Alternative Energy : An idea whose time has come

The world has become dangerously addicted to oil, due to its fungibility and easy use.

The past two decades have witnessed robust growth, particularly in the emerging economies. At the same time, this very rapid growth has led to unprecedented surge in oil demand and made the global economy precariously balanced.

In the foreseeable future, we need a fungible source like oil to meet a variety of energy needs.

So what are the options ?

Ethanol

Ethanol, a clear colourless liquid, is made through the fermentation of sugars with zymase, an enzyme derived from yeast. It is known to have been manufactured even during ancient times. In India, ethanol is produced by sugar mills using molasses, a by-product of processing sugarcane into sugar. Other than simple sugars, starches derived from corn, wheat and potatoes can also be used for producing ethanol through fermentation.

Ethanol can not only be used alone as an automotive fuel, but can also be mixed

Brazil, began using ethanol as a fuel in the 1970s in the wake of spiralling oil prices and the need to reduce oil imports. As the largest sugarcane producer in the world, the country has successfully shown the way in ethanol use with nearly 40% of cars using just ethanol and the remaining using a petrol-ethanol blend. Small wonder Brazil consumes as many as four billion gallons of ethanol each year

In India, the blending of 5% ethanol with petrol mandatory in nine notified states and four UTs adjoining some of these states from January 1, 2003. The plan, however, was implemented in phases reportedly because not enough ethanol was available.

Praj Industries has made a name for itself world-wide as a quality supplier of ethanol Technology and equipments.

Bio-diesel

Bio-diesel is a clean burning alternative diesel fuel that is obtained from natural, renewable sources such as vegetable oils and fats The most common source of bio-diesel is soybean. Soya oil is the base vegetable oil from which all the bio-diesel in the US is processed. On the other hand, in Europe, most of the bio-diesel is processed from rapeseed oil.

In India, a mix of these two and also the oil extracted from the nuts of the Jatropha plant have been used to obtain bio-diesel. Around the world other oils of plant origin, such as canola oil, cottonseed oil, mustard oil and palm oil, have also been tried.

Bio-diesel is a cleaner burning fuel than the regular fossil fuel, not just in India, where the quality of regular diesel is relatively speaking poor, but also in the advanced automobile markets. Bio-diesel, as the name suggests, is also renewable as it is derived from plant sources and is less harmful to the environment.

In India, DaimlerChrysler AG and DaimlerChrysler India with their partners — Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) and the University of Hohenheim — have been working with bio-diesel processed from the seeds of the Jatropha plant.

M &M also formally announced its emphasis on bio-diesel and unveiled the bio-diesel Scorpio and Bolero DI vehicles for 100 per cent real world usage trials.

IKF technologies and Southern Online Bio-technologies are involved in production of bio-diesel from jatropha. However these companies are in their initial stages of metamorphosis from being a technology company. Reliance Industries has also evinced interest in bio-diesel production.

Plastics to Fuel

http://www.google.co.in/search?q=Solar+Energy&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a - Solar energy can be perhaps the best source of energy for rural India. I don’t know about other states, but in the villages around my own in Bihar and that of Yamuna, many petty farmers have installed the solar plates. Mostly, it provides the digital connectivity and entertainment through TVs and music system, besides lighting the home and cooling too with fans. It must be put to many more uses- pumps, airconditioning, computerization, etc.

Solar rays can be used to heat or produce electricity. http://www.google.co.in/search?q=Solar+photovoltaics+%28SPV%29+systems+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a - Solar photovoltaics (SPV) systems transform solar heat directly into power.

http://edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/renew/solar.htm - Solar energy accounted for a minuscule 0.039% of the world’s total energy supply in 2004. But estimates suggest that globally, SPV power has grown by an average of 41% a year over the past three years.

PV systems in India add up to only about 245 mw in aggregate capacity as of December 2005, the latest available data with the ministry of new and renewable energy. Interestingly, India is very much well placed so far the sunlight is concerned. India receives solar energy equivalent to over 5000 trillion kWh/year, which is far more than the total energy consumption of the country.

Main challenges for solar energy technology are that of increasing the efficiency and cutting down the cost.

 The efficiency of transforming solar heat into power has improved from a lowly 6% to a more respectable 15%. Some US firm such as Sunpower produces the most efficient silicon photovoltaic cell in the world, which operates at 21 per cent efficiency (percentage of energy from sunlight that is converted into electricity). The theoretical maximum is 28 per cent. Spectrolab, a subsidiary of Boeing, makes non-silicon solar cells that reach 40 per cent efficiency.

