The Indian Solar Power has been one bright spot in the gloomy infrastructure and engineering sectors in 2011. With share prices crashing with growing corruption, land acquisition and financing problems, Solar Energy has surged in India thanks to government support and subsidies . While a number of Green Technology companies have started up to capitalize on the growing renewable energy trend, the established constuction companies in India have not been far behind . While utilities like Tata Power, Adani, Reliance Power, NTPC have already built or are setting up power plants based on solar panels , L&T has become a major solar EPC players . L&T is now raising debt with a $100 million issue to fund its solar expansion plans .

Green Jobs in India is going to grow at a high double digit rate driven by the Real Estate and Construction Industry. The hiring will be done by Real Estate Companies in India looking for Energy Efficiency and Green Building professionals. Note the Green Industry globally has had a torrid 2011 with most of the major sectors like wind, solar, biofuels and lighting facing oversupply amidst slowing demand due to global macro problems. However the Green Industry has a great fturue driven by secular drivers like

Shale Gas Technology has completely changed the Oil and Gas Picture in North America.Natural Gas prices have touched new low below $3/mmbtu as massive discoveries and production of shale gas has led to a glut.With the Technology being exported to other countries,it is expected that Natural Gas may take over from Coal as the preferred choice of electricity power generation.China and India are already taking out tenders for shale gas blocks.However Shale Gas has a nasty side effect which is normally not talked about.The cases have kept increasing though the mainstream media and the powerful oil lobby has tried its best to supress it.The first one is water contamination which I had written about earlier

Natural Gas has got a lot of press these days as massive discoveries of natural gas reserves in shale gas formations has meant that the prices have gone down substanitally and new power plants and infrastructure is being developed to use natural gas as fuel.Even as crude oil and coal prices have gone through the roof,natural gas prices have dived.This is due to the new technology being commercialized which is allowing huge shale gas deposits to be used.This has led to forecasts that natural gas will become a more important part of the energy mix in the coming days.The falling prices of natural gas has also led to declining electricity prices in the USA where shale gas development is the most advanced.Natural Gas prices have gone down to as low as $3.5/mmbtu from $8 in 2008 and experts predict that it may go down to $2.5/mmbtu.Shale Gas has its own critics who say that the shale gas deposits are much lower than being said and they deplete much faster.Environmental concerns are also being raised about the fact that it leads to poisoning of the water supplies with France banning shale gas mining completely.Natural Gas is a byproduct of Oil Drilling and in the earlier days it used to be looked upon as an irritant and burned off.But now it is being used to generate power,in chemical and fertilizer plants and also being used in some parts of power vehicles as well.Natural Gas is also used for Heating in most western developed countries and for Cooking as well.With increasing availability it is replacing coal and oil in power plants and transport now.

Water Purifying Industry in India is growing by leaps and bounds and has attracted a host of new entrants which are consumer giants.Earlier the field used to be dominated by Eureka Forbes which operated in the premium segment and focused on urban India alone.But with income increasing and people realizing the importance of clean water,other companies have entered the Water Purifying Industry.HLL and the Tata Group have introduced products for the lower segment of the market in the price range o f Rs 1000 as compared to the Rs 5-10,000 wafer filters by the incumbent Eureka Forbes.This has forced other companies to come with lower priced products as well.With the vast majority of Indians forced to go without tapped water leave alone treated water,this industry is set to grow in double digits for a long time.Water Treatment Companies too are growing rapidly as the Water Purification at the Municipal,Industrial Level is getting importance.

The above companies are the suppliers of the best wafer purifiers in India.Its tough to make a call on the best as it depends a lot on the nature of the water and price.However Kent and Eureka Forbes are generaly considered the best brands of water filters in India due to their products,after sales service and product range.In the lower priced band,Pureit is considered as good bet especially for rural India where the purchasing power is not that high.

Desalination facilities exist in about 120 countries around the world. According to the International Desalination Association (IDA), the global desalination market is expected to grow to US$ 95 billion through 2005 to 2015. According to a report by Global Water Intelligence (GWI), the worldwide desalination industry is expected to grow 140 percent over the next decade, with US$ 25 billion in capital investment by 2010 and US$ 56 billion by 2015. While countries like the US, Spain, and the Gulf countries have been able to build mega plants, other countries in Asia, Africa, and South America have inadequate resources to do so. Initiatives have been taken by the governments in Spain, the Middle East, and Australia to construct desalination plants to turn seawater into drinking water.