Gujarat’s solar park to fight global warming

Charanka solar park with an aggregated operational capacity of 500 MW is Asia’s first and the largest solar park

Even though Gujarat is a power surplus state, it is investing huge amount of money in solar energy. Inaugurating the Charanka solar park which had an aggregated operational capacity of 500 MW last month, the state’s chief minister Narendra Modi dedicated it to the nation calling it Gujarat’s contribution to the war against global warming and climate change.

“For ages we have been worshiping Sun god. It’s time to get his blessings. And, Gujarat will show how,” Narendra Modi told an applauding crowd of 5000 in Charanka in Patan district. The chief minister was not invoking gods to impress upon the audience.

He was talking about the amalgamation of science and technology with business. The context was the inauguration of the 500 MW solar park, Asia’s first and the largest on April 24.

The park has an aggregated operational capacity of 500 MW of solar power projects commissioned on a single location with 21 solar project developers setting up their projects.

While Gujarat’s contribution to the generation of solar energy may look minuscule compared to the target of 20,000 MW set in the national solar mission by 2020, it will appear huge seen in the context of all India figure of 900 MW installation capacity.

“We have set our eyes on achieving the target of 10,000 MW soon,” Modi said to the cheering audience. Although it will take a while before the CM’s ambitious target becomes a reality, Gujarat has certainly raced ahead of other states in getting huge investment in the solar energy generation.

“The solar installations in Gujarat have attracted an investment of Rs 9,000 crore,” said DJ Pandian, principle secretary, energy, Gujarat government. 

Gujarat’s achievement in attracting investment in solar energy sector is significant keeping in mind the energy requirements of the country.

According to ministry of power’s latest estimates India has an installed capacity of 199.87GW, which though is world’s fifth largest, is short by 21000 MW. And, with coal which accounts for 55 percent of India’s installed electricity capacity, being a fast depleting resource, it is important that the country looked for other source of power.

India has a rich solar energy resource. The country receives 200 MW/km square (megawatt per kilometre square) of average intensity of solar radiation. With a geographical area of 3.287 million km square, this amounts to 657.4 million MW.

Although Gujarat is a power surplus state, it announced the solar power Policy in January 2009. Under the policy, the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) agreed for an attractive feed-in tariff of Rs 15/unit (the GERC will buy power at this rate from the developers) for the first 12 years and Rs 5/unit for the subsequent 13 years.

Also, since huge area of land is required for solar projects (approx. 5 acres/MW), the government introduced the concept of solar parks.

The Charanka solar park
The foundation stone for the solar Park was laid at Charanka on December 30, 2010. Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (GPCL), the nodal agency for implementation of the Solar Park, invested Rs 300 crore into the Solar Park infrastructure, while Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited (GETCO) invested Rs 650 crore into the smart evacuation and transmission network. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided a loan of Rs 500 crore for smart transmission network development to GETCO.

In a record one-year time the park was functional by January 2012.

“The park offers the advantage of access to government waste lands, high solar radiations, utilisation of common infrastructure to host multiple solar power projects and extending industry and employment to the remote location of Gujarat,” said Pandian, principle secretary, energy.

The park has helped the local economy too. It has already provided employment to 30,000 skilled and unskilled workers. The operation and maintenance activity for the solar plants promises to provide steady employment to 1,500 personnel for the next 25 years. Further, the solar power plants will generate 30 lakh units of clean energy per day, which can provide electricity to 10 lakh households. Above all, these solar power plants will save CO2 emissions at the rate of 10 lakh tonnes per year.

“India has huge potential in the solar energy sector, and Gujarat government’s effort for encouraging investment is the step in the right direction,” said Sunil Gupta, head, clean energy, Standard Chartered Bank.

“The Gujarat government has exploited the economy of scale by setting up this huge solar park and bringing together 21 solar power developers. The prices of solar energy will certainly fall down,” said V Saibaba, CEO, Lanco Solar.

Rooftop solar installations
While the concept of solar park has taken off and huge investments are pouring in, the Gujarat government is not resting on its laurels. “We will also simultaneously promote solar rooftop installations,” said Pandian.

Gandhinagar, the state capital, is being developed as a model solar city, the first-of-its-kind in the country. Gandhinagar Solar City Project has multiple installations of solar rooftop systems ranging from 1 kilowatt (kW) to 150 kW at more than 150 locations, aggregating to a capacity of 1.39 MW. These systems cover a total area of two hectares on roofs, which amounts to approximately 2% of the total roof space in the capital city. Further, these systems contribute to approximately 1% of the total energy consumption of the city. Now, the government has floated a 5 MW Gandhinagar (Solar) Photovoltaic Rooftop Programme through public-private partnership (PPP). This is the largest solar rooftop programme in India, and is structured with a vision to mainstream the practice of solar rooftop systems in the country.

