Appropriate Climate-Responsive Technologies for

Inclusive Growth andSustainable Development

Presented by:1.Tanzim Hussain2.Jyotishman Mudiar3.Jeet Mohapatra

CONTENT OF THE PAPER

Climate Change

Analysis of particular sectors

Population Control

CLIMATE CHANGE

1.Global Warming

2.Sea Level Rise

3.Acid Rain

4.Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM)

GLOBAL WARMING: STATISTICS

The average temperature of the earth has increased by 0.8 degree centigrade in the last 100 years.

GLOBAL WARMING: CAUSES

1800 1850 1900 1950 20000

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

Carbon Dioxide

Methane

ppm Excessive green house gases are released in the atmosphere due to anthropogenic reasons.

33% increase in carbon dioxide leveland 100% increase in methane level.

GLOBAL WARMING: CAUSES

Combustion of fossil fuels.

Global forest cover is decreased to half by the 21st century.

45% of the global rainforests are lost since 1990.

Data from Forest Survey of India reveals that India has 23% of its area i.e. 78.29 million hectares under forest cover much below the target of 33%.

Significant decrease in the green cover is observed in the recent years in Andhra Pradesh and North Eastern states due to agricultural activities, timber industry, wood fuel etc which reveals the continuous neglect to this problem.

REMEDY OF DEFORESTATION:DISCUSSION

Government must provide incentives for reforestation

Develop the industries related to forest in a eco-friendly way

Provide loans, tax exemptions and subsidies as a means to attract business in this arena.

Example of reforestation:

Inspite of having a huge size and a low or medium income population much comparable to India, China has risen its green cover from 12% to 16% through ambitious projects like the “Great Wall of China” project which extends over 4500 kilometres aiming to stop the expansion of the Gobi Desert towards south.

GLOBAL WARMING&

PHYTOPLANKTON

The phytoplankton reduces global warming by decreasing the CO2 content in the oceans and release oxygen due to photosynthesis.

According to data provided in the ‘Nature’ magazine, phytoplankton decrease is around 40% since 1950 due to global warming, which contributes more to global warming.

Though process such as ‘Iron fertilization’ to increase the phytoplankton population are tried in experimental basis since 1993; but no large scale programs are incorporated.

SEA LEVEL RISE: STATISTICS

The sea level increases by an average rate of about 1.7mm per year from 1950 to 2009.

SEA LEVEL RISE: CAUSES

Fossil Fuels & Deforestation

Increase in Greenhouse gases

Global Warming

Melting of ice & expansion of water

Sea level rise

The rate of increase in sea level is expected to increase as soon as polar ice sheets above the ground starts to melt.

ACID RAIN: PROCESSBurning of petroleum products and low grade coal

Release of oxides of sulphur and nitrogen

Reaction of oxides with atmospheric water

Formation of acids

Acid rain

It is a serious problem in a regional level in certain areas of China, Russia, Western Europe and United States.

pH as low as 2.4 are observed in acid rain.

ACID RAIN: EFFECTS

Increase in respiratory diseases such as asthma and bronchitis.

Destruction of agricultural land and crops which results in losses of farmers.

Destruction of forest is a huge environmental concern and greatly affects the timber industry.

Poisoning of water bodies and disappearing of marine animals result in collapse of the fishing industry in many regions.

TAJ TRAPEZIUM ZONE

The ‘Taj Trapezium Zone’ of 10400 sq km around the Taj Mahal where strict environmental laws are in place to reduce the air pollution. A large number of industries and the Mathura oil refinery comes under the scanner of this laws.

These strict steps were taken to protect the Taj Mahal from turning yellow due to the reactions involving acids in the form of rain with the white marble.

ACID RAIN: REMEDY

Employment of wet scrubbers where gases are absorbed by a towel helps in reduction of 95% poisonous gases.

Emission Trading: Industries are provided with increase quota of volume for gas emission only on purchase of new filters.

Tax Trading: Flexible tax policy on industries which fluctuates depending on the eco-friendly nature of the industry.

Penalization of defaulters of environmental laws must be implemented on a large scale by government agencies.

SPM: CAUSES

Natural causes like volcanic eruption, wind activity, rainfall, elevation, topography, distance from sea and oceans effect SPM content.

Human activities account for about 10-12% of the net SPM content in the environment.

Low grade coal is a major contributor to SPM formation when used in thermal power plants and industries.

Asbestos industry and open pit coal mining generates a huge amount of SPM locally within a radius of few kilometres.

SPM: CASE STUDY

The high SPM belt of Bangladesh, North India and Pakistan runs parallel to the Himalayas as the flow of SPM collected by the winds towards north is hindered.

West moving SPM particles are blocked by the mountains of central and east China thereby creating severe problems related to air quality in Chinese cities. Eastern regions of Africa have a low SPM level than the west due to the movement of western winds from the Indian Ocean. Whereas the areas of Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the western coast of Africa have a high SPM level which is generated in the landmass of Africa.

SPM: CONTROL TECHNIQUES

Use of dust collectors: Dust collecting devices must be installed in the chimneys which are to be mandatory for licence of the company under strict government laws.

Underground mining of coal: Underground mining of coal generates much less SPM than open pit mining of coal.

