Sulabh founder to get Renewable Energy Award

October 10th, 2009 ALIGARH - Renowned scientists Obaid Siddiqi and Syed Zahoor Qasim will jointly receive the Sir Syed Ahmad Khan International Award, instituted by the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), for 2009 in the field of life sciences, the university said Saturday. A seven-member jury comprising eminent scientists and academicians unanimously recommended the award be given to Siddiqi, who has carried out research in molecular biology, behaviour genetics and neurobiology, and Qasim, who led the first Indian expedition to Antarctica in 1981 and was instrumental in setting up the environment ministry, AMU Vice Chancellor P.K.

October 3rd, 2009 DUBAI - The launch of the Emirates Energy Award for sustainable energy use has been announced here, WAM News agency reported Saturday. Saeed Al Tayer, CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and Chairman of the Emirates Energy Award, said: "The importance of this award lies in the daily indications of energy consumption rate in all forms which increased continuously and reflects negatively on our environment, economy and the implementation of development plans and programs in the country." "We expect that this year's award will attract more participants and include new effective and innovative strategies in the management and rational use of energy," he added.

September 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists from the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, UK, are calling for urgent research to understand the impact of renewable energy developments on marine life. The study highlights potential environmental benefits and threats resulting from marine renewable energy, such as off-shore wind farms and wave and tidal energy conversion devices.

September 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With proper incentives, wind power can meet over 24 percent of India's energy needs by 2030, says a study carried out by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA). Releasing "Indian Wind Energy Outlook 2009" here Wednesday evening, Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah said it was his dream to see windmills all over India the way one would see them in Europe.

August 20th, 2009 STOCKHOLM - India's Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of the Sulabh sanitation movement, was Thursday awarded the Stockholm Water Prize, the most prestigious environmental recognition that has become akin to a Nobel Prize for environmental issues. "Sanitation is humanity's and the world's most urgent and critical crisis of our times," Bindeshwar Pathak told IANS here Thursday, and on a more optimistic note said, "However, it is not yet an unsolvable crisis but a huge challenge.

July 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US will loan up to $37.5 billion to fund renewable energy projects around the country, the Energy Department said Wednesday. The new loans are part of an effort to stimulate the US economy and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

June 19th, 2009 CHENNAI - New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah Friday said his department would request the finance ministry to continue with existing incentive schemes for renewable power projects. We find there is a great worry among the corporate sector on what would happen to the existing incentives once the generation-based incentive scheme is launched," Abdullah said at the valedictory session of a seminar on green power, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

June 15th, 2009 Officials vow support for renewable energy in WestPARK CITY, Utah — Cabinet leaders in the Obama administration promised Monday to help Western states develop a robust system for delivering renewable energy. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the West has vast untapped potential for harnessing wind, the sun and geothermal energy to create electricity.

June 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The cost of generating clean energy should be brought down to make it "affordable" for developing countries, Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah said Friday after his interaction with the visiting UAE foreign affairs minister. The minister, during his interaction with Abdullah Bin Zayad Al-Nahayan, the minister for foreign affairs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said the developing countries were more in need of renewable energy.

June 12th, 2009 NEW YORK - Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International that runs public toilets in India, has been awarded the Renewable Energy Award for developing low cost toilet technology to produce energy out of human excreta.

May 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah Friday said his portfolio had a larger profile than his own and promised to create awareness about the potential that India held in the use of clean energy sources. "This ministry is a challenge.

March 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad has won the 2009 international Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Awards in the NGO category, a CII spokesman said here Monday. The award will be presented at a ceremony on March 27, 2009 in Aspen, Colorado.

March 21st, 2009 KOLKATA - The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has proposed to set up an exchange for renewable energy, a top official said here Friday. 'There would be a national exchange kind of a thing where registration of renewable energy would be done,' CERC chairman Pramod Deo said during an interaction with members of the Merchants Chamber of Commerce here.

January 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India will join the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), a world body that acts as the global voice for renewable energies to help accelerate their development and deployment. A cabinet meeting chaired by Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee Thursday decided that India will forge partnerships with other member countries at the multilateral level for cooperation in technology transfer and joint research of renewable energy technologies.

January 12th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - Astonfield Renewable Resources Ltd (ARRL) will execute a mega 200 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project across Gujarat. The venture is touted as the largest renewable energy project in India.