 The other effort is to cut down the cost. The costs of SPV panels have come down from as much as $20 per watt to just over $2.5/W. One company is working to reduce the cost of polysilicon, the most important raw material from $3 (Rs 120) a kilo to $1 (Rs 40) a kilo.

Indian Players

International SPV players are very bullish on India. Domestic entrepreneurs are also coming forward.

Tata BP Solar, one of India’s first solar panel makers, with revenues of Rs 450 crore, exports 80 per cent of its products. The Bangalore-based company plans to double manufacturing capacity to 80 MW by end-2007 and scale up to 300 MW by 2010. Tata BP Solar is investing $100 million to create a solar plant in Bangalore.

Moser Baer Photo Voltaic has a 40-MW (megawatt) facility in Greater Noida. It plans to boost capacity to 300 MW by 2010. Moser Baer picked up stakes in the US-based Stion Corporation and SolFocus, and Slovenia-based Solarvalue, and had invested Rs 260 crore in setting up a Photo Voltaic (PV) business to manufacture solar cells and modules. From $100 million (Rs 400 crore) this year, the company expects revenues of $1 billion (Rs 4,000 crore) by 2010. As reported, the company is “working to bring down cost from an average of 35 cents (Rs 14) per kilowatt to 10 cents (Rs 4).” A solar panel six times larger than current models is slated for early 2009.

Overseas players are also getting into India. As reported, California-based Signet Solar will invest $2 billion (Rs 8,000 crore) over the next 10 years in three photovoltaic cell plants here. With an initial investment of $ 150 million (Rs 600 crore), each of these facilities will have an annual output of 300 MW.

Solar Semiconductor, another US-based company, is setting up an SPV unit in Hyderabad.

Efficient Indian manufacturers can get into export too, as the global PV cell market stands at $7-8 billion and is expected to grow to $40 billion by 2010. According to a report by brokerage firm CLSA, the PV sector is set to grow at 38% year-on-year till 2010 to a total capacity of 6GW, taking the industry turnover to $35-40 billion.

Currently, 60 companies are in production of PV in some way or the other. With significant incentive in new semi-conductor policy, multibillion-dollar investments may be coming. Many SPV projects are reportedly in the pipeline, with the investment running to about $5-6 billion. The manufacturing process for making silicon microprocessor chips and SPV cells is basically the same, though that for the latter is far less complicated requiring fewer steps. The investment requirement is about $300 million for an SPV unit of 100 mega MW capacity.

As reported, half the global production of photovoltaic cells goes to Japan, mainly in grid-connected homes. Japan makes 40 per cent of the $6-billion (Rs 24,000-crore) solar market, expected to touch $40 billion (Rs 1,60,000 crore) by 2010. Solar-powered homes, common in Germany (40 per cent share) and the US, give power to the grid during the day (the meters run backwards) and draw power at night. This lowers the net electricity consumed by the grid.

Future Solar stations will be connected to the grid. India still fares poorly on solar electricity generation, but the government has set a target of 10 power plants of 1-MW each. State electricity boards have been asked to use at least 0.2 per cent of the electricity they generate from grid-connected photovoltaic projects by 2011. Compare this to India’s potential for solar power generation - 600 GW.

How is India using the solar energy at the ground level? Over 500,000 solar cookers are in use around India. The Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam heats 100,000 litres of water a day using solar power. The government intends to make solar-powered systems mandatory in hotels and hospitals.

Innovatively designed solar cookers and lanterns could drastically reduce the need for subsidising kerosene (SKO) and domestic cooking gas (LPG). Solar PV water pumping systems can reduce the consumption of diesel. 7002 such pumps are already installed. And the saving in subsidy for kerosene, LPG, and diesel may be about Rs 40,000 crore per annum.

‘Wind Stands Out As Most Competitive’

Business World has an interesting interview with http://www.cera.com/ - Daniel Yergin , the chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), one of the world’s leading energy consulting firms.

A lot of efforts have been made to make renewable energy more competitive. Last year, $2 billion (Rs 8,000 crore) worth of venture capital in North America was invested in ‘clean energy’, which is four times what it was just two years earlier.

