Maulik Pathak / Ahmedabad July 10, 2008, 0:20 IST With oil flowing past $145 a barrel, leading companies in the country have lined up plans to explore opportunities in jatropha cultivation and prospects of biofuel. The companies are flocking to Gujarat, which has earmarked 1,900,000 acres in the Narmada region for the crop cultivation. The companies, including Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries and Tata Chemicals and the Essar group, are carrying out research and trials for producing oil from the cash crop in the state.

Sudha Mahalingam With global carbon galloping, you can neither negotiate nor argue with Gaia. Not when she is on her sick bed. We need a paradigm shift in the way we perceive development.

Advocating the removal of subsidies on non-renewable fuels like kerosene, chairman of the Nobel-prize winning Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change R K Pachauri on Tuesday urged the Government to invest this money in promoting clean and alternative sources of energy.

UT Administrator Gen eral (Retd) S F Rodrigues has asked officials in the Administration to look at alternative sources of energy for the city. Speaking at a public hearing session on Monday, he suggested that the alternative sources of energy could provide a long-term solution to the energy crisis. A core group of officers, comprising the Secretary to the Governor, the Finance Secretary and the Chief Engineer, has been assigned to look into the matter.

Criticism of biofuel erupted when in certain countries in the western hemisphere a staple food crop like maze-and also soybean, sugarcane and various oilseed crops--began to be used for extensive ethanol production- Atul Cowshish

South Asian leaders will focus on greater connectivity and a common strategy to ensure food security and meet growing demand for energy in the region when they will meet in Colombo. This year's summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, scheduled for August 2-3, is themed on