World saw largest rise in renewable energy capacity in 2017: Report
New Delhi, June 4: Renewable power accounted for 70 per cent of net additions to global power generating capacity in 2017, the largest such increase in modern history, a report said on Monday.
But the heating, cooling and transport sectors, which together account for about four-fifths of global final energy demand, continue to lag far behind the power sector.
According to the REN21's Renewables 2018 Global Status Report, solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity reached record levels.
Solar PV additions were up 29 per cent relative to 2016, to 98 GW. More solar PV generating capacity was added to the electricity system than net capacity additions of coal, natural gas and nuclear power combined, said the report.
Wind power also drove the uptake of renewables with 52 GW added globally.
Investment in new renewable power capacity was more than twice that of net, new fossil fuel and nuclear power capacity combined, despite large, ongoing subsidies for fossil fuel generation.
More than two-thirds of investments in power generation were in renewables in 2017 owing to increasing cost-competitiveness and the share of renewables in the power sector is expected to only continue to rise.
China, Europe and the US accounted for nearly 75 per cent of global investment in renewables in 2017.
However, when measured per unit of gross domestic product (GDP), the Marshall Islands, Rwanda, the Solomon Islands, Guinea-Bissau, and many other developing countries are investing as much as or more in renewables than developed and emerging economies.
Both energy demand and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose substantially for the first time in four years.
In the power sector, the transition to renewables is under way but is progressing more slowly than is possible or desirable.
A commitment made under the 2015 Paris climate agreement to limit global temperature rise to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels makes the nature of the challenge much clearer.
If the world is to achieve the target set in the Paris agreement, then heating, cooling and transport will need to follow the same path as the power sector and fast, the report warned.
Small changes are underway. In India, for example, installations of solar thermal collectors rose approximately 25 per cent in 2017 as compared to 2016.
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'Godman' Kharat held in 8th sexual exploitation case; court denies police remand, sends him to jail
Nashik (PTI): Police took custody of self-proclaimed godman-cum-astrologer Ashok Kharat in an eighth case related to sexual exploitation of women and produced him before a Nashik district court which sent him to jail till May 12 after rejecting the plea for his police remand on Thursday.
On April 29, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik police in north Maharashtra filed a request application in the court demanding Kharat's custody in the eighth case.
After the court granted them the necessary permission, the SIT took custody of Kharat, who was in jail in connection with the seventh case of sexual exploitation registered against him.
The 'godman', named in a dozen FIRs related to rape and financial fraud, was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate B N Ichpurani in the eighth case through video conferencing due to security reasons.
The eighth case related to Kharat allegedly sexually exploiting a woman who had approached him in search of solutions to her family problems, according to police.
During the hearing, the prosecution demanded police custody of the accused in the latest case.
However, the defence strongly opposed the demand and argued that the SIT was giving same reasons for police custody every time and there was no strong reason for accepting their plea.
The court accepted the argument put forth by the defence and remanded Kharat to judicial custody till May 12 in the eighth case.
The SIT will produce Kharat in the court on Friday again and seek his police custody in the ninth case. As the self-styled godman has been granted judicial custody in the eighth case, he will be sent to Nashik Road Central Jail and the SIT will take his custody from there.
Meanwhile, Kharat's judicial custody in the fourth case ended on Thursday. On April 18, the accused was remanded to judicial custody till April 30 in the fourth case of sexual exploitation of women.
In a related development, the SIT conducted a search at Kharat's office in the 'Canada Corner' area of Nashik city on Wednesday. A 'panchnama' (record of search and seizure proceedings) was conducted and the office was locked and sealed again.
Kharat, a well-heeled man with political connections, was arrested for the first time on March 18 after a woman alleged he had repeatedly raped her for three years.
He is accused of sexually exploiting several women by claiming to have divine powers and knowledge of black magic, and also committing large-scale financial fraud.
The SIT is conducting a probe into 12 cases of sexual exploitation and financial fraud registered against the astrologer in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts.
