Clean Energy Sector

[T]he new incarnation of India’s 20% biofuels mandate (An indicative target of 20 percent blending of bio-fuels in diesel and ethanol by 2017) arrived in Delhi on Christmas Eve, bringing tidings of great joy to those inside and many outside the industry, including the announcement of a national biofuel fund for second generation biofuels.

It was welcomed by a booming auto industry that has seen an unprecedented increase in new car sales due to the strong economy and the introduction of Tata’s Nano and its low-priced competitors—all capable of running E20 in petrol.

At the same time the Indian industry has become more internationally oriented. This year’s CII Biofuels Summit in Delhi was jointly sponsored by the India Brazil Chamber of Commerce and featured both Indian and Brazilian experts as speakers. An Indo-U.S. MoU has also been signed on second generation bio-fuels like cellulosic ethanol and algal biodiesel.

Biomass supply problems still remain an issue, but the industry has now reached the “2.0” stage of production technology, having incorporated the lessons of past failures along with current plant science and innovative However initiatives aimed at switching to dryland crops that do not require continual irrigation are beginning to pay off and Praj Industries recently showed a sustainable zero-waste production system for drought-tolerant sweet sorghum that produces only ethanol and compost for the next crop. A similar sugar cane system that the company implemented in Colombia has been hailed as a game changer for the international ethanol industry.

Technorati Tags: biofuels, india, brazil, colombia, ethanol, praj

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IndiaInfoline

The International Business Report (IBR) survey of over 7,400 privately held businesses (PHBs) across 36 economies, now in its 18th year, also highlights a group of ten economies where businesses are more optimistic about the outlook for their economies than International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts might suggest.

Businesses in Chile, India, Australia, Vietnam and Brazil are the most optimistic in the world, all scoring over +70%.

Technorati Tags: business trends, 2010, india, chile, brazil

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Clean Energy Sector

[T]he new incarnation of India’s 20% biofuels mandate (An indicative target of 20 percent blending of bio-fuels in diesel and ethanol by 2017) arrived in Delhi on Christmas Eve, bringing tidings of great joy to those inside and many outside the industry, including the announcement of a national biofuel fund for second generation biofuels.

It was welcomed by a booming auto industry that has seen an unprecedented increase in new car sales due to the strong economy and the introduction of Tata’s Nano and its low-priced competitors—all capable of running E20 in petrol.

At the same time the Indian industry has become more internationally oriented. This year’s CII Biofuels Summit in Delhi was jointly sponsored by the India Brazil Chamber of Commerce and featured both Indian and Brazilian experts as speakers. An Indo-U.S. MoU has also been signed on second generation bio-fuels like cellulosic ethanol and algal biodiesel.

Biomass supply problems still remain an issue, but the industry has now reached the “2.0” stage of production technology, having incorporated the lessons of past failures along with current plant science and innovative However initiatives aimed at switching to dryland crops that do not require continual irrigation are beginning to pay off and Praj Industries recently showed a sustainable zero-waste production system for drought-tolerant sweet sorghum that produces only ethanol and compost for the next crop. A similar sugar cane system that the company implemented in Colombia has been hailed as a game changer for the international ethanol industry.

Technorati Tags: biofuels, india, brazil, colombia, ethanol, praj

Popularity: 4% [?]

“The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function”. Prof. Albert Bartlett, Emeritus Prof of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder

Must see videos on the arithmetic of steady growth, continued over modest periods of time, in a finite environment. Here is one video in this series below:

With exponential growth in human population at least thru mid-century, the toll on natural resources will continue, unless there is some disincentivising price mechanism to arrest it – which seems unlikely. The tragedy of the commons in action.
un.org

Looking at the economic costs of action or inaction, a recent UN-backed Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study estimated loss of natural capital due to deforestation and degradation at between $2 trillion and $4.5 trillion every year – “a staggering economic cost of taking nature for granted.

“It is estimated that for an annual investment of $45 billion into protected areas alone, we could secure the delivery of ecosystem services worth some $5 trillion a year,” it said. “When compared to current financial losses on the markets, this is not a big price to pay. Sound ecosystem and biodiversity management, and the inclusion of Natural Capital in governmental and business accounting can start to redress inaction and reduce the cost of future losses.”

Technorati Tags: biodiversity, natural capital, exponential growth, bartlett

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