday. Of these, about 48 per cent committed to achieving net-zero emission target by 2030, said PwC India's Tax transparency in ESG survey conducted between April-July 2023. The report is based on a market survey of nearly 250 tax heads, sustainability/ESG leaders, CFOs and CXOs of Indian businesses, spanning industries such as financial services, technology, media, and telecom (TMT), retail and consumer, engineering and construction, among others. In recent years, the global business landscape has witnessed a significant transformation in sustainable and responsible practices, said a PwC release, adding "as a core pillar of corporate strategy, companies are investing in sustainability and striving to communicate their intentions, commitments and ...

Govt to invest Rs 60,000 cr in river cruise tourism, green vessels

Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday said the government would invest Rs 60,000 crore by 2047 in river cruise tourism and development of green vessels. "We are going to invest Rs 45,000 crore in river cruise, which will take the passenger capacity from 2 lakh to 15 lakh by 2047," he said on the sidelines of the first Inland Waterways Development Council meeting here. Sonowal also said the government aims at investing another Rs 15,000 crore in green transport over the next 10 years to develop 1,000 vessels and ferries. "In total, there will be a Rs 60,000-crore investment by 2047, and it will be through the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The projects will help generate thousands of jobs," the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said. The council meeting, represented by officials of around 20 states and Union territories, also saw the unveiling of Harit Nauka' guidelines for green transition of inland vessels and the River Cruise Tourism Roadmap 2047. The ...