renewable energy – TheNewsHub https://thenewshub.in Fri, 01 Nov 2024 10:58:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7 Piyush Goyal wraps up Saudi visit, invites global investment in India’s high-tech sectors https://thenewshub.in/2024/11/01/piyush-goyal-wraps-up-saudi-visit-invites-global-investment-in-indias-high-tech-sectors/ https://thenewshub.in/2024/11/01/piyush-goyal-wraps-up-saudi-visit-invites-global-investment-in-indias-high-tech-sectors/?noamp=mobile#respond Fri, 01 Nov 2024 10:58:30 +0000 https://thenewshub.in/2024/11/01/piyush-goyal-wraps-up-saudi-visit-invites-global-investment-in-indias-high-tech-sectors/

New Delhi: Union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal concluded a visit to Saudi Arabia, urging global investors to tap into India’s rapidly growing high-tech sectors—artificial intelligence, renewable energy, digital infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing—which he highlighted as promising areas for investment, the ministry said on Friday.

Goyal, who highlighted the critical role of international partnerships and economic diplomacy in fostering global cooperation, innovation, technological advancement, and investment during his visit, participated in the plenary session of the Future Investment Initiative (FII), with representatives from global governments and the industry.

During his visit, Goyal co-chaired the second ministerial meeting of the economy and investment committee under the India-Saudi Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) with Saudi Arabia’s minister of energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud, in Riyadh.

SPC with Saudi

Established in 2019 following prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the SPC aims to deepen economic cooperation between the two nations across various strategic sectors.

“The committee reviewed the progress achieved by the four Joint Working Groups: Agriculture and Food Security; Energy; Technology and Information Technology; and Industry and Infrastructure,” the ministry said in a statement.

“They noted the deepening of bilateral economic partnership between India and Saudi Arabia and deliberated on ways to enhance trade and investment,” it added.

Goyal also met the ministers of energy, industry and mineral resources, and investment during his Saudi Arabia visit.

“These engagements focused on collaborative initiatives in trade, energy, and technology. These discussions culminated in a series of actionable agreements, aimed at enhancing trade volumes and facilitating a smooth flow of investments between the two countries,” the ministry said.

Meetings with ministers, global CEOs

“The agreements emphasise cooperation in energy transition, digital transformation, and the exchange of expertise to accelerate economic growth,” it added.

Goyal also met with Peter Herweck, CEO of Schneider Electric, and William E. Ford, chairman and CEO of General Atlantic, to discuss India’s economic landscape and investment opportunities across sectors.

Bilateral agreements between India and Saudi Arabia have grown in recent years, spanning sectors like food exports, pharmaceuticals, energy, and electronic manufacturing.

Both countries are exploring collaborations in emerging sectors such as fintech, clean hydrogen, and energy efficiency.

These partnerships aim to build a robust and diversified economic foundation, with the committee meeting reaffirming their dedication to mutual progress.

Odop initiative

During his visit, Goyal unveiled the One District, One Product (Odop) Wall, featuring unique products from various districts across India at the Indian embassy in Riyadh.

“The Odop initiative, part of the government’s “Vocal for Local” campaign, aims to promote regional craftsmanship by showcasing the rich cultural heritage of India through distinctive, high-quality products,” the ministry said.

“This visit marks a significant milestone in strengthening the strategic partnership between India and Saudi Arabia. It underscores both nations’ commitment to deepening economic ties and addressing global challenges through collaborative efforts. The outcomes of the discussions are expected to unlock new avenues for investment and trade, driving economic growth and innovation in both countries,” it added.