We looked at that question very closely in ‘Crossing the Divide’ and found that wind stands out as the most competitive. There has been a lot of advance in wind technology over the past two decades and in some locations, wind, along with biomass and geothermal, are competitive without subsidies.

Ethanol produced from sugarcane in Brazil can have a very positive energy balance. That is because the bagasse, the waste from the sugar plant, is used to generate the energy necessary for ethanol production and even to generate surplus electricity. On the other hand, the corn-based ethanol in the United States has only a modest positive energy balance.

As biofuel usage increases, it faces trade-off with food, water, fertiliser, land use as well as with logistical issues. 

Source: http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2255/2332 - BizWorld

http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2253/2330 - Alternative Energy: Powering The Future

Across the country, small islands of hope are using alternative energy technologies to create environmentally clean and affordable power, igniting talk of a coming revolution in the energy industry.

Prakash Karnik, investment manager of IDFC Private Equity, a Mumbai-based institution that is now aggressively planning investments in renewable energy projects. “Worldwide, the renewable energy industry is growing at 20-30 per cent per annum. Demand exceeds supply in some sectors such as wind energy, and companies are generating returns in excess of their cost of capital.”

Fifteen European Union nations, including Spain and Germany, who are world leaders in renewables, have committed to generating 20 per cent of the energy using alternative technologies by 2020. India has also put in place several renewable initiatives and the country is now the world’s fourth-largest generator of wind energy with an installed capacity of 7,093 MW

Citigroup Venture Capital International and UTI Ventures recently invested Rs 250 crore and Rs 40 crore, respectively, in a biomass venture run by Hyderabad’s Ind Bharat Power , and Barings Private Equity has committed $50 million (Rs 200 crore) to Auro Mira Energy, a biomass and mini-hydro player in Chennai. Higher up the food chain, Tulsi Tanti’s Suzlon Energy has become the world’s fifth-largest wind turbine maker, and Tata BP Solar, one of India’s first solar panel makers, has seen its revenues jump to Rs 450 crore a year.

Ravi Khanna, CEO of Moser Baer Photo Voltaic and Warburg Pincus which owns 35 per cent of his company, are betting big on solar power and Khanna expects the firm’s revenues to touch the billion-dollar mark by 2010.

The United Nations Environment Programme Report (2007) states that renewable energy projects received a record $100 billion (Rs 4,40,000 crore then) in investment in 2006, up from $80 billion (Rs 360,000 crore then) in 2005. Interestingly, venture capitalists are now some of the biggest investors in alternative energy, and their track record of almost single-handedly creating the computer and bio-technology industries is also boosting the industry’s prospects. Consider this. John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, who nurtured Google, Netscape and Amazon, has earmarked $100 million for the alternative energy sector, and Vinod Khosla, who co-founded Sun Microsystems, is funding two dozen renewable energy companies.

India’s oil bill will quadruple to $200 billion a year by 2025! More significantly, India will be the only major economy in the world other than Japan importing 90 per cent of its oil needs, a strategic lacuna

Provide renewable energy a privileged market: no taxes, zero interest rates, and a new tariff law.” The logic of this has led New Delhi to offer the renewables industry broad concessions, such as 80 per cent depreciation on alternative energy equipment, a 10-year tax holiday for windmill companies and import concessions. Alternative energy companies also get concessional loans from the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency and public sector banks. Industry players are also asking for feed-in tariffs, where power fed to the grid can be metered and the company can raise carbon credits for it, says Suzlon’s Tanti.

Still, no alternative energy technology is even close to fulfilling its full promise. The reasons, discussed in greater detail in the stories that follow, are not insurmountable, but very real. More than technological changes, consumers will have to change their attitudes and habits before alternative energy can become what it should — the only energy. Imagine mankind powered by infinite renewable energy. The benefits are driving governments, businesses and individuals all over the world to follow that dream. They know there is no real alternative.

http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2253/2330 - http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2253/2330

http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2248/2325 - Alternative Energy: http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2248/2325 - A Cleaner Future

India is emerging as a major global player and the world’s third most attractive national environment for forward investment in renewable energy. The Indian market for this business is estimated at $600 million (Rs 2,400 crore) and is growing at an annual rate of 20 per cent.

Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) prepared by the Planning Commission has provided a long-term vision for the next 25 years. The aim is that at least 10 per cent of the power generation installed capacity in the country should come from renewables by the end of the 11th Plan period. This is planned both at the national as well as state level. A bulk of the proposed renewable power capacity addition is expected through private investment

In the grid-interactive renewable power installed capacity, there is a clear market preference for wind power, which dominates with about 68 per cent. It is easier to install, and adequate industrial infrastructure has been created. But this does not seem to be solving the major problem of substituting alternative fuel for the transportation sector. IEPR has recommended biofuel plantations, overlooking the limits and conflict between plantations and biodiversity.

http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2248/2325 - http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2248/2325

http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2249/2326 - Alternative Energ: Beyond The Hype

A lot of media hype has been generated in recent years about ethanol and biodiesel. In India, the only viable source of ethanol as of now is molasses left after production of sugar from cane juice. Due to the fact that sugarcane is a crop that requires heavy irrigation, this becomes a limited source. Yes, it is possible to get ethanol from cellulose in the form of agricultural waste, grasses, wood, etc., which would be a plentiful resource. But this technology is still nascent and there are logistical bottlenecks too.

Non-conventional energy sources — solar, wind, biogas, etc. India has a natural advantage, because of its tropical location, with respect to solar energy. However, as of now, the technology employed in solar photovoltaic panels produced commercially in the country is capable of converting only 10-15 per cent of incident solar light into electrical energy. This makes such energy very expensive.

India is largely a region of low wind speeds, as a result of which the country’s wind energy potential is modest. About 5,000 MW of wind power had already been installed by the beginning of 2006 and another 5,000 MW is expected to be installed by the end of 2007. Most of the wind turbines are in the sub-MW range.

Because of the low heating value of the primary fuel — the biomass — biogas plants are necessarily limited in capacity to small modules of 50-100 KW. They are more useful for standalone operations catering to small consumers such as educational campuses, small villages and residential complexes. The farther away from the grid, the more their value. In fact, they could form the backbone of our rural electrification programme and spare the main grids the cost of laying uneconomic feeders to the countryside.

http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2249/2326 - http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2249/2326

http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2251/2328 - Alternative Energ: Fans Of Fortune

In October 2005, India raced past Denmark to become the world’s fourth-largest producer of wind energy after Germany, the US and Spain. In 2006, India installed 1,840 MW of additional capacity. It is also way ahead of China, which will add 5,000 MW only by 2010. Asia, which generates 10,600 MW through wind alone, beat the rest of the world last year with 53 per cent growth in installed capacity. Globally, the US could overtake Germany to be the world’s largest player.

“By 2008, we will have a wind atlas to quantify wind speed and density accurately,” says M.P. Ramesh, the executive director of Chennai-based Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET). “Such precise data will establish how much more wind power can be generated in India.”

 The price of wind power today is competitive with coal and gas, and is cheaper than nuclear power. After acquiring land, you can install and begin operations within three to six months. It costs Rs 4-5 crore per MW to generate. Compare that to the solar energy generation, which costs about Rs 30 crore per MW. Near-zero carbon dioxide emission makes wind the least controversial segment. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy pegs India’s potential for harnessing wind energy at 45,000 MW with an addition of close to 2,000 MW per year for the next four to five years.

US and Germany have set up several off-shore wind turbine farms such as Germany’s in the North Sea

http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2252/2329 - Alternative Energy: Green Effect

The biofuels revolution has just begun in India. To develop beyond its present confines, the fledgling sector needs a helping hand from the policy makers.

Terrestrial renewable energy can fuel modern industrial societies, and rates biofuels and the Brazilian ethanol programme among the most promising renewables. Renewable liquid fuels and electricity generated from biomass (see ‘Waste From Wealth’ on page 40) to be affordable but not cheap, with relative but only ‘sufficient’ profits. In India, we are listening, even willing, but only just about.

India plans to manufacture biodiesel from non-edible vegetable oils. However, this has to be achieved without affecting the country’s food security. Moreover, India cannot grow sugarcane only for ethanol production, as the naturally water-plenty Brazil does, nor assign essential agricultural land for growing non-edible seeds such as the newsworthy jatropha, a viable raw material for biodiesel.

