Clouds and aerosol particles have bedevilled climate modellers for decades. Now researchers are starting to gain the upper hand.

The global focus on improved cookstoves (ICSs) and clean fuels has increased because of their potential for delivering triple dividends: household health, local environmental quality, and regional climate benefits. However, ICS and clean fuel dissemination programs have met with low rates of adoption.

Power producers demand higher benchmark prices for cost components. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) recently went public with its proposed terms and conditions for determining electricity tariffs to be paid to renewable energy power producers. A public hearing on the draft regulations was held in December last where stakeholders submitted their objections and suggestions. The regulations, which will replace the regulations that expire this year, will be valid for the next five years, starting April 1.

India has abundant bioenergy resources and although the segment has made progress in the past few years, less than 10 per cent of the total potential has been achieved so far. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) expects the launch of the long awaited National Bioenergy Mission (NBEM) to provide a platform for achieving this potential by providing an enabling environment for large-scale biomass-based capacity addition during the Twelfth and Thirteenth plan periods.

The previously increasing atmospheric methane concentration has inexplicably stalled over the past three decades. This may be due to a fall in fossil-fuel emissions or to farming practices that are curtailing microbial sources.