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'Waiting in vain': Year on from pledge, world clings to fossil fuels https://thenewshub.in/2024/11/01/waiting-in-vain-year-on-from-pledge-world-clings-to-fossil-fuels/ https://thenewshub.in/2024/11/01/waiting-in-vain-year-on-from-pledge-world-clings-to-fossil-fuels/?noamp=mobile#respond Fri, 01 Nov 2024 04:54:15 +0000 https://thenewshub.in/2024/11/01/waiting-in-vain-year-on-from-pledge-world-clings-to-fossil-fuels/

Many are promising policies within agreed warming limits, but are approving new oil and gas fields (Representative Image)

PARIS: One year after world leaders issued the landmark call for a global move away from fossil fuels, nations are failing to turn that promise into action, say climate diplomats, campaigners and policy experts.
Countries are being urged not to lose sight of that historic agreement ahead of November’s COP29 climate negotiations, where fossil fuels are not top priority.
Despite last year’s climate deal calling for the first time on countries to “transition away from fossil fuels”, major economies are still planning oil and gas expansions in the decades ahead.
Renewable technology like solar and wind is being rolled-out at breakneck speed but not fast enough to stop burning more oil, coal and gas, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in October.
Global emissions — caused mainly by fossil fuels — are at record highs, pushing concentrations of planet-warming greenhouse gases to unprecedented levels, two UN agencies reported.
Since inking the watershed COP28 pact in Dubai “leaders have been grappling with how to turn those commitments into reality”, said Katrine Petersen from E3G, a policy think tank.
“There has been a bit of a vacuum of political leadership on some of this… and a potentially worrying trend that this landmark energy package has been slipping off leaders’ political agendas.”
Countries threatened by climate disaster were “waiting in vain to see the sharp decline in fossil fuel production that was heralded”, said Pa’olelei Luteru, a Samoan diplomat.
“Alas, saying something is one thing and actually meaning it is quite another,” said Luteru, who chairs the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).
‘Weakening support’
Papua New Guinea, an impoverished Pacific nation vulnerable to climate shocks, says it is “sick of the rhetoric” and is boycotting this year’s UN-led talks in Azerbaijan altogether.
AOSIS lead coordinator Toiata Uili said they were concerned about “weakening political support” for tough fossil fuel commitments, but would not let bigger countries off the hook.
Azerbaijan’s lead negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev has acknowledged that many countries want “clear next steps” at COP29 to show progress on the Dubai pledges.
Behind the scenes, this has faced strong pushback from oil-rich nations, said one western diplomat.
Some of these countries felt they were led into over-committing at Dubai and were very reluctant to agree anything more on fossil fuels, the diplomat added.
Azerbaijan is accused of being reluctant to prioritise fossil fuels during the climate talks to protect its own oil and gas interests.
The COP29 host denies this, but says its focus during the November 11-22 conference is finalising a contentious deal to boost climate finance.
“Yes, this is the finance COP… but it is also essential that the progress that leaders made last year on the energy front isn’t lost,” said Petersen.
‘Empty words’
Despite political obstacles, there are signs the transition is beginning.
In October, the IEA said clean technology was attracting twice the investment of fossil fuels and by 2030, half the world’s electricity would come from low-carbon sources.
“But with higher energy use even fast renewables growth doesn’t translate to fast falls in CO2 emissions,” said Dave Jones from think tank Ember.
In October, G20 leaders — whose economies account for three-quarters of global emissions — reaffirmed they would shift away from fossil fuels.
But the gap between what countries say and what they do is significant, said Anne Olhoff, co-author of a damning UN scorecard published in October.
In the past year, just one country — Madagascar — had announced tougher climate policies, it said.
“If we look at action and ambition, nothing much has happened at the global level since last year’s report,” Olhoff said.
Countries face pressure to articulate what concrete steps they are taking to wean off fossil fuels in their next national climate plans, due early 2025.
Many are promising bold policies that align with agreed warming limits, but are approving new oil and gas fields — an impossible contradiction, says the UN’s expert climate panel.
The “worst culprits” were rich Western nations, said Oil Change International and other activist groups in October. But the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Brazil — the COP28, COP29 and COP30 hosts, respectively — were also ramping up fossil fuel production, they said.
Meanwhile, global temperatures continue to rise, unleashing devastating impacts on people and ecosystems.
“When we talk about climate pledges we are talking about more than just arbitrary, empty words,” said Andreas Sieber from activist group 350.org.