Capable of growing on under-stocked or fallow lands, field boundaries and even railway tracks, jatropha cultivation can even be factored into work-for-food poverty alleviation programmes. A one-acre jatropha plantation with 1,000 rain-fed plants can yield 1,500 litres of oil. With a projected 66.9 million metric tonnes demand for diesel by the end of the 11th Plan (2011-12), a 5 per cent biodiesel replacement will need about 11 million hectares of land under jatropha cultivation. Currently, there is no consolidated data available to reflect the exact extent of jatropha cultivation in India. A rough estimate puts the figure at around 1 million hectares. On our green mile, the road is long but little travelled, yet.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY : Sunshine Valley

Half the global production of photovoltaic cells goes to Japan, mainly in grid-connected homes. Japan makes 40 per cent of the $6-billion (Rs 24,000-crore) solar market, expected to touch $40 billion (Rs 1,60,000 crore) by 2010. Solar-powered homes, common in Germany (40 per cent share) and the US, give power to the grid during the day (the meters run backwards) and draw power at night. This lowers the net electricity consumed by the grid. The US is the fastest growing market, with 40 per cent growth every year for the past five years. While it is incentives that currently sustain the business, optimists predict that the photovoltaic cell market could be worth $1 trillion (Rs 40,00,000 crore) in a few short years.

Countries such as the US and Germany incentivised the industry in its early years. These countries provide leased land, built solar specific special economic zones and feed-in facilities to supply power to the grid directly (and received credits for it) and underwrote research expenses

Eventually, the Indian market will also grow because of the subcontinent’s size and climate, but we lack research. “The manufacture of photovoltaic cells is a volumes game but India does not have a large silicon production base,” says J. Gururaja, a former advisor to United Nations’ department of economic and social affairs. “A 1-GW (gigawatt) production of photovoltaic cells will bring cost down by half. “

Early this year, India’s government announced incentives for the semiconductor industry. The market took this as a positive sign even though it is largely determined by retail sales, principally of water heaters, which are largely incentive-driven. Scattered statistics add up to some semblance of a silver lining — over 500,000 solar cookers are in use around India. The Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam heats 100,000 litres of water a day using solar power. The government, in its 2022 Plan, talks about making solar-powered systems mandatory in hotels and hospitals.

In the 1990s, public sector units such as Bharat Heavy Electricals entered the arena,but now private players are also jumping in. Moser Baer Photo Voltaic, a subsidiary of Moser Baer, has a 40-MW (megawatt) facility in Greater Noida. It plans to boost capacity to 300 MW by 2010. From $100 million (Rs 400 crore) this year, the company expects revenues of $1 billion (Rs 4,000 crore) by 2010.

Meanwhile, Tata BP Solar, with revenues of Rs 450 crore, exports 80 per cent of its products. The Bangalore-based company plans to double manufacturing capacity to 80 MW by end-2007 and scale up to 300 MW by 2010. Business can scale up exponentially once a viable unit price for electricity is established. Ravi Khanna, CEO of Moser Baer Photo Voltaic, says, “Our aim is to bring down cost from an average of 35 cents (Rs 14) per kilowatt to 10 cents (Rs 4).” Their product pipeline includes a solar panel six times larger than current models, slated for early 2009.

Big overseas players are also looking for a share in India. California-based Signet Solar will invest $2 billion (Rs 8,000 crore) over the next 10 years in three photovoltaic cell plants here. With an initial investment of $ 150 million (Rs 600 crore), each of these facilities will have an annual output of 300 MW.

Future Solar stations will be connected to the grid. India still fares poorly on solar electricity generation, but the government has set a target of 10 power plants of 1-MW each. State electricity boards have been asked to use at least 0.2 per cent of the electricity they generate from grid-connected photovoltaic projects by 2011. This is just a tiny bit of hope when compared to what is already taking place in developed countries. Compare this to India’s potential for solar power generation — 600 GW. You get the picture.

http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2254/2331 - http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2254/2331

• Visit this interesting site: http://www.cosmosignite.com/ - http://www.cosmosignite.com/

• BS carries a good article about Innovating for the bottom of the pyramid. http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_supp.php?autono=294343&leftnm=1&subLeft=0&chkFlg=Management - Click here .

The company on Monday launched a solar water heater range in Hyderabad. Kataky said it expects sales of Rs 10 crore from solar water heaters.

WHich are the listed companies in this field?

Energy Sources Of The Future

The good news is that that's OK. Even if nothing ever rules the world like oil did last century, different regions will adapt by tapping the technologies and energy sources that suit them best.

