Greenpeacce Green Electronics Survey

The three main findings of the Greenpeace Green Electronics Survey:
Significant reductions in the use of hazardous chemicals. More products than ever before are PVC-free and BFR-free. The use of phthalates, as well as beryllium and antimony and their associated compounds, are being eliminated in every product category. Although the previous survey showed that the use of RoHS exemptions could be drastically reduced, we have yet to see this progress in the industry.
Exceeding energy efficiency standards. Almost all products meet or exceed the current Energy Star standards established by the US EPA. Electronics companies seem to put much more effort in improving the energy efficiency of their products rather than assessing thoroughly (and reducing) the ‘embedded energy’ – that is, the energy spent during the production of each product.
Product lifecycle responsibilitymust improve. Lifecycle management is still the weakest point of electronic products, with very little use of recycled plastic, a variety of take-back practices (generally improving) and little marketing efforts to prevent fast obsolescence of products. The report also observed that companies are becoming more transparent in the amount and type of product information they provide to customers, often listing product’s chemical make-up and performance details. Read the full report here: http://ping.fm/cRdMa

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MNRE to woo big builders for solar townships

The government now has its eyes set on turning all big ticket projects by well-known builders into green townships. The ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) is trying to develop 50 green townships under its existing solar city programme.

The ministry will give funds to builders under this programme to develop a project plan that has the components needed for a green township. An official from the ministry stated that, however, the ministry will not give any funds towards construction, only software cost for developing a project plan will be provided. The funds will be for the inclusion of green building and renewable features in the project plan being developed.

The official mentioned that the fund amount will be a fixed one as just the project plan preparation cost for these townships goes into several lakhs. The fund will not depend on the area. He said that the government is trying to promote private builders to adopt the green way for building townships.

While guidelines for green buildings already exist, the government is now developing guidelines for large townships separately. An official also stated that they expect the guidelines for big townships to be ready by six months.

Source: Governance Now

Tata Power embraces Solar but stays away from National Solar Mission ^
As reported by Business Green, Tata has stepped up its push into the country's fast-expanding solar energy market, inking a power purchase agreement (PPA) with state-run power distributor Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigram (GUVNL) for the construction of a 25MW solar PV plant in the Gujarat region.
This will result in the construction of a photovoltaic solar farm featuring over 100 crystalline silicon solar modules, to be completed by December 2011. This project is likely to be the first in a wave of solar farms across the region.
The Gujarati government has recently decided to allocate an additional 565MW capacity to various solar power project developers in order to encourage them to take up solar power projects in the state. GUVNL has so far signed PPAs with 26 solar power companies covering 365MW of power, and the development of these projects is expected to attract investment of $1.3bn in the state. The project further underlines Tata Power's interest in the solar market after the company began operating a 1MW plant outside Delhi this week in a joint venture with BP Solar. The firm will also soon begin construction on a 3MW, grid-connected solar plant at Mulshi in Maharashtra.

However, none of these projects is part of the Indian government's high profile $19bn National Solar Mission, which Tata has purposefully avoided owing to strict deadlines and what it regards as overly centralised control of development. The mission aims to generate 20GW from solar power by 2022, equivalent to 12 per cent of the nation's current generation capacity.The government has sought to encourage developers to the first round of projects by offering preferential tariffs, loans and a designated buyer of their power.

But Tata and other developers, including Azure, have shunned the mission, saying that the terms of the loans and tariffs are not favourable enough and rather llok for better terms elsewhere.

Key Success factors to enable a better shared economy

Trust through Community: Trust needs to exist in order to allow sharing transactions to occur. Many sharing startups begin by leveraging an existing community. People who wouldn’t share a ride with a complete stranger would have no problem doing so with someone who went to the same school. Once sharing is established within a specific community, it then becomes simply a matter of linking separate communities to expand that trust.
Trust through Familiarity: Another approach is through the use of extensive profiles to build trust, even when the profile information seems irrelevant (like favorite bands). Users are much more likely to trust someone they feel that they know and act socially responsible in response.
Trust through Reputation: A more technological solution to this problem is reputation. eBay has used feedback scores to effectively ensure that users can buy from complete strangers based on their reputation alone. Similar structures need to be in place for any sharing transactions to occur.
Regulation: A much less understood challenge is regulation. Yet in the same way that legal issues challenged but did not stop the proliferation of the audio tape, the VHS tape, digital music, and Youtube, laws will need to be fought over and adapted to the new sharing economy.
Socially conscious startups which are eager to expand the sharing economy have many challenges ahead of them; however, many resources exist to help them navigate into the future. With some determination and care, they will usher in a new sharing based economy where enabling the sharing of rather than the overconsumption of resources creates profit.

Building Energy Management Systems – Pike Research

The Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) market, a growing segment of the larger building efficiency industry, is gaining momentum as an alternative, cheaper means for end-users to implement energy efficiency applications in commercial buildings. Conceived out of the market demand for a lighter, less-expensive and strictly energy-related automation and management systems for commercial buildings, the BEMS market includes both specialized and broad-based solutions. Such solutions range from reactive energy efficiency optimization software to predictive supply and demand side energy management architectures.
The BEMS market will continue to grow at a strong pace over the next few years, as players in adjacent markets continue to invest in the space. These players will include IT vendors, building management system (BMS) vendors, curtailment service providers (CSPs), and other energy efficiency companies. As a result of market convergence, BEMS offerings will become more sophisticated, providing energy savings to the end-user that in many cases will be reinvested in additional energy efficiency applications. Additionally, the return on investment for BEMS will become even more attractive as costs are driven down – as BEMS vendors enter into more buildings, implementation templates will begin to take shape. Looking ahead to 2016, many end-users with portfolio management needs will choose BEMS rather than updating a BMS, as it is a less expensive option, and BEMS are technology agnostic.

New blog post : Driving the Sustainability Action through Standards;The Imminent Imperatives http://bit.ly/fn74Kz