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Waaree Energies’ IPO taps into a 357% rally in renewable stocks in India https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/21/waaree-energies-ipo-taps-into-a-357-rally-in-renewable-stocks-in-india/ https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/21/waaree-energies-ipo-taps-into-a-357-rally-in-renewable-stocks-in-india/?noamp=mobile#respond Mon, 21 Oct 2024 04:26:32 +0000 https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/21/waaree-energies-ipo-taps-into-a-357-rally-in-renewable-stocks-in-india/

Waaree Energies Ltd is valued at $5 billion at the upper end of its price range of 1,427 rupees to 1,503 rupees.

India’s largest solar-panel producer will open its $514 million initial public offering for orders on Monday, looking to capitalize on the world-beating rally in the nation’s renewable energy stocks this year.
Waaree Energies Ltd is valued at $5 billion at the upper end of its price range of 1,427 rupees to 1,503 rupees. Its shares, which have attracted investments from Goldman Sachs Group Inc, BlackRock Inc, and Morgan Stanley, will start trading next week.
The backing by these prominent Wall Street names underscores the appeal of India’s renewable sector, where stocks have rallied as much as 357% this year. Six of the top 10 best performers on Bloomberg’s World Energy index are Indian firms, including the gauge’s top performer.
“Renewables is a large opportunity in India for the next three years,” said Ramesh Mantri, chief investment officer for equities at WhiteOak Capital Asset Management Ltd.
The public offering aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal to boost renewable energy production to 500 gigawatts by the end of the decade — a more than two-fold increase from now. The sector may need investments of $2.2 trillion by 2050, according to Bloomberg Intelligence estimates.
Still, there are challenges. This space has been struggling with high leverage due to its rapid growth rate and weak cash flows, accoring to a Bloomberg Intelligence report. Meanwhile, the country is still boosting investments in thermal power projects to meet its booming energy demands.
“With solar energy emerging as a key global theme in the transition to renewable energy, Waaree Energy is best placed to capitalize on the growing opportunity,” Shiwani Kumari, an analyst at Monarch Networth Capital, said in a recent note.



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Diplomatic tensions will not disrupt India-Canada trade: Commerce secretary Barthwal https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/17/diplomatic-tensions-will-not-disrupt-india-canada-trade-commerce-secretary-barthwal/ https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/17/diplomatic-tensions-will-not-disrupt-india-canada-trade-commerce-secretary-barthwal/?noamp=mobile#respond Thu, 17 Oct 2024 00:00:12 +0000 https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/17/diplomatic-tensions-will-not-disrupt-india-canada-trade-commerce-secretary-barthwal/

New Delhi: Ongoing diplomatic tensions between India and Canada are not expected to impact trade because it is primarily conducted between private partners, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Unless restrictions are imposed by either country, trade will continue as usual, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said. “Trade is conducted between private entities and will persist despite the diplomatic tensions.”

“The export-import activities of countries are guided by economic rationale. Trade proceeds as usual unless specific countries impose sanctions, such as the US sanctions on Russia or the EU’s (European Union) sanctions on other nations.”

“Economic trade between these two countries continues to be conducted by importers and exporters based on value chains. These transactions are managed by private entities. If the law prescribes a prohibition on trade, then the situation would be different. But as of now, no such developments have occurred.”

Also read | Rift with Canada sparks uncertainty over movement of people, infra investment

India’s relations with Canada hit a new low on Monday when New Delhi withdrew some of its diplomats from Ottawa and expelled several Canadian diplomats.

This decision followed Canada’s designation of some Indian diplomats as “persons of interest” in the investigation into the killing of Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which New Delhi described as “preposterous” and part of the government’s vote bank politics.