So just how will our grandchildren meet their energy needs? We'll continue to use oil and natural gas for decades, if not centuries, but as a shrinking portion of our energy pie. We'll also use commonly proposed alternatives like corn-based ethanol and nuclear generators.

But there are also big changes ahead, both in terms of what we use and how much we use technologies that already exist. Take wind generation. The industry is growing at about 30% a year, says Edward Guinness, co-manager of the Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund. That's faster than other renewable energy sources like solar and hydro-power. The price of wind-generated energy is currently competitive with fossil fuels, Guinness says.

Solar power is also poised to grow quickly. Today about 0.1% of the world's energy comes from solar power, most of it using photovoltaic cells. Guinness thinks that could grow to 10% over 20 to 35 years as manufacturing processes are improved. The expansion of solar thermal technology will also grow the sector. Government subsidies, favorable regulatory programs and the popularity of solar with consumers are also likely to boost usage.

Newer ideas could also turn into future energy sources. Have you ever thought we might harness the power of bending floorboards, or turn algae into fuel? It could happen.

Moreover, the future of energy is not just a question of what, but of how.

"I think the things that would really blow us away if we could jump forward 20 years would not be the giant fields of windmills, but the 1,000 changes in daily life that have taken place in order to save energy," says Alex Steffen, executive editor of Worldchanging.com, which covers sustainable technology.

Those changes will go far beyond switching to low-energy light bulbs. One trend Steffen forecasts is that power sources will move closer to home. "I think we're going to see a lot more local energy, especially in places that are gifted with lots of sunshine, or wind, or strong rivers," Steffen says. As houses and small communities produce their own energy, it will flow back and forth on "smart infrastructure"-- two-way power grids that deliver from as well as to the home.

The future just might be bright after all. By the time the world's oil reserves do dry up, it's technologically possible that we will have weaned ourselves off of fossil fuels.

RIL, others want to plug into photovoltaic El Dorado

Suddenly, the sun is shining brighter for solar photovoltaic (SPV) startups looking to set shop in India. Under pressure from the World Trade Organisation (WTO), China has removed the 10% odd direct subsidy it provided to SPV makers in the country.

There are at least five companies looking at setting up or expanding SPV cell and module capacities in India currently. They include Solar Semiconductors, Signet Solar, Reliance Industries and Moser Baer.

While others are looking at setting up SPV wafers, cell and module manufacturing capacities, Reliance, according to industry sources, is said to be going a step further and investing in the manufacture of metallurgical grade silicon and poly silicon - the basic feedstock for the SPV industry.

The Reliance strategy of entering the industry at the lowest end of the value chain, which requires huge investments, is, therefore, quite understandable. The company is reportedly looking at a total investment of $6 billion and above over five years at the Navi Mumbai SEZ across the silicon and PV value chain.

The company currently manufactures solar cells and modules at a plant in Gundlapochampalli near Hyderabad. "Our intent is to figure in the top 10 makers of photovoltaics in the world in the next five years, with the gigawatt (GW) capacity under our fold," he added. The Gundlapochampalli plant has a capacity of 30 MW. All future expansion will take place at the Fab City facility, which will be up by March 2008, Surapaneni said.

In a bid to be closer to markets like Europe, Solar is also looking at setting up capacities in Greece and the Middle East, apart from another location in India. It will also set up a pilot facility in Fab City, where it has been allotted 100 acres, to make amorphous silicon modules in the second phase, he added.

The airports at Jaisalmer, Port Blair, Leh and Alwar could be among the first to benefit from this green drive.

The developer of the technology, Nashik-based Om Prakash Kulkarni claims the cost of setting up the plant can be recovered in two years.

GMR, the company upgrading the Delhi International Airport, has committed to drawing at least 7-8 per cent of its energy needs from non-conventional energy sources, such as solar power.

Solar power in rural UP

Four villages in Uttar Pradesh getting uninterrupted power supply since 1999-2000. Unimaginable? Not quite.

A series of small micro-processor based photovoltaic power plants installed in villages of Kalyanpur (Aligarh), Harriya (Basti), Sarai Sadi (Mainpuri) and Rampursawai (Jaunpur) has kept these villages fully electrified when conventional power supply disappeared for several hours in a day.

All the villages getting solar power at the rate of 100 kilowatt per hour through customised solar power plants were chosen by the state-owned Non-conventional Energy Development Agency (NEDA) and the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES) as research and development projects.

