2010
August 17, 2010
.Now a Central Government Panel has indicted both the state government and Vedanta of environmental abuses in its earlier projects.The N.C. Saxena panel has found the state government officials guilty of violating Forest Rights Act in order to help Vedanta.While rejected Vedanta's Bauxite Mining Rights,the Panel has found the company guilty of mining on government land,violating environmental laws and tribal rights
August 17, 2010
The 10.8c/KwH Tariff will be almost 35% lower than the earlier project awarded in the Ningxia province.For comparison 10.8c/KwH is generally given to Wind Energy which has considerably lesser costs than Solar Energy.Parts of USA and Europe have electricity tariffs of greater than 20c/KwH at present.Such low tariffs may not be useful as they might lead to project delays if not cancellations.
August 16, 2010
This almost 30% decline in US yield is due to a combination of factors like expectations of more monetary easing by Fed,deflation worries and disappointing US economic data.In lockstep with the the US Treasury yields,the German bunds have also been rising.The rise in German Bunds is despite very strong German economic data.The German economy expanded at the fastest pace in 23 years on Rising Exports.So the fall in Bund yield is confusing when seen in terms of the US Treasury and Economy relationship
August 16, 2010
A Number of new Solar Companies have followed Motech into this industry and are currently challenging it for Pole Position.Gintech,Neo Solar,DelSolar are some of biggest Solar Cell Producers in the world now gaining from the worldwide boom in solar demand in 2010.These companies have reported sold out capacities in 2010 and strong profits benefiting from the generous European subsidies for Green Energy.However these companies are vulnerable to demand fluctuations as they lack the vertical integration capabilities of mainland Chinese companies like Trina and Yingle
August 16, 2010
China has come under a lot of criticism recently from conglomerates like GE and Siemens over discrimination being practised against non-Chinese companies.Massive implicit and explicit subsidies are bolstering Chinese companies against the Western ones as the government pushes the creation of National Champions in Green Technology.Through clever use of regulations and subsidies,Chinese companies are even challenging Western and Japanese companies in their own turf.
August 15, 2010
Sikhism’s most Holy Shrine the Golden Temple situated in Amritsar,Punjab will be now a part of the Green Energy Movement.The Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) has […]
August 13, 2010
Germany which was a Reluctant Rescuer of Spain and Greece during the Greek Contagion has emerged as the surprise beneficiary of the crisis.The country’s economists and […]
August 13, 2010
rance has very low percentage of its energy mix being generated by non-nuclear Green Energy forms as most of its power is derived from Nuclear Energy.The low cost of abudant nuclear power has made France relatively immune from the Energy Insecurity faced by the rest of Europe.While Germany and Spain have installed large amounts of solar and wind energy,France remains a laggard in this respect.Unlike the other EU heavyweights,it has few companies in the field of Green Energy due to lack of a vigourous domestic market.
August 13, 2010
he valuation of this ETF is quite expensive given that Large Cap Nature of these Stocks.There are also some picks that I would avoid .It would make much more sense to invest in individual high quality infrastructure stocks especially since India has recently liberalized foreign investing in Indian stocks.I would advise someone to rather invest in NiftyBees which is listed on the Indian Stock Market.
August 12, 2010
While L&T and BHEL,the two Largest Capital Equipment Companies have won a lot of orders,the sheer scale of Demand requires Huge Imports as well.Low cost Chinese equipment providers like Shanghai Electric and Dongfang Electric have won almost half of the power equipment orders raising concerns amongst the Indian administrators.The relations between the 2 countries has always been testy with a major war being fought in 1962.Recently India banned Chinese telecom equipment providers Huawei and ZTE over Security Concerns.
August 12, 2010
Honda's modules have an efficiency of 11.6% which seems lower than those claimed by the TSMC-Stion,Miasole and Q-Cells.These companies are claiming 13% efficiency though none of these companies have large scale commercial production as of now.Q-Cells and Miasole are at the head of the CIGs pack with companies like Nanosolar,Solyndra,Solar Frontier and TSMC-Stion closely following.CIGs technology is said to be the best thin film technology better than the Cd-Te technology used by First Solar and a-Si technology used by Sharp and the now bankrupt Applied Materials thin film division.
August 12, 2010
USA losing Green Jobs as Solar Companies shut US plants and Outsource Production to Mexico and China
This trend goes contrary to what US administration is advertising as the creation of a large number of Green Jobs due to the Stimulus.The Senate has given up on the Climate and Energy Bill while EPA's regulation of carbon emissions is also uncertain.Big investors are shunning the USA while putting money into Green Manufacturing and Investments as China takes over the Global Green Energy Leadership .
August 12, 2010
UN's CDM panel which decides on the eligibility of projects under this scheme has come under criticism for being too lenient in approving projects.It has been said that these projects sometimes lead to more emissions defeating the very purpose of this scheme.The Panel has become more discerning and has rejected around 50 Wind Projects in China because they were thought to be profitable even without these credits.