The Canadian diplomats have been instructed to leave India by or before 11:59pm on 19 October, according to the ministry of external affairs (MEA).

In FY24, India’s total merchandise exports amounted to $437.07 billion in value terms, while imports reached $678.22 billion. Of that, India’s merchandise exports to Canada stood at only $3.85 billion in FY24, with imports at $4.55 billion, compared with $4.11 billion in exports and $4.17 billion in imports in FY23.

Also read | Mint Primer | The escalating India-Canada rift and its implications for India

In addition, Canadian pension funds have invested over $45 billion in India, making Canada the fourth-largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country by the end of 2022.

Key sectors for Canadian pension fund investments in India include infrastructure, renewable energy, technology and financial services.

India imports lentils from Canada, but after relations soured last year over allegations of Indian involvement in the Nijjar killing, Canada lost a significant share of the pulse import market.

In 2023, India imported 687,558 tonnes of lentils from Canada, accounting for 45.41% of its total lentil imports, while Australia supplied 775,994 tonnes, representing 51.25%.

In 2024, Australian lentil exports have surged to 366,433 tonnes, making up 66.3% of India’s total lentil imports from January to July alone, according to government data. By contrast, Canada exported only 145,735 tonnes of lentils to India during this period, amounting to a mere 26.4% of imports. India’s total import of red lentils (masur) stood at 1.51 million tonnes in calendar year 2023.

Read more | Justin Trudeau will use the RCMP and Interference Commission to unilaterally indict India

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Big-box stores could help slash emissions and save millions by putting solar panels on roofs. Why aren't more of them doing it? https://thenewshub.in/2022/03/20/big-box-stores-could-help-slash-emissions-and-save-millions-by-putting-solar-panels-on-roofs-why-arent-more-of-them-doing-it/ https://thenewshub.in/2022/03/20/big-box-stores-could-help-slash-emissions-and-save-millions-by-putting-solar-panels-on-roofs-why-arent-more-of-them-doing-it/?noamp=mobile#respond Sun, 20 Mar 2022 07:01:50 +0000 https://thenewshub.in/2022/03/20/big-box-stores-could-help-slash-emissions-and-save-millions-by-putting-solar-panels-on-roofs-why-arent-more-of-them-doing-it/



CNN
 — 

As the US attempts to wean itself off its heavy reliance on fossil fuels and shift to cleaner energy sources, many experts are eyeing a promising solution: your neighborhood big-box stores and shopping malls.

The rooftops and parking lot space available at retail giants like Walmart, Target and Costco is massive. And these largely empty spaces are being touted as untapped potential for solar power that could help the US reduce its dependency on foreign energy, slash planet-warming emissions and save companies millions of dollars in the process.

At the IKEA store in Baltimore, installing solar panels on the roof and over the store’s parking lot cut the amount of energy it needed to purchase by 84%, slashing its costs by 57% from September to December of 2020, according to the company. (The panels also provide some beneficial shade to keep customers’ cars cool on hot, sunny days.)

As of February 2021, IKEA had 54 solar arrays installed across 90% of its US locations.

Big-box stores and shopping centers have enough roof space to produce half of their annual electricity needs from solar, according to a report from nonprofit Environment America and research firm Frontier Group.

Leveraging the full rooftop solar potential of these superstores would generate enough electricity to power nearly 8 million average homes, the report concluded, and would cut the same amount of planet-warming emissions as pulling 11.3 million gas-powered cars off the road.

The average Walmart store, for example, has 180,000 square feet of rooftop, according to the report. That’s roughly the size of three football fields and enough space to support solar energy that could power the equivalent of 200 homes, the report said.

“Every rooftop in America that isn’t producing solar energy is a rooftop wasted as we work to break our dependence on fossil fuels and the geopolitical conflicts that come with them,” Johanna Neumann, senior director for Environment America’s campaign for 100% Renewable, told CNN. “Now is the time to lean into local renewable energy production, and there’s no better place than the roofs of America’s big-box superstores.”

