Groups of women in Zambia started providing energy services like battery charging, irrigation, milling and welding, to the community by using a replacing diesel with jatropha oil that they produce themselves.

Recent technological developments in biomass have made it possible to deploy various biomass-based systems for meeting total energy requirements of villages in an efficient, reliable, and cost-effective manner. Modern biomass technologies offer considerable effi ciency gains over traditional biomass use.

The international momentum of renewables is leading to new proprietary structures. Will future wind and solar parks be predominantly owned by utilities or can independent power producers hold their ground? Financially strong players and experienced project developers are well positioned.

This paper provides an objective analysis of present day trends in renewable energy in India. Without going unnecessarily into the history and evolution of this sector in the Indian context, the paper seeks to take stock of the current focus and initiatives.

PM Manmohan Singh on Monday released the much-awaited National Action Plan on Climate Change which aims to boost solar power generation in the country besides launching seven other programmes in mission mode towards greenhouse gas reduction and adaptation to inevitable climate change.

Solar lanterns to be promoted across the country Manmohan Singh NEW DELHI: In the backdrop of rising crude prices and concerns over climate change, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to draft schemes and guidelines for introduction of certificates to encourage States to promote renewable energy. Dr. Singh was chairing the meeting of the Energy Coordination Committee here on Friday. The Centre would soon set up a solar energy mission and promote the use of solar lanterns across the country, he said.

It seemed so promising

Sushmi Dey NEW DELHI POWER distribution companies will now have to mandatorily buy a minimum quantum of green power for their consumers. The government is working on a set of regulations by which distribution companies must have a mix of conventional and non-conventional power in their kitty. Distribution companies normally have to buy power from generating companies within and outside the state to meet the electricity requirements of the state.

The Punjab government has allocated Rs 300 million to develop the forestry sector for 2008-09 as part of its efforts to narrow the gap between the existing area in the province under forest and the desirable level. Sources said forestry not only plays an important role in combating environmental degradation but also acts as renewable energy resources.

Union finance minister P. Chidambaram did well to make it clear at the conference of oil producers and consumers in Jeddah that it was not the rising demand for oil in India and other developing countries that was contributing to the spiralling rise in crude prices. It is unfair to blame India's demand for crude oil as one of the reasons for the spike in crude prices. India's growth story is not a six-month-old story or even a one-year-old story. Crude prices have gone up by $140 a barrel in just a year, and by almost 40 per cent in the past six months.

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