Similar solar rooftop programmes will be extended to more cities like Mehsana, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara in the near future.

Eventually, the solar rooftop programme will open up to one and all in Gujarat through a sustainable policy that will be launched in the near future. “Everyone in Gujarat will be generating power on his rooftop in the near future,” Pandian said.

“Mainstreaming the solar rooftop practice will open up floodgates to a whole new industry in the state with a tremendous potential for employment. It is a vision of the state that each citizen becomes self-sufficient in terms of energy that is also clean,” he added.

Canal Solar Power
Gujarat has also pioneered canal-based solar power project. A 1 MW pilot project is already commissioned on Narmada branch canal near Chandrasan village of Mehsana district’s Kadi taluka.

This project was inaugurated on April 24. It is developed by Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL) with support from Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL). This 1 MW pilot is installed on a 750-metre stretch of the canal and will generate 1.6 million units of clean electricity per year, as well as prevent evaporation of 90 lakh litres of water per year from the canal. Hence, the canal solar concept tackles two of our modern day challenges: energy security and water security.

Today, Gujarat has about 458 kilometres of open main canal, while the total canal length, including sub-branches is about 19,000 kilometres; the final aim of SSNNL is to construct a total of 85,000 kilometres of canal network.

Assuming a utilisation of only 10% of the existing canal network of 19,000 kilometres, it is estimated that 2,200 MW of solar power generating capacity can be installed.

This implies that 11,000 acres of land, about 2,000 crore litres of water per year can be potentially conserved.

"Gujarat is the first state not only in India but also in Asia to set up a dedicated department for climate change,” Modi said.

Apart from setting up a dedicated department for climate change, the government of Gujarat is spending a huge amount on renewable energy (more than Rs 2,000 crore per year), which the chief minister said was its contribution in the “war against global warming and climate change.”

Quick Fix for Coal Mine Methane Emissions

ScienceDaily (Apr. 15, 2010) — A new methane burner, developed at the University of Sydney and under consideration by mining companies, has potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from underground coal mines by almost 90 per cent.

The process of mining coal accounts for about six per cent of methane emissions caused by human activity, says Associate Professor Andrew Harris from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in the University's Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies.

If adopted by industry, the burner would substantially reduce the coal mining industry's greenhouse gas liability, should emissions trading take effect.

"Emissions occur when air is pumped into underground ground coal mines for ventilation, releasing methane into the atmosphere," he says.

"This reduces the risk of explosions but significantly increases greenhouse gas levels. Methane is about 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of its contribution to global warming."

The burner developed by Associate Professor Harris and his colleagues burns methane, converting it into the less harmful carbon dioxide and water before releasing it into the atmosphere.

"Our burner uses porous combustion media allowing for ultra lean combustion that transforms methane into carbon dioxide and water at concentrations much lower than a traditional burner. This process can immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions from underground coal mines by 87 per cent, providing an effective short term solution for an industry seeking to reduce its footprint."

A full scale version of the burner -- measuring three metres high and weighing about a tonne -- has been built on site at the University and successfully trialled by Associate Professor Harris and others in his Laboratory for Sustainable Technology.

The next step towards rollout of the burner is trialling it at a mine for a year. Associate Professor Harris' research group is currently negotiating a trial with an industry partner.

The project was funded by the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) and the NSW Government's Climate Change Fund.

Green Construction with Wind and Solar Energy

“Green Building” can mean more than just building environmentally-friendly or energy-efficient structures – clean energy and green techniques can also be used during the construction process itself. This videos show how 150 construction workers in Binghamton, New York are on the job without a single conventional generator in use. Instead, their entire project is powered by wind and solar energy systems. Needless to say, the final products of their work will be energy efficient as well.

Not Done Yet !!!

We do not have the fair, ambitious and legally binding agreement that millions around the world hoped the world leaders gathered here would deliver.

Not Done YetDespite overwhelming scientific evidence, and massive popular support from citizens in countries North and South, world leaders chose national political self-interest over the fate of future generations and failed to resolve the issues blocking the road towards a just outcome. While this deal cannot be judged as a success, it is impossible to be without hope.

This year, from a strong, but small seed of climate campaigning, a movement touching millions of people in hundreds of countries around the world has grown. Over the last two weeks while leaders were dithering an additional 5 million people joined the campaign, resulting in a total of 15 million voices calling for a fair, ambitious and legally binding deal.


