WE NEED TO PUSH MORE

As per the information of CWET (Centre for Wind Energy Technology) , GoI, the total capacity of wind electricity installed in India as on 31-03-2010 was 11806.69 MW. The details are given below:

Sl. No	State	Capacity in MW
1	Tamil Nadu	4906.74
2	Karnataka	1472.75
3	Maharashtra	2077.70
4	Rajasthan	1088.37
5	Andhra Pradesh	136.05
6	Madhya Pradesh	229.39
7	Kerala	27.75
8	Gujarat	1863.64
9	West Bengal	1.10
10	Others	3.20
	Total	11806.69

As per the report from Los Angeles Times, The American Wind Energy Association says China's total capacity to create electricity from its wind turbine installations come to 41,800 megawatts, while American-based turbines can put out 40,180 megawatts. Thus U.S. is behind China in wind power energy

The association said the U.S. wind market ended 2010 with 5,115 megawatts of new installations, just half of the record amount put up in 2009. And as 2011 began, about 5,600 megawatts of wind power capacity was under construction.

To date, 38 U.S. states have built utility-scale wind projects, with Texas at the top with 10,085 megawatts of capacity.

To Municipalities – Hotels built and run purely on environmentally friendly initiatives – One of such few cases

The Rodas (an EcoTel Hotel) in Powai (Powai, Mumbai) belonging to the EcoTel group of hotels (an international collection of hotels and resorts) claims to being eco-friendly,  and the case study undertaken by EcoTel team reveals some startling outcomes arisen out of wonderful inspiring initiatives. (Courtesy: http://powai.info/2010/04/28/what-makes-rodas-ecotel-powai-eco-friendly/).

Building Construction

·         The hotel’s façade with its dual layers i.e. external arches and columns and internal walls and glazed windows, increases the insulation for the building envelope, reducing energy losses.

·         The position of building, being erected in such a way that the centre-point of its parabolic shape faces the north-east, plays an important role in reducing the effect of direct sunlight and thus helps the hotel save on the energy requirement for air-conditioning and lighting.

·         The cement used throughout the building is Portland Pozzalana (PPC), which uses 25% fly ash, a by-product of electric power generation.

·         All the wood used is either rubber wood  or medium density fibre (from the waste stalks of the cotton tree).

 

Rodas EcoTel Waste Management:

The management has laid emphasis on reducing waste at source by ensuring that the guest laundry is lightly folded and delivered to the guests in jute baskets, and not in plastic or paper covers. Further the kitchen waste is systematically and carefully segregated according to the four-bin system, and food waste is sent for composting. Guestrooms feature two bins – one for recyclables and another for non-recyclables. It is noticeable that sale of vermin compost as produced from such waste management generates an additional income.

 

Rodas EcoTel Energy Management

·         No use of boilers to heat water: The excess heat generated by the air conditioners is reused to heat water up to 50°C.

• The chilled water obtained from the air-conditioning system of the hotel is reused in general consumption after it is purified using ultra-violet rays.
• A power factor at at 0.97 to 0.99 is maintained which accrues a discount from local utility company. It encourages energy savings.

Rodas EcoTel Environment Commitment

• All refrigeration units use the gases 134A and 404A, which have zero ozone depletion potential, and are the most environmentally-friendly gases for such equipments.
• All detergents used have a very low/neutral pH value.
• Pest controlling is done through herbal.
• All hangers in the guestrooms’ wardrobe areas are made out of sawdust.

The question is: Whether the municipal corporations or States' department of excise of India can bring about a change in their policies with regard to allowing license for opening new resorts or hotels including allowing running of such hotels in their municipal areas or area jurisdiction only on the conditions that the environmental norms and initiatives as taken by EcoTel group of hotels are met with.

RENEWABLE BY A MUNICIPALITY

I want to share with you this news with great appreciation to all concerned who did it.

First of all, hats-off to the Mayor of Municipality of Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) of Municipality of Los Angeles committed in 2005 to ensure electricity utility's use of clean and green renewable energy from 5 percent to 20 percent by the year 2010. After the achievement, Mr. Antonio Villaraigosa, the Mayor of Municipality of Los Angeles said, "When I became Mayor, I set a goal to generate 20 percent of the City's power from renewable energy sources by 2010 and I am proud to say that we have achieved that goal".

The implementation of the commitments that were done to self creates marvels.

This 2010 goal was achieved through a combination of major projects and power agreements. In June 2009, LADWP began full operation of the Pine Tree Wind Power Plant (120 MW total output, the amount of CO2 displaced is roughly the same as removing 35,000 cars from the road or planting 1.4 million trees) - the largest wind farm owned by a Municipal Utility in US, in the Tehachapi Mountains. Wind power comprised nearly 50 percent of all LADWP's renewable energy in 2010 with small hydro-electric contributing 30 percent, geothermal/bio-mss based, 22 percent, and solar, 1 percent.