-The Wire Science * Solar energy is a rapidly expanding marketplace that should benefit the environment. Solar panels can last for decades if they are properly cleaned and maintained. * But there is a catch. What happens to these panels after they are decommissioned? They go straight to the landfill, where they have significant consequences. * Heavy metals in solar panels such as lead and cadmium have been known to seep out of...

-The Telegraph India’s decarbonization targets as laid out at COP26 may require enhanced funding The Union finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, made energy transition and climate action focal points in this year’s budget. The ministry of environment, forest and climate change secured an allocation of Rs 3,030 crore. Yet, the question as to whether the financing would be adequate to ensure a timely transition to a sustainable environment stands. At COP26 held in Glasgow,...

-Down to Earth Supreme Court seeks update on power cables at Great Indian Bustard’s habitat The Supreme Court of India sought an update April 1, 2022 from the committee formed for making power lines underground in Rajasthan and Gujarat ordered a year ago.  The habitat of the state bird of Rajasthan — the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) or Godavan — is under threat due to the zigzag web of high-tension power lines through...

-Scroll.in There is an entangled web of issues related to caste, class and religion that defines disparate land imaginaries in the state. In Uttarakhand, land is a political flashpoint. A controversial 2018 law introduced by state legislature now allows outsiders to buy land in the Himalayan state. In 2018, as these laws were coming into force, I asked Bhim, an elderly man from a backward caste, what he thought about it all....

-Down to Earth China and India might be some of the countries where the green transition may also be slowed down because Russia would shift their energy exports to them, experts say India used 13 per cent more coal to generate electricity in 2021 than the previous year, given the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA). This figure is going to increase in the future,...