Every niche has its own lingo and Energy might have one of the most complicated ones around. Just as an example energy can be measured in six different ways! - Joule, Calorie, Tonne Oil Equvalent,  Watt hour, British Thermal Unit and Tonne Coal Equivalent. (For a good converter see: http://www.iea.org/stats/unit.asp ).

Two consecutive days of grid collapse has left almost half of India’s population without power.

Three major grids – northern, north-eastern and eastern – have crashed. Reportedly, over 20 states have been affected. Trains have stalled, markets have closed down, and institutions and offices have been forced to announce holidays. In short, this is nothing short of a national calamity.

What are the reasons behind this massive grid failure?

Delhi needs to critically rethink its move to abandon roof top solar scheme

Karno GuhathakurtaIt was a trade exhibition abuzz with the restrained chatter of busy suited executives at company stalls making contacts and finalising deals. Nothing out of place except that this trade was about renewable energy technologies, which have unconventional reasons for growth. First, these technologies are seen as the most economical and feasible source of energy for millions of people unconnected to the electricity grid and having no electricity to light their houses or cook their food. This energy poverty is disabling and needs to be eradicated.

Jonas Hamberg stumbles on fictitious companies dealing in public funds. It was all there on the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation (RREC) website—names of companies, addresses and phone numbers. But calling them up did not work. We were to find out the reason later. I am talking about the companies that Lanco Infratech used as fronts to get hold of more solar capacity than it was allowed under JNNSM, acronym for Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. We wanted to know more about these companies.