Advocates involved in clean energy worker-training programs tell CNN that a solar revolution in big-box retail would also be a significant windfall for local communities, spurring economic growth while tackling the climate crisis, which has inflicted disproportionate harm on marginalized communities.

Yet only a fraction of big-box stores in the US have solar on their rooftops or solar canopies in parking lots, the report’s authors told CNN.

CNN reached out to five of the top US retailers — Walmart, Kroger, Home Depot, Costco and Target — to ask: Why not invest in more rooftop solar?

Many renewable energy experts point to solar as a relatively simple solution to cut down on costs and help rein in fossil fuel emissions, but the companies point to several roadblocks — regulations, labor costs and structural integrity of the rooftops themselves — that are preventing more widespread adoption.

The need for these kinds of clean energy initiatives is becoming “unquestionably urgent” as the climate crisis accelerates, said Edwin Cowen, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell University.

“We are behind the eight ball, to put it mildly,” Cowen told CNN. “I would have loved to see policy help incentivize rooftop solar 15 years ago instead of five years ago in the commercial space. There’s still a tremendous amount of work to do.”

Neumann said Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, possesses by far the largest solar potential. Walmart has around 5,000 stores in the US and more than 783 million square feet of rooftop space — an area larger than Manhattan — and more than 8,974 gigawatt hours of annual rooftop solar potential, according to the report.

It’s enough electricity to power more than 842,000 homes, the report said.

Walmart spokesperson Mariel Messier told CNN the company is involved in renewable energy projects around the world, but many of them are not rooftop solar installations. The company has reported having completed on- and off-site wind and solar projects or had others under development with a capacity to produce more than 2.3 gigawatts of renewable energy.

Neumann said Environment America has met with Walmart a few times, urging the retailer to commit to installing solar panels on roofs and in parking lots. The company has said it’s aiming to source 100% of its energy through renewable projects by 2035.

“Of all the retailers in America, Walmart stands to make the biggest impact if they put rooftop solar on all of their stores,” Neumann told CNN. “And for us, this report just underscores just how much of an impact they could make if they make that decision.”

According to Environment America, Walmart had installed almost 194 megawatts of solar capacity on its US facilities as of the end of the 2021 fiscal year and additional capacity in off-site solar farms. The company’s installations in California were expected to provide between 20% to 30% of each location’s electricity needs.

Solar panels on the roof of a Target store in Inglewood, California, in 2020. Target ranked No. 1 for on-site solar capacity in 2019, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Target ranked No. 1 for on-site solar capacity in 2019, according to industry trade group Solar Energy Industries Association’s most recent report. It currently has 542 locations with rooftop solar — around a quarter of the company’s stores — a Target spokesperson told CNN. Rooftop solar generates enough energy to meet 15% to 40% of Target properties’ energy needs, the spokesperson said.

Richard Galanti, the chief financial officer at Costco, said the company has 121 stores with rooftop solar around the world, 95 of which are in the US.

Walmart, Target and Costco did not share with CNN what their biggest barriers are to adding rooftop or parking lot solar panels to more stores.

Approximate number of households companies could power with rooftop solar

  • Walmart — 842,700
  • Target — 259,900
  • Home Depot — 256,600
  • Kroger — 192,500
  • Costco — 87,500
  • Source: Environment America, Frontier Group report, “Solar on Superstores”
  • “My suspicion is that they want an even stronger business case for deviating from business-as-usual,” Neumann said. “Historically, all those roofs have done is cover their stores, and rethinking how [they] use their buildings and thinking of them as energy generators, not just protection from rain, requires a small change in their business model.”

    Home Depot, which has around 2,300 stores, currently has 75 completed rooftop solar projects, 12 in construction and more than 30 planned for future development, said Craig D’Arcy, the company’s director of energy management. Solar power generates around half of these stores’ energy needs on average, he said.

