Only half of the subsidy paid by the central government so far, laments the educational institute.  The system is not grid-interactive yet since there is no regulation on feeding electricity into the grid

The Radhasaomi Satsang in Dayalbagh is a spiritual center with a university campus (Dayalbagh Educational Institue), residential colonies, schools, hospitals etc. The residential colony and the Dayalbagh Educational Institute (DEI), now depend on solar energy besides conventional grid power for fulfilling their electricity needs.

Grid-connected solar power is growing fast in India, going from just a few megawatt (MW) in 2009 to over 1000 MW by mid-2012. 1000 MW of solar power can supply over 20 lakh Indians with electricity. Solar uses no fuel and is therefore one of the greenest ways of generating electricity. While many of the largest solar powered countries have focused mainly on rooftop installations (over half of German solar power capacity is on rooftops) almost all of India's solar power is generated through large plants installed on the ground (mainly in the semi-desertous areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan).

This November brought back reflections of my two study visits of Swedish power plants. The visits were done during the same months of previous two years while pursuing higher studies at a Swedish university. They were the Älvkarleby Hydroelectric Power Station and natural gas based Rya Combined Heat and Power (CHP).

What you measure determines policy

Another round of the annual climate meetings is going to take place and the most ambitious outcome will be limited negotiations on some elements, because there is as yet no shared vision of the problem and what to do about it.

It is fairly well known that ITC Limited, India’s biggest blue-chip company, earns its bread and butter from selling tobacco products like cigarettes and cigars. Its revenue for 2011-12 is a mammoth Rs 36,000 crore (US $7.2 billion) and net profit, Rs 6,162 crore ($1.23 billion). 

I start this blog on climate politics as tropical superstorm Sandy expends its fury on the eastern coast of the US. The satellite imagery shows the movement of the gathering storm as it builds and breaks over land, bringing with it massive destruction and massive upheaval in the wealthiest and most powerful nation of the world. It speaks of the extraordinary power of nature and should leave us both shocked at the possibilities of destruction but also in awe of its sheer force. This is the shock and awe that we need to know more about.

Extreme caution needs to be taken while mulling of linking different carbon markets

The task for global governance in dealing with climate change is to focus on the interconnectedness between carbon dioxide emissions, standards of living and global ecological limits. The interdependence between countries makes the global commons, or carbon sinks, a shared economic resource as well as an unprecedented global environmental crisis, because economic growth worldwide increases the atmospheric concentration of energy-trapping gases, thereby amplifying the natural "greenhouse effect" that makes the Earth habitable.

The new climate regime will lead to commitments only for developing countries, because the United States, which did not ratify the legally binding commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, continues to insist on a framework with nationally determined emissions reductions monitored at the global level. The unresolved issue is multilateral agreement, on the basis of a political decision, when one criterion does not suit all countries.

When the green rating results of steel sector were released recently by CSE, industry was quick to pass the buck on poor quality of Indian raw materials and other obscure and ‘uncontrollable’ technical factors. But are they the only reasons leading to poor performance? Surely not. As the two-year survey reached final stages, a much deeper and hitherto unexplored reason emerged in the form of misaligned organisational behaviour, culture and functioning.