More than 250 partner organisations have come together to form an unprecedented alliance under the TckTckTck banner – including development, human rights, environment, religious and youth groups, trade unions and scout groups. Over three days of global action, these partners have mobilized unprecedented numbers of people campaigning for urgent action on climate change. In Copenhagen on December 12, one hundred thousand people marched in a powerful manifestation of this unity.

And, when naysayers, fearmongers, and the business-as-usual-crowd try to usurp the issue, they will be met by a surging sea of people from all around the globe and all walks of life unified in their demand for a real deal.

The global climate movement - more diverse than ever before - stands united in the face of tonight's disappointing news. This weekend we are mounting an unprecedented response, with joint messaging appearing on the global public websites of our partners, to ensure world leaders know we are unimpressed with their lack of real progress and failure to deliver a real deal.

We have come so far in a short space of time. Millions around the world look to the future and see hope, justice, and opportunity. It is up to each of us to make our voices heard and to get the real deal that the world needs.

The world’s leaders still have a chance to get it right. They must realize that we expect, and will not accept, anything less.

They’re not done yet. Neither are we.

The following organisations have taken the extraordinary step of adding this consistent response to take over the home pages of their global websites.


http://www.panda.org/
http://oxfam.org/
http://greenpeace.org/
http://amnesty.org/
http://avaaz.org/
http://www.oikoumene.org/
http://www.conservation.org/
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/
http://www.consumersinternational.org/
http://www.1sky.org/
http://www.civicus.org/
http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=10325
http://www.wcrp.org/
http://www.oneworld.net/
http://www.350.org/

Carbon offsets at Google

Carbon offsets at Google

As leaders from around the world meet in Copenhagen to address global climate change this month, Google thought it was a good time to reflect on our own carbon footprint. In 2007, Google committed to become a carbon neutral company. Google know that it isn't possible to write a check and eliminate the environmental impact of our operations. So what does “carbon neutrality” mean to us?

First, Google aggressively pursue reductions in our energy consumption through energy efficiency, innovative infrastructure design and operations and on-site renewable energy. Our Google designed data centers use half the energy of typical facilities. Google're also working to accelerate the development of economic, clean renewable energy at scale through research and development, investment and policy outreach. At this time, however, such efforts don't cover our entire carbon footprint. Therefore, since 2007 Google've gone a step further and made a voluntary commitment to buy carbon offsets to cover the portion of our footprint that Google cannot yet eliminate — which is what Google mean by "carbon neutrality."

So what exactly is a carbon offset? The idea behind an offset is that Google pay someone to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in a specific, measurable way, thus offseting an equal climate impact on our side. To determine our impact, Google calculate our annual carbon footprint, which is then verified by an independent third party. Google include direct energy consumption (like natural gas) and electricity use, employee commuting, company vehicle use, business travel and estimates of carbon emissions from building construction and from the manufacturing of servers used in our datacenters. Google then buy an equivalent number of carbon offsets.

While carbon offsets seem simple in principle, in practice they are surprisingly complicated. In particular, it's often difficult to say whether or not the offset project results in emissions reductions that would have happened anyway. Google find themselves asking whether the project in fact goes beyond "business as usual." In the world of offsets, this concept is referred to as "additionality." Carbon offsets have a mixed reputation because some projects are not additional. Here at Google, Google have set a very high bar to ensure that our investment makes an actual difference in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing offsets that are real, verifiable, permanent and additional.

To date, Google have selected high quality carbon offsets from around the world that reduce greenhouse gas emissions — ranging from landfill gas projects in Caldwell County, NC, and Steuben County, NY, to animal-waste management systems in Mexico and Brazil. Our funding helps make it possible for equipment to be installed that captures and destroys the methane gas produced as the waste decomposes. Methane, the primary component in natural gas, is a significant contributor to global warming. Google chose to focus on landfill and agricultural methane reduction projects because methane's impact on warming is very well understood, it's easy to measure how much methane is captured and the capture wouldn't happen without our financing (for the projects that Google is investing in, they couldn't make enough money selling the gas).

Google need fundamental changes to global energy and transportation infrastructure to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions over the long term. In the meantime, the projects to which Google contribute offer measurable emissions reductions and allow us to take responsibility for our carbon footprint. To that end, google is always looking for good emissions-reduction projects to support. If you have a landfill gas or agricultural methane carbon offset project you think Google should consider.

