India is among the world’s biggest carbon dioxide emitters, behind China and the United States. The per capita emissions in the country rose from 0.39 metric tons in 1970 to a high of 1.87 metric tons in 2019. While the power sector in India is the highest emitter of greenhouse gases in the country, this can significantly change if it reduces its excessive dependence on coal for energy production. However, the industries next only to the power sector in terms of energy consumption would be difficult to tame.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is critical for India as it has already been at the receiving end of the growing imbalance caused by the incessant rise in global temperature. It has been facing severe heat waves, erratic monsoons, compounding sea-level rise and tropical cyclones that cause floods. While some of these changes are irreversible, it is necessary to take immediate and effective steps to contain the emissions. Being a developing nation that cannot radically change its growth strategies, managing carbon dioxide effectively can be a game-changer.
Government initiatives and policies
The Indian government announced at the CoP26 that it would become a net-zero emitter by 2070. It has announced a five-fold policy- Panchmitra to achieve this. Committing to increasing its non-fossil fuel energy capacity to 500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, it has announced that India would meet 50per cent of its energy requirements through renewable energy by 2030. It further said that India would reduce its carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from now onwards till 2030. The fourth step that the government will take is to reduce the nation’s carbon intensity by 45 per cent by 2030. Escalating its efforts further, India will achieve the Net-Zero targets by 2070. Coming from a developing nation like ours, the target and steps mentioned by the government are laudable. It would need to take mammoth steps to achieve them.
India has been taking other prominent initiatives like the International Solar Alliance, under which it has pledged to increase its solar energy capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022. While this target was affected due to the pandemic, the government’s resolve is bound to increase India’s solar capacity soon. The Indian government has entered into an understanding with the French Government, under which it would make a direct contribution of One Million Euros to the alliance. India has also entered into the first trans-national solar grid plan with the United Kingdom.
In addition to the ISA, the Indian government has taken a firm step towards sustainable mobility by formulating several schemes aimed at increasing production and creating the demand for EVs in India. With the increase of electric transport systems, India’s fossil fuel burden would reduce further. It would also affect the overall GHG emissions significantly. Furthermore, the government has extended its support for Green Buildings to add to its Net Zero efforts.
Decarbonisation: A difficult yet achievable target
While India has pledged to reduce its carbon emissions by one billion tonnes and reduce the nation’s carbon intensity by 45 per cent by 2030, this can be a herculean task. It is necessary to ascertain the focus areas; plan and create a strategy to achieve it at the earliest. The carbon dioxide that is already present in the atmosphere is one of the major components of the total GHG emissions. However, effective management of carbon dioxide is possible through steps like carbon sequestration. While GHG emissions happen from almost all the segments including, agriculture and households, their large scale management depends on the adoption of sustainable practices. Curbing pollution from sectors like the power sector, transport, and the manufacturing industry is pertinent as their present state of affairs leads to maximum emissions.
Reducing fossil fuel dependency of the power and transport sector: The power sector accounts for around 50per cent of India’s fuel-related emissions. It spews out more than one gigatonnes of CO2 every year and accounts for 93per cent of the countries CO2 emissions. More and more steam turbines should replace gas turbines in power plants as these turbines separate the energy source and electrical power generation. It makes them compatible with several fuels sources such as Coal, Biomass, Municipal Waste, unlike gas turbines, gas engines, diesel sets, etc. Moreover, their quick starting time and reliability makes them suitable for energy conservation.
Carbon dioxide sequestration from gas turbines and thermal power plants, in general, can significantly mitigate the emissions. The sequestration process involves a set of technologies that can reduce CO2 release in the atmosphere to a great extent. CO2 emerging from coal-fired power plants can be captured before it releases into the atmosphere. The captured CO2 can then be transported through a pipeline and injected into deep underground locations like a secure abandoned oil field. These locations are identified after a careful study of the subsurface geologic formation.
Furthermore, reducing dependence on coal-based power plants by increasing the reliance on renewable resources like solar, wind, and hydropower can further reduce the CO2 emissions from the power sector. The transport sector that accounts for maximum fossil-fuel consumption generates around 10per cent of GHG emissions. As the country transitions towards sustainable mobility practices, GHG emissions from vehicles would reduce considerably.
Industrial Manufacturing: The industrial manufacturing processes that account for around 20per cent of GHG emissions are hard to abate. India is a developing nation that has been trying to increase its manufacturing capacity year on year. With Make in India, Aatmanirbhar Bhaarat and other such schemes the manufacturing sector is expected to continue its forward leap. In this wake, it becomes necessary to curb pollution and manage and mitigate the CO2 emissions from the manufacturing sector through steps like carbon sequestration. Energy interventions that use green hydrogen will be advantageous in reducing the carbon footprint of this segment. The declining cost of electrolysers provides India with an opportunity to rapidly scale up in this segment. While the government has already launched the National Hydrogen Mission, it is now time for the stakeholders to join hands to chart out a roadmap for streamlining the technology, production and demand creation of green hydrogen in the country.
Industries such as iron and steel, cement and petrochemical industries are energy-intensive and with the current technologies, generating the heat required by these industries through other fuels is mostly impossible. Also, a sudden change of fuel is not possible for these industries due to the involvement of high-cost machinery. Changing the types of machinery at one stage would mean further up-gradation in other steps. The waste to energy recycling process can reduce the carbon footprint of these energy-intensive industries. The cast-off energy from these industries that are in the form of biomass, combustible gases, exhaust heat and the energy from other wastes can be recovered to generate power.
Furthermore, increasing energy efficiency is possible through the use of the Best Available Technologies. Reducing emissions is possible by using sector-specific solutions such as process heating systems, steam systems, electric motors and electronic control systems. The government needs to rapidly restructure its policy level intervention and move ahead from the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme. While the scheme has been successful in unlocking energy efficiency, we must not forget that it is just one part of the decarbonisation process. There are several facets to decarbonisation and the need of the hour is to adopt carbon neutral or carbon negative measures instead of just focussing on energy efficiency. Furthermore, every sector needs to adopt sustainable[This piece was written exclusively f practices and work in tandem with the government to make the net-zero emissions commitment a reality.
[This piece was written exclusively for ETEnergyworld by Mr. Nikhil Sawhney, VC&MD Triveni Turbines.Nikhil Sawhney is the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Triveni Turbine Limited and a Director with Triveni Engineering and Industries Limited in Noida, India. Nikhil has worked in the field of investment banking and consumer goods in the UK and USA before joining Triveni Engineering in 1999. He is a member of the Board of Governors of IIM Calcutta and also the Co-Chair of the Ananta Aspen-led India-Israel Forum. Nikhil has been voted one of India’s forty ‘hottest’ business leaders under 40 by The Economic Times in 2015.]