August 12, 2010
The competition has been extremely high for these projects leading to zero to negative returns for investors.This is due to a) low electricity rates on offer b) Aggressive bidding leading to even lower rates.This new phase of projects seems to be repeat of the old program.Giant state utilities can easily bid to win even if they lose money in the process.
August 10, 2010
Only communities adjacent to the rivers can use this water.An Environmental Group has also accused the state EPA of colluding with these corporate interests.This may lead to huge lawsuits against these companies and force the Boom to a halt.Shale Gas is supposed to be the new energy panacea as the deposits can meet US energy needs for 20 years.However like other fossil fuels it will deplete leaving behind a legacy of ecological degradation and destruction.
August 10, 2010
The new law will impose a $2000 annual via fee for companies with more than 50% of its employees in the US who are working on visas.The law is specifically targeted at Indian IT companies from the letter and spirit of the law.It remains to be seen how this affects the growing closeness in India-USA relations.Though India has shown maturity by not coming out with a sharp retaliatory action,it will sour relations.
August 10, 2010
Extreme Weather Conditions has increased in frequency this decade.In fact this decade is the hottest decade in records with temperatures making new records every year.While nothing can be said with a 100% possibility that it is due to Global Warming,the evidence is certainly pointing in that direction.
August 9, 2010
Honda's strategy of promoting Hybrids is a good one as Hybrids make much more economic sense than EVs.Without massive government subsidies EVs are expensive big toys and will unlikely generate large sales or do anything to improve the environment.On the other hand Hybrids are an excelllent intermediate solution to the climate problems.
August 9, 2010
POSCO is setting up a humongous steel complex in the eastern Indian state of Orissa with the total investment of $12 billion.The project which was initiated […]
August 6, 2010
President Obama has said that USA expects to capture 40% global marketshare of the EV/Battery Industry by 2015.This claim is predicated on the Massive Subsidies that […]
August 6, 2010
ote Nuclear Energy is seeing a Renaissance after being in cold storage for the last 2 decades.China and India have been in the lead signing contracts to build several Tens of Gigawatts of Nuclear Power.Enrichment of Nuclear Fuel which is a crucial component of making Nuclear Weapons will not be done in Vietnam.Many countries are forgoing this right to access Nuclear Technology.
August 6, 2010
When Push comes to the Shove,every country looks after its own.Russia has stopped exports as prices increased domestically without a care about the rest of the world.This is not only specific to Russia but all the world's countries where nationalism reigns supreme.With most of the worlds commodities approaching "Peak Supply" it is a worrying thought.
August 6, 2010
Lithium has been claimed to be the “new oil” with a new dedicated ETF recently launched to take advantage of the investor interest in this area.Lithium […]
August 5, 2010
Thailand has proposed to generate 20% of its electricity from Renewable Energy by 2022 and has implemented an "adder" electricity tariff for Green Energy plants.This "adder" tariff is similar to the Feed in Tariff (FIT) schemes prevalent in other parts of the world which gives a higher electricity payment to Renewable Energy Power Generators.Under this policy Thailand is set to give the "adder" tariff for 500 MW of plants till 2020 after which the tariff might be reduced
August 5, 2010
Poor Island Nations like Maldives are most vulnerable to Climate Change with their very existence at stake as rising sea levels threaten to sink them completely […]
August 5, 2010
It is a microcap stock with only $12 million being sold to the public making it easily susceptible to manipulation because of its small float size.Its fundamentals could not in any way justify Rs 199 as even at Rs 118 it looked twice overvalued to me.But the stock kept climbing without any news probably sucking in naive investors out to gamble on the "greater fool" theory until the greatest fools were left holding out the can
August 5, 2010
United Kingdom has been a laggard in climate change and global warming issues especially compared to its European neighbours.While countries like Italy,Germany and Spain have installed […]
August 5, 2010
USA's NSA possesses formidable strengths in this area using American information technology which is the best in the world.USA has denied the export of critical encryption technology in order to safeguard its lead in the cyber security area.India is taking a leaf from these countries albeit in a late manner.India's plan will involve recruiting hackers and software professionals under the aegis of its intelligence agencies.A new law also will be passed to prevent exiting Indian laws from prosecuting these recruits.
August 4, 2010
Taiwan and South Korean Companies have been making massive investments in the Solar Energy Space through both greenfield and brownfield expansion.South Korean Hanhwa has used the […]
August 4, 2010
China's Green Stimulus policies has been massively biased towards the growth of domestic industries.Electric Vehicles is no different with China recently introducing Fuel Efficiency Subsidies in Auto Industry exclusively for Domestic Firms.Now the new announcement by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to subsidize energy efficiency in Transportation with a 100 Billion Yuan Subsidy over the next 10 years further explicitly supports domestic firms