Climate change is not a myth

Just five days before Donald Trump, a blatant denier of climate change, was elected as the 45th President of the United States, a rather promising treaty went into effect: the Paris Agreement. Developing nations play a key role in it. Western nations were oblivious (and some still are) of the carbon footprint they left behind in the last century. Thus, it is expected of us to grow wiser and not deteriorate the environment. It is time for us to realise what the agreement means for us as citizens and how we can contribute to ensure a future for our progeny.

Every nation that signed the treaty formulated its own Nationally Determined Contribution. India promises to lower emission intensities by up to 35 per cent of 2005 levels, increase non-fossil fuel power generation to 40 per cent and arrange for an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 giga-tonnes of equivalent CO2 through forest cover, all by 2030. The Indian government has set an ambitious target of doubling the current wind power and increasing the present solar power by a towering 1000 per cent until six years from now. The demand is expected to rise especially in the rural sector, where 30 per cent of the villages are still deprived of electricity. A Rural Electrification Corporation Limited has been created to finance renewable power projects. However, India is not going to succeed in providing clean energy to its powerless villages unless off-the-grid solar and wind power generation is incentivized. The energy needs for agricultural equipment and rural households can be feasibly met by micro-grids. The entrepreneurial drive in our youth has to be redirected here and investors have to be fostered through tax benefits on clean energy investments. Speaking of urban areas, rooftop solar power systems in residential areas haven’t realised their fullest potential, mostly due to lack of awareness. The Solar City’s of India are still waiting to flourish. As a citizen, not only does one help cut down emissions, but also get reliable power for oneself through rooftop solar power systems. To sum it up, a revolution in solar energy has to get rolling urgently if those ambitious numbers are to be met, and state projects on massive solar plants are nearly not going to be enough. On the other hand, wind and biofuel based power generation are complementary renewable sources to solar power, especially in the rural areas. Jatropha seed can grow in marginally infertile land and its oil need not be refined. Biofuel and biogas based ad-hoc power generation for agriculture is not a far-fetch. Biofuels are also a major prospect in cutting down emissions from transport. Indian Railways has already begun blending biodiesel in its locomotive operations. A comprehensive biodiesel mandate for automobiles is in the pipeline to replace diesel, at least partially. If we look at the projected volume of emissions from automobiles, the rate at which new vehicles roll on Indian streets everyday is alarming. Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping has often spoken of introducing electric buses for public transport in metros, without much elaboration on the specifics. Indian cities have either over-burdened or inefficient public transport systems.

The state governments and municipal corporations have to revolutionise the state of affairs in public transport, which will enable the Centre to introduce stiffer taxation on ownership of vehicles. 

To stay true to its resolve of combating climate change besides meeting the rising energy demand, the world has to phase out its coal power plants by 2050, as per the agreement. This is, by far, the biggest challenge for energy policy makers in a country which has poor quality of coal reserve and gets 60 per cent of its electricity from coal as of today. Apart from the progressive contribution of renewables, nuclear power from Thorium deserves a major priority in the long term. Although its power plants are exorbitant to establish and nearly none exist as of now, Thorium produces hundreds of times lesser nuclear waste than uranium and cannot be used for nuclear weapons. India is blessed with one of the world’s highest Thorium reserves, and a comprehensive nuclear energy program has to be on the cards for a transition from Uranium to Thorium by 2050.

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