THE poor may now hope to use nonpolluting lanterns instead of carbon emitting kerosene lamps. The government is considering a proposal to use a portion of kerosene subsidy to fund distribution of solar lanterns in rural areas. The proposal, discussed in the Prime Minister's Energy Co-ordination Committee (ECC) meeting recently, is to formalise a scheme after extensive consultation with the state governments.
The move assumes significance amidst growing concerns over rising cost of fossil fuel, particularly crude oil. India imports over 70% of its crude oil requirement.

Alok Jha, green technology correspondent guardian.co.uk,

Lighting the way ... a solar panel in China's Olympic village. Photograph: Dan Chung

China is the world's leading producer of energy from renewable sources and is on the way to overtaking developed countries in creating clean technologies, according to a report by the Climate Group.

Published today, the group's report, China's Clean Revolution, shows that supportive government policies investing billions of dollars in energy efficiency and renewables are driving huge levels of innovation in China.

This brief presents the key facts and recommendations drawn from chapters of The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President. The next president can secure a place in history by mobilizing America to confront climate change, while starting a clean energy revolution that will strengthen American security and create the next wave of economic growth.

Vast farms of solar panels in the Sahara could provide clean electricity for the whole of Europe, according to EU scientists working on a plan to pool the region's renewable energy.

Harnessing the power of the desert sun is at the centre of an ambitious scheme. The plan is to build a Euro 450 billion European supergrid that would allow countries across the continent to share electricity from abundant green sources such as wind en ergy in the UK and Denmark, and geothermal energy from Iceland and Italy.

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

What would happen if you cross-bred J. R. Ewing of "Dallas' and Carl Pope, the head of the Sierra Club? You'd get T. Boone Pickens. What would happen if you cross-bred Henry Ford and Yitzhak Rabin? You'd get Shai Agassi. And what would happen if you put together T. Boone Pickens, the green billionaire Texas oilman now obsessed with wind power, and Shai Agassi, the Jewish Henry Ford now obsessed with making Israel the world's leader in electric cars?

India unveils strategy to counter climate change INDIA released its much-anticipated action plan to mitigate and adapt to climate change on June 30, almost a year after it was announced. Coming a week ahead of the G-8 summit, the plan was welcomed by both industry and environment groups, though not without some reservations. The action plan

Sushmi Dey NEW DELHI

WITH oil prices ruling high despite recent correction, domestic companies such as Reliance Industries (RIL), Tata BP Solar, Essar Power, Suzlon and Moser Baer are investing more in renewable energy.

While Suzlon, Moser Baer, Indowind and Webel raised $1.4 billion overseas in 2007 through convertible bonds for investment in green energy, RIL, Tata BP Solar and Essar Power raised $628 million on domestic stock exchanges in 2007.

Magic dyes: The dyes can double the efficiency of solar cells used today.

A simple sheet of glass coated with dye could be enough to cut the costs of solar power. That's the claim from researchers who have created a

Bob Dylan said it best: "The answer is blowin' in the wind.' While politicians and environmentalists have been busy arguing about how best to require that greenhouse gases be curtailed, the world around them has changed.

The precipitous rise in oil and gas prices over the past year has made the debate on greenhouse gas emissions moot. The reduction in the output of those gases will move forward at warp speed, not because of rules, regulations and cap-and-trade decrees but because of free markets and economics.

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