    Aging rooftops at stores are a “huge impediment” to solar installation, D’Arcy added. If a roof needs to be replaced in the next 15 to 20 years or sooner, it doesn’t make financial sense for Home Depot to add solar systems today, he said.

    “We have a goal of implementing solar rooftop where the economics are attractive,” D’Arcy told CNN.

    CNN also reached out to Kroger, which owns about 2,800 stores across the US. Kristal Howard, a Kroger spokesperson, said the company currently has 15 properties — stores, distribution centers and manufacturing plants — with solar installations. One of the “multiple factors affecting the viability of a solar installation” was the stores’ ability to support a solar installation on the roofs, Howard said.

    A worker walks among solar panels being installed on the roof of an IKEA in Miami in 2014. As of February, IKEA had solar installed at 90% of its US locations.

    Cowen, the engineering professor at Cornell, said solar is already attractive, but that labor costs, incentives and the different layers of regulation likely pose some financial challenges in solar installations.

    “For them, this means usually hiring a local site firm that can do that installation that also knows local policy,” Cowen said. “It’s just another layer of complexity that I think is beginning to make sense because the costs have come down enough, but it needs kind of reopening that door of getting into an existing building.”

    Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois, who co-chairs the power sector task force in the House, said the US has “failed to provide the incentives to people who have the expertise to go in and build these things.” The reason both retail companies and the power sector have not made much progress on solar is because “our system is so disjointed” and has a complex regulation structure, Casten said.

    “Why aren’t we doing something that makes economic sense? The answer is this horribly disjointed federal policy where we massively subsidize fossil energy extraction, and we penalize clean energy production,” Casten told CNN. “For a long, long time, if you wanted to build a solar panel on the rooftop of Walmart, your biggest enemy was going to be your local utility because they didn’t want to lose the load.

    “We could have done this decades ago,” Casten added. “And had we done it, we would not be in this dire position with the climate, but we’d also have a lot more money in our pocket.”

    For Charles Callaway, director of organizing at the nonprofit group WE ACT for Environmental Justice, strengthening the rooftop solar capacity in big box retail stores is a no-brainer, especially if companies allow the local community to reap benefits either through installation jobs or sharing the electricity produced later.

    Either way, it would put a massive dent in curbing the climate crisis and help usher in an equitable transition away from fossil fuels — and it’s doable, Callaway told CNN.

    Solar panels on the roof of a Costco store in Ingelwood, California, in 2021. Costco told CNN 95 stores in the US have rooftop solar installations.

    The New York City resident led a worker training program that helped train more than 100 local community members, mostly people of color, to become solar installers. He also formed a solar workers cooperative to ensure many of the participants of the training program get jobs in a tough market.

    In the last two years, Callaway said his group has not only installed solar panels on roofs of affordable housing units, but also equipment capable of producing 2 megawatts of solar energy on shopping malls up in upstate New York. He emphasized that hiring locally would be most beneficial since local installers know the community and local regulations best.

    “One of my huge concerns is social equity,” Cowen said. “Access to renewable energy is a fairly privileged position these days, and we’ve got to figure out ways to make that not true.”

    Jasmine Graham, WE ACT’s energy justice policy manager, said the potential of building rooftop solar on big box superstores is encouraging, only “if these projects use local labor, if they are paying prevailing wages, and if this solar is being used in a manner such as community solar, which would allow [utility] bill discounts for folks that live in the same utility zone.”

    Pressure is mounting for global leaders to act urgently on the climate crisis after a UN report in late February warned the window for action is rapidly closing.

    Neumann believes the US can meet its energy demand with renewables. All it takes, she said, is the political will to make that switch, and the inclusion of the local community so no one gets left behind in the transition.

    “The sooner we make that transition, the sooner we’ll have cleaner air, the sooner we’ll have a more protected environment and better health and the sooner we’ll have a more livable future for our kids,” Neumann said. “And even if that requires investment, it is an investment worth making.”

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