From red to green: China's drive to be a low carbon leader

Could China be the world's green champion? It seems unlikely. The vast nation is typically portrayed as a dire threat to the planet, with a booming population and a commitment to that dirtiest of fuels -- coal.

But all that might be about to change.

In a column in the New York Times in September headlined "The New Sputnik" Marshall Scholar and multi-Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas Friedman argued that not only was China going green, but that the decision would spark change around the world -- particularly in the U.S. - much as the USSR's decision to launch Sputnik turbo-charged the space race in 1957.

"China's leaders have decided to go green," he wrote. "...too many of their people can't breathe, can't swim, can't fish, can't farm and can't drink thanks to pollution from its coal- and oil-based manufacturing growth engine. And, therefore, unless China powers its development with cleaner energy systems, and more knowledge-intensive businesses without smokestacks, China will die of its own development."
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The column sparked a fury of debate. In the UK, the Guardian's Jonathan Watts accused him of spending "too long sipping tea with Dalian's technocrats and not enough time breathing the air in Shanxi, Henan and Beijing."

After all, despite impressive investments in green energy, China still depends on coal for 70 percent of its power, rapid industrialization and booming car ownership has cast a pall of smog over many cities and according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the country's carbon emissions are now greater than the United States, and are set to keep rising.

But now a major new report has stirred the mix further.

Produced by an international task force and presented to the Chinese government last month, "China's Pathway Towards a Low Carbon Economy" (CPTLCE) presents a clear plan showing how the country can make the switch from red to green.

It can do this, the report suggests, by evolving its economic development model, adjusting its economic structure, enhancing its technological innovation capacity and strengthening the sustainability of its economy.

The problems may be substantial but, CPTLCE argues, the way ahead is clear.

But can China be the leader the world needs?

"If we are talking about green technologies, then I think the answer is definitely 'yes'," the report's co-chair Bjorn Stigson, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, told CNN.

Like Friedman, he believes a green transformation in the country is inevitable.

"In my meetings with Chinese political leaders, including PM Wen Jiabao, I heard very clear signals that this is a priority issue. The Chinese leadership is committed to refocusing attention on environmental protection, water preservation and developing world-leading technologies," he says.

"Given population growth, urbanization and a focus on poverty alleviation among emerging economies, we can foresee that the future world will be resource- and carbon-constrained. China will suffer negative impacts from climate change as well as from resource constraints, unless the world -- and that includes China -- gets onto a low carbon development path.

"In the past China has given priority to economic growth over environmental protection. This has led to air, water and soil pollution. However, recently the leadership has realized this and is taking serious action to address this imbalance."

From factory of the world to innovator

In particular, Stigson believes that China's position as the world's factory puts it in a strong position as a technological innovator.

"[China] can be a leader on the technologies that will be required to deliver green energy: solar, wind, bio-fuels and clean coal," he says.

"Furthermore, as China is going through rapid industrialization, they have a chance to install some of the best available technologies in their industries."

It seems those in the West keen to cast China as an environmental villain could be guilty of a fair degree of hypocrisy -- and may need to look a little closer to home.

"Currently American emissions of greenhouse gas are over 20 tonnes per person, while in China personal carbon footprints are one fifth of that, and 238 million people live below the poverty line," Friends of the Earth's international climate coordinator, Joe Zacune, told CNN.

"Meanwhile, personal carbon footprints in the UK are twice that of China, yet China has a higher proportion of renewable energy for electricity than the UK.

"China does have the potential to be a world leader on environmental issues. Domestically, China has been investing in renewable energy and should continue such steps by expanding investment in appropriate, community-led renewable energy rather than coal and other dirty fossil fuels.

"China seems to be showing much more political will than the U.S. as well as other Annex-1 [rich, industrialized] countries, both domestically and internationally... The primary obstacle for China being a green leader is the lack of a strong example by those countries which are historically responsible causing climate change.

"China's moves to promote clean energy could indeed highlight the lack of action by the U.S. China should most certainly not attempt to follow the U.S.' disastrous 'cap and trade'."

Zacune also believes that China's position outside the Annex 1 group of rich countries identified by the Kyoto Treaty is politically interesting -- giving it a chance to act as a champion for other developing nations at the climate talks currently on in Copenhagen and hold the U.S. and Europe to account.

But, in the end, it may be the fear of being left behind that drives change in the West -- and East.

"The move towards a low carbon economy, not least in China, is triggering a positive race between countries," says Stigson. "The USA has realized that both China and the EU are putting in place serious policies to take the lead on this issue.

"The 'green race' is on, and may the best man win."