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.

When VeraSun Energy inaugurated a new ethanol processing plant last summer in Charles City, Iowa, some of that industry's most prominent boosters showed up. Leaders of the National Corn Growers Association and the Renewable Fuels Association, for instance, came to help cut the ribbon

IF you want to have round-the-clock electricity, then you may install domestic wind turbines in your household. Coimbatore-based International Consultant and Management Services (ICMS) will provide the technology for installation of ICMS-UE series domestic wind turbines. The turbines will convert wind energy into electrical power for domestic use. "The machine comes under four different models namely 600 watt, 1500, 3300 and 4200 watt, all useful for Indian standard house utensils and costs between Rs 80,000 and Rs 3 lakh,'' said R C Ravi, director of ICMS.