Green Options

Struggling to get things sorted out and in place for the Commonwealth Games which start on October 3, 2010, the Delhi government is contemplating closure of industrial units in order to improve air quality of the city which has improved only slightly after introduction of CNG-powered public transport few years ago.

Taking cue from China’s quite successful endeavor to provide satisfactory air quality the Mayor of New Delhi, Mr. Kanwar Sain has suggested the government that the worst polluters of the city be identified and be asked to stop operations a month prior to the Games.

Although the introduction of CNG powered vehicles and expansion of Metro rail in New Delhi has resulted in noticeable improvement in the air quality, emissions output from industrial units continues to be a major problem. Few years back, the government forced small industrial units out of residential areas which resulted in slight improvement in the air quality however, there are still large industrial clusters present in the city which do not always stick to the emission rules put down by the Central Pollution Control Board.

South Korea yesterday announced plans to invest a staggering Won107,000bn ($85 billion) on ‘green growth’ industries over the next five years.

The government predicts the unprecedented cash-injection, around 2 per cent of the country’s entire gross domestic product, will create up to 1.8 MILLION new jobs in renewable energy and environmentally-friendly projects.

In a presidential statement, the country’s leader, Lee Myung-bak, said that the so-called Green New Deal will significantly boost growth and jobs in an effort to ride out the economic slump.

“The aim is for South Korea to become the world’s seventh most competitive country by 2020 in terms of energy efficiency and ability to adapt to climate change,” he said.

In the constant push for ever newer and greener technology and energy, we sometimes forget that it is often both simpler and cheaper to revisit old techniques in new ways. And that’s exactly what a group of researchers in California has done.