“Solar power plants that take care of domestic lighting, street lights, submersible pumps and even TVs convert DC electricity from the “solar arrays” on rooftops to AC supply, which is fed into the local village power supply distribution network of high tension wires through an electronic distribution board,” a NEDA official said.

Power plants also provide “grid connection” to the lines of power distribution units and help in energy management through the use of micro processor-based systems to minimise transmission losses.  A micro computer installed in each plant controls the functioning of the plant.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=ca948f09-5ddc-4ed2-b803-ab31cee09dc1## - http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=ca948f09-5ddc-4ed2-b803-ab31cee09dc1

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1121896 - ‘We’re eyeing a fifth of the solar energy market’

Like Gold Rush.....You are right. 

Generating electricity from garbage doesn't have quite the aesthetic appeal of coaxing current from sunbeams, but it's a good business for Covanta Holding, said J. Michael Horwitz, a partner and senior research analyst at Pacific Growth Equities. Covanta, based in New Jersey, contracts to buy trash from local municipalities and then burns it to create steam that powers turbines. Electricity from municipal waste qualifies for U.S. tax credits, though the credits are just half those for power generated from wind, solar and geothermal sources.

Covanta has been active on other fronts as well, recently taking on a joint venture partner in China. It has also acquired two businesses that produce energy from wood waste.

Some promising companies focus on products that reduce electricity demand. Cree, based in Durham, North Carolina, is a manufacturer of light-emitting diodes, which are slowly emerging as a low-power alternative to conventional lighting. Costs of LEDs are still prohibitively high for most lighting applications, but they are coming down, said David Carlsen, manager of the Buffalo Science and Technology fund.

In March, Cree acquired Cotco, a Hong-Kong based packager of LEDs into systems that are sold directly to lighting customers. The deal gives Cree a stronger international presence, as well as vertical integration.

In areas of the developing world that lack an established electrical grid, LEDs could find favor, running household lighting powered by solar sources, said Robert Wilder, who created an index of alternative energy companies that is licensed by PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy, an exchange-traded fund.

"Because of their low power requirements, LEDs can be used off the grid," Wilder said.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,4574,250104,00.html? - Solar energy developers get govt incentives

Several companies to set up production facilities for growing photovoltaic market

THE Indian government has now set out details of the financial incentives for which electronics manufacturers can apply.

The announcement comes six months after investment guidelines were laid down for makers of semiconductors, LCDs, solar cells and other electronics.

New Delhi-based leading optical storage media manufacturer Moser Baer (India) says it is planning to set up a 20 billion rupee (S$755 million) solar photovoltaic fabrication facility in Chennai.

'The plant will generate revenues of around US$1 billion in 3-5 years,' said the company's managing director, Deepak Puri.

SemIndia Inc, India's first major semiconductor manufacturer, is also expected to announce plans soon.

Others, such as Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp, Videocon Industries, Signet Solar and the Nest Group, are also all weighing the options.

California-based Signet Solar had recently announced that it would invest US$2 billion to set up three solar photovoltaic manufacturing units in India.

The global photovoltaic market has seen high growth, and sales are expected to grow over six times from the current US$6 billion to $40 billion by 2010.

Domestically, India is looking to formulate a Renewable Energy Act with a target to meet 20 per cent of energy requirements by 2020.

Observers say India offers immense potential due to its low-cost skilled manpower and a manufacturing base that has seen sectors such as vehicles, software and business process outsourcing (BPO) flourish. Solar energy is seen as the next big thing.

Recently, German renewable energy systems provider SunTechnics announced that it expects to generate 600 million rupees in revenues from the company's India operations in 2007-08, up from 150 million rupees in the last financial year.

'The growing requirement of photovoltaic cells, used for the oil and telecom sectors, will help to give a boost to our business in India,' SunTechnics managing director (Asia Pacific) Stefan Mueller said.

