The India Climate Observatory

Commentary, action and research on climate and development in India

‘Frog song’ may help understand climate change – 3 January 2012, Times of India

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If not kissing the frog, at least appreciating their ‘croak’ may lead to some headway in to climate research . For the first time frog song is being monitored using automated sound recorders by Indian scientists to track the impact of climate change on amphibians in the forests of southern Western Ghats. The methodology for tracking their call has recently been standardized by researchers. 

NZ Co LanzaTech to help IOC, JSPL set up bio jet fuel plant – 2 January 2012, The Economic Times

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The New Zealand-based renewable energy company LanzaTech is in talks with its partners here – IndianOil and Jindal Steel & Power – to help them set up plant to produce commercial bio jet fuel from ethanol, a top company official has said. As a first step, LanzaTech will open an office in the country in the first half of 2012 as part of its plan to expand its operations here, LanzaTech vice-president for business development for Asia Pacific Prabhakar Nair said.
 
 

Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg regions seriously impacted by mining, power projects – 1 January 2012, The Hindu

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The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) has called for a “careful cumulative impact analysis of various development activities” in the plains and coastal regions of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra. It has observed that the “entire region has been seriously impacted, both environmentally and socially, by a number of mining, power projects, and polluting industries.”
The Madhav Gadgil-led panel has accused the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) of “suppressing” the Zoning Atlases for Siting of Industries (ZASI), “apparently under unfair pressure.”
 
 
 

Himachal to have climate change centre – 31 December 2011, MSN News

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Himachal Pradesh will have a centre to study climatic changes and their impact on environment, an official statement said here Saturday. Environmentalist R.K. Pachauri, director general of The Energy and Resources Institute, will inaugurate the centre here in February, the statement quoting Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said.
 

Suzlon launches fastest growing environmental campaign for clean air – 30 December 2011, The Economic Times

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Wind power company Suzlon launched a campaign in Mumbai titled Pure Air Lovers’ Society, (P.A.L.S.) spanning over one million registered members and recording 9,000 registrations per day. This movement spans 86 cities including New Delhi and Bangalore. The movement places emphasis on the importance of clean air. 
P.A.L.S. first initiative, GaadiBandh, was launched in Pune to educate people about the importance of turning off vehicles at signals to help reduce pollution emissions. As a part of this initiative, P.A.L.S. volunteers were stationed at traffic signals to seek support from commuters and increase their awareness on reducing pollution from idling vehicles.
 

China’s forestry output up 24% – 30 December 2011, The Economic Times

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The Chinese forestry industry output rose by 24.1% year-on-year to 2.83 trillion yuan (about $448 billion), the government announced on Thursday. China produced 165 million cubic meters of wood-based panels and 490 million sq meters of wood and bamboo flooring this year, up 7.7% and 2.2% year-on-year, respectively, the State Forestry Administration (SFA) said. 

Hit by short supply, coal fails to dazzle sector – 30 December 2011, Hindustan Times

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For the coal sector, the year 2011 started with a bang amid rosy announcements to augment ‘black diamond’ production by removing all bottlenecks, but it ended with a whimper. Against a widening 142 MT demand-supply gap and a huge over 12,000 MW power capacity addition plans, warring ministries, specially Coal and MoEF, remaining at loggerheads throughout the year over contentious issue of “go” and “no go” mining zones gave much fodder to media.