Government
August 23, 2010
The United Nations is reviewing the Carbon Credit Requests from 5 plants in China and their is a high probability of cancellation of these requests.NGOs and activists have alleged that these HFC plants emit more GreenHouse Gases (GHGs) than is required in the normal function of the plants.This leads to increased revenue from neutralizing these gases defeating the entire purpose of the CDM scheme.Carbon Trading has repeatedly been proved to be an inefficient and ineffective scheme,but its popularity continues to increase around the world.The Scheme is suitable for niche purposes and is totally inadequate as a holistic response to the problem of Climate Change
August 20, 2010
Note India is the 2nd faster growing economy in the world and presents a lucrative market for US MNCs facing a slowing domestic economy.Also unlike China,India does not have a deficit-surplus issue with the US.India is a crucial market for US which wants to double exports in the next 5 years.India can put punitive duties on imports of aircraft products.Note US exported more than $2 billion in airplane and space parts from the US in 2009 and is expected to grow this strongly in 2010 as well.India can easily replace Boeing with European manufacturer Airbus.India will be the biggest aircraft market in the world in the next 5-6 years as air traffic explodes.Airbus and Boeing are fierce rivals with their disputes frequently putting EU and the US government in WTO disputes.
August 20, 2010
While US-China relations remain normal with the biggest trade relationship in the world,there is always an undercurrent of mistrust between the world’s two largest economies.Chinese companies […]
August 20, 2010
Chinese Firms are not exactly renowned for their Environmental Credentials and the weak regulations in African Countries does not give them an incentive to be so.Concerns were raised about the impact of a Chinese Ore Mine in the forests of Gabon.With lax oversight and easily corruptible administration,the Damage is already Done before it can be Stopped.Africa countries in general are ruled by Undemocratic, Corrupt rulers which are willing to go along with Environmental Degradation in return for Bribes.
August 20, 2010
the administration had done nothing.Instead of setting out a Renewable Energy Standard or a Feed in Tariff Policy,the President seems busier in giving speeches and photo-ops.The result has been that USA is lagging far behind Europe and China in the Green Energy area.Deutche Bank Asset Management which invests $6-7 billion out of its $700 Billion corpus in the Green Sector,has made a scathing attack on the lack of US Federal Support for Green Industry.The Bank said it would totally bypass US in making Green Investments and concentrate its energies on China and Europe.Solar Companies are already outsourcing Green Jobs to Mexico and China. US Companies are already recognizing China as a Leader in the Clean Technology Area .
August 19, 2010
The Tres Amigas Facility will be the first of its kind in the world and would be profitable allowing sale of power between the Three Grids.This unique initiative has received support from numerous stakeholders like utilities,transmission operators,Green Energy Suppliers etc.Extreme Power has been selected to provide Energy Storage Facilities and Energy Management Technology for this project.If this project gets built it will lead to the building of similar such facilities in the rest of the world and be a big boon in the quest of Mass Adoption of Green Energy.Note this Project seems to deserves a DOE Grant much more than the Billion Dollar Loans to Abengoa and Solyndra.
August 19, 2010
Nuclear Energy currently accounts for 21% of the electricity supply and would be replaced by renewable sources by that timeframe.However utilities which have a huge amount to lose want the reactors to stay.They are using the common language of anti-Green lobbies that it would lead to Job Losses and Energy Insecurity.They don't think that Renewable Energy can replace the cheap Nuclear Power.This is the same argument being used by the opponents of California's AB32 Law.Like the Solar Feed in Tariff Controversy earlier in the year,this fight too promises to be an interesting one though I think the Nuclear Lobby will lose.
August 19, 2010
Ontario had ample opportunity to learn from past experience and its Renewable Energy Subsidy Policy is on the whole quite good.However one part of the FIT program which gave a very generous 80.2c/KwH to micro installations of solar projects under 10 KW was faulty.It led to 160 MW of project applications which were ground mounted with very high production as they used trackers.There was no discrimination between roof and ground mounted micro installations leading to this problem.Note its not possible to install trackers on roofs which can increase the energy by 30-35%.The large number of applications were not factored in by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) which proposed to retroactively cut those tariffs by 27% for ground plants.
August 18, 2010
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Technology is akin to putting Lipstick on a Pig (read Coal Power Plants).This Technology which has been hyped as the Green Answer to Coal's Dirty Polluting Ways has never been proven on a commercial scale .Note the British Government promising CCS with every new Coal Plant.Despite numerous large pilot projects,the Technology remains immature.Even China which gets 80% of its electricity from Coal Power Plants and is the biggest emitter of GHGs,remains skeptical of this technology.
August 18, 2010
India’s Business and Political Elite continue to mock the Indian Legal System through loopholes and expensive lawyers.I had written earlier in a post of how Satyam […]
August 18, 2010
But with the imminent visit of President Obama to India,the government wants to put the final touch to the deal during November.The government has raised the cap Three Fold to $330 million in order to win the support of the main opposition party the BJP.However Greenpeace the international Green NGO has opposed the cap.The reason is there should not a be cap as it increases the moral hazard of the companies.With a cap on their liability,their is an incentive for the private players to loosen their safety standards.There is no cap on liability for any other type of industrial hazard so a nuclear cap also does not make much sense .The recent BP Oil Spill is estimated to cost BP around $20-30 billion despite the Disaster being of lesser magnitude than a Nuclear Accident like Chernyboyl.
August 17, 2010
There have been diplomatic skirmishes with China trying to block a ADB loan to the state and giving different visas to persons in that region.India has so far remained muted despite some border incursions by Chinese troops as well.India and Chinese political and trade relations have improved quite a lot in the recent years,however the trust quotient remains low between the world's two most populous countries.China has used Pakistan as a proxy against India and has also been blamed over cyberattacks on Indian defense networks.India has responded by banning Chinese telecom equipment firms over security concerns.The rise of these 2 great powers and the dynamics between them will be the most important event shaping the 21st century.
August 17, 2010
The Board has lashed out at IL&FS for forgetting the strictures under which the company was given to the management of IL&FS.The government appointed directors had also been silent at the flouting of these norms.Note the company has already sold the preferential shares in the company without the approval of the CLB.Now IL&FS finds its reputation tarnished due to the jinxed Maytas.I am not superstitious by nature but it definitely seems that Maytas brings bad luck to its promoters.
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
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 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 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
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
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
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 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 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
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 […]