'We are investing 300 million rupees for capacity expansion of our existing units in Bangalore in the current year,' he said.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/25/technology/biodieselboom.biz2/index.htm?postversion=2007092609 - Biodiesel boom heading toward Wall Street

Total biodiesel production shot up from 25 million gallons in 2004 to 250 million gallons last year.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2">

IKF soft is buzzing on Bio-diesel.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/02/news/companies/bc.apfn.wal.mart.energybulbs.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007100211 - Wal-Mart sells 100 million energy-saver bulbs

Discount retailer reaches 'green' sales goal earlier than expected.

http://sify.com/imagegallery/gallery/index.php?hcategory=13733692&hgallery=14541699 - ‘Biofuel plans may cause water shortages’

Bio-diesel: Recent developments

Feb 7: The National Bio-Diesel Policy was announced in the year 2005 and since then, 20 purchase centres have been opened all across the country. However, the success of the programme seems to have been bogged down by differences between the delivered price of bio-diesel fixed by the petroleum ministry -- on the basis of the price of high speed diesel (HSD) -- and the price being demanded by various suppliers.

The delivered price of  bio-diesel was originally fixed at Rs 25 per litre, which has since been revised to Rs 26.50 per litre. However, when bids were invited from various parties for supply of bio-diesel, the indicated rate ranged from between Rs 35 to Rs 52 per litre, which would have rendered the use of the alternative fuel unviable.

The oil marketing companeis have now taken on the onus of going directly to the field to extract biodiesel..

The following are compamy-wise details of activities on this front:

IOC: The company has planted 150,000 seedlings of jatropha on 62 hectares of railway land in Gujarat. It has also signed a MoU with the government of Chhattisgarh to form a joint venture to collaborate on the plantation of Jatropha. Recently, the Madhya Pradesh government allotted the company 2,000 hectares of land in Jhabua for plantation of these plants.

BPCL: BPCL has planted jatropha on around 1,000 acres of land and is expected to cultivate another 1,000 acres in the green belt of the Bina Refinery by March this year. The company is also in talks with various state governments to take up jatropha plantation on a cooperative farming basis. It has also set up a research and development plant for bio-diesel at Vashi, in Mumbai.

HPCL: The oil marketing major has signed a MoU with GB Pant University, Pantnagar, for plantation of 10 lakh jatropha plants, installation of a trans­esterification unit, and tissue culture-related research and development. It has completed the plantation of 5 lakh plants at Pantnagar. The company is also keen to sign an agreement with the Chhattisgarh Government for jatropha cultivation on a large scale

Tata Chem  & others testing waters for biofuel foray

http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=312322 - http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=312322

Praj Industries has been contracted to set up a 30 kilolitres a day bioethanol plant, which will use sweet sorghum as raw material for making bioethanol. 

The Mukesh Ambani promoted Reliance Life Sciences is planning a major foray into biodiesel based on jatropha, for which it is setting up a pilot facility in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. 

Adjacent to this facility, Naturol Bioenergy Limited has started an integrated oleochemical complex to process biodiesel and allied products with a capacity of one lakh tonne a year, one of the largest in the world

When you all say water what does it mean? Water treatment, purification, mineral water or what?

More such efforts are the need of the hour...

Go through below article.

This may be the best possible altenative energy producing technology that can becom realty in nearst future. (say 25-40 years)

Work on nuclear fusion heats up

jserve.write("/SITE=TAUS/AREA=NEWS.WORLD/AAMSZ=110X40/"); < ="http://mercury.tiser.com.au/j/acc_random=49826949/SITE=TAUS/AREA=NEWS.WORLD/AAMSZ=110X40/pageid=9683684" =text/>ipt> http://mercury.tiser.com.au/ADCLICK/CID=fffffffcfffffffcfffffffc/acc_random=49826949/SITE=TAUS/AREA=NEWS.WORLD/AAMSZ=110X40/pageid=9683684"> http://mercury.tiser.com.au/adclick/SITE=TAUS/AREA=NEWS.WORLD/AAMSZ=110X40/pageid=1">

It is almost impossible to find winner in sectors like solar energy. Think about .com time. With all that hype and bubble, google was not even heard of. And now a days you dont here abt Alatavista, AOL, Exite. Google even crushed yahoo. So there will be one or two huge winners but nobody knows those names. Others will fade.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/want-more-green-your-electricity/story.aspx?guid=%7B4BA79F6D%2D8701%2D403E%2D8512%2DF4A4BB30065D%7D - Green pricing http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/want-more-green-your-electricity/story.aspx?guid=%7B4BA79F6D%2D8701%2D403E%2D8512%2DF4A4BB30065D%7D - programs

I look for Cairn India.Only time will tell the real story of it.

Thank you for the information sir, I am not sure but the company has a negative operating margin and EPS, and price seems to be high though there is no PE for negative earnings.

By the way can you please share your idea on XL?