The West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (Established 1993) ensures that the state giants use 5 per cent of renewable energy. From a solar housing programme to the country's first rice husk fuel power plant,it is a pioneer in the promotion of renewable energy.

FOR many left-wingers, the credit crunch was proof that markets do not always know best. The near-collapse of the world

The world may have to wait until the dying seconds of a U.N. climate summit in December for a global deal to channel business dollars into low-carbon energy, industry and analysts said on Wednesday.

Senior executives warned progress so far in U.N.-led climate talks was inadequate to guarantee the future of low-carbon markets which could transform how the world gets its energy.

INDIA, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, is facing twin challenges after signing the Kyoto Protocol. One, it has to promote clean technology to reduce its contribution to greenhouse gases in a significant manner. Two, it has to ensure that these new clean and green technologies adhere to international safety standards as they touch every aspect of life in the coming days.

Denmark, South Africa and India are among the countries with the most effective energy policies, according to the World Energy Council, an industry group.

The Council on Tuesday publishes its first World Energy and Climate Policy assessment, which aims to review the performance of 88 countries on issues such as access to energy, reliability of supplies, and levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

At the start of the year, the US energy industry was looking to Congress and the Obama administration to set the tone for the future of energy in America with a swift passage of the Waxman-Markey climate bill.

But political posturing and infighting has meant there has yet to be any significant movement on that front.

A rising population will make it harder for the United States to make 2050 cuts in greenhouse gas emissions than for Russia and some other rich nations with shrinking populations, a Reuters survey showed.

A technology to bury underground the greenhouse gas emissions produced from burning coal must be ready for global deployment by 2017-2019, U.S. energy secretary Steven Chu said on Monday.

Coal is the world's single biggest source of carbon emissions, at 40 percent. Other sources included burning oil and natural gas, and deforestation and the production of cement.

Britain must cut greenhouse gas emissions six times faster than at present and consider more aggressive intervention in energy markets if it is to meet its low carbon targets, the government's chief climate change adviser said on Monday.

As if Britain needed any more bad news. Last Friday, Ofgem, the country

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