Purified fuel: Use of coal of better quality, refined coal or natural gas in industries and power plants reduces the SPM released by it.

ANALYSIS OF PARTICULAR SECTOR

1.Petroleum Sector

2.Transportation Sector

3.Power Sector

PETROLEUM SECTOR: HISTORY

Use of oil actually means bringing back the carbon buried deep in the earth by nature millions of years ago.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONSETHANOL

Research and development on bio-fuels are being carried out by government sponsored and private companies.

The ethanol projects of Brazil which depends on ethanol generated from sugarcane which is mixed with petrol in a 1:5 or 1:4 ratio to generate a low polluting fuel across the country. The amount of ethanol in the fuel is gradually increased through the years.

Brazilian car manufacturing companies designed the engines capable of running in 100% ethanol thus developing a completely eco-sustainable technology.

GOVERNMENT SUBSIDYON PETROLEUM

The more refined the oil is the less pollution it causes; therefore government subsidies should be more towards petrol than diesel.

The subsidies offered in kerosene should be reduced and electronic devices and bio gas plants should be installed for the people under the poverty line who are dependent completely on kerosene.

Subsidy in LPG should be reduced for people above poverty level so that people are forced to adopt other available means.

Again government investment towards R&D in national petroleum institutes must be increased to provide better refining techniques.

TRANSPORTATION SECTORROADWAYS

The per capita fuel consumption and road area covered for a small car is much more than a large public transport vehicle. Therefore more initiatives should be taken for the improvement of the public transport systems.

Commercial cars based on electricity, bio fuels, hydrogen etc are turned into reality and they are trying to cope up with the oil fuelled conventional cars; more investments should be towards this sector.

Research projects such as SAFED (Safe and Fuel Efficient driving) introduced in UK in 2003-05 for training of drivers in fuel efficiency, accident control has been a huge success with 10% improvement in fuel efficiency; they may be linked to the license of drivers.

Government should link taxes in vehicles with fuel consumed per capita by them and pollution factors.

TRANSPORTATION SECTORRAILWAYS

Railway seems to be the most cost effective, fuel efficient, eco-friendly land transport responsible for transportation of maximum percentage of goods in India.

Improvements:

The incomplete work of electrification of the railways must be completed to shift the railway from diesel engines.

More R&D work must be encouraged for more efficiency of engines; better coordination between trains to run more trains in less interval of time in a single line.

Private investments in metro railway projects must be encouraged in urban areas to reduce cars on the roads.

POWER SECTOR STATISTICSFossil fuels contribute to 67% of the power generated globally whereas nuclear and renewable sources contribute to only 13% and 18% of the total. In India 65% of the electricity is produced by fossil fuels mainly by coal and natural gas.

THERMAL POWER

Problems:

Lack of filters in thermal power stations along with low quality coal leads to heavy air pollution in the surrounding areas; heat generated by it affects the local marine habitats.

Solutions:

The release of poisonous gases and SPM is much lower for natural gas fuelled power stations than coal.

CCS technology is used to reduce CO2 emission, sulphur oxides & SPMs may be reduced by introduction of certain filters.

The waste ash generated by burning of coal poses serious threats of land degradation and water pollution; but its uses in the manufacture of concrete may be encouraged.

HYDRO POWER

Once hydro power is regarded as a green means but some recent studies in the dam projects of the Amazon river claim that the submerged rainforests behind the dam releases huge amount of methane due to underwater decomposition.

The reduction of fertility of the adjacent soil downstream due to collection of silt behind the dam is a topic of debate as well as research. Many Egyptians claim that the construction of the Aswan dam in the river Nile in 1960s provided water for agriculture but decreased the fertility of soil.

Dams offer disturbance to the marine life of the rivers; though it may be minimized by introduction of fish travel passes.

Inspite of the negative effects of the hydroelectricity projects, it is far more greener than the coal powered thermal power stations and produces a much cheaper power.

NUCLEAR ENERGYProblems Associated:

Nuclear Waste management is a matter of great concern and often lead to protests in European nations.

Nuclear accidents such as Chernobly, Three Mile Island and Fukushima have created havocs and some of them are responsible for thousands of deaths immediately or in the long turn.

The decrease in reserve of radioactive fuels will lead to scarcity of fuel in future .

Reasons for investments:

The cheap power generated by it without much relocation problems as in case of hydroelectricity projects provide incentives to governments.

SOLAR ENERGY

Positive points:

Completely non-polluting sustainable energy.

Negative points:

Its economic viability is a matter of concern; few large scale commercial solar power projects are implemented worldwide and their success isn’t much satisfactory.

Most of the leading universities of the world are involved in research works in solar energy yet no major achievement is achieved; but a future possibility can’t be denied.

WIND ENERGY

Wind power is one of the most successful completely green source of electricity.

It successfully draws huge investments from the private sector all around the world due to low initial investment and low space required.

The success of wind power projects are reflected in it increased from 1 million ton oil equivalent in 1995 to around 45 million ton oil equivalent in 2010.

BIO GAS

Development Scopes:

Bio gas is a sustainable alternative to kerosene in rural India and an alternative to natural gas in the huge developed poultry farms.

Investment Scenario:

Its easy process of manufacture has encouraged investment from government and NGOs but no major private commercial project are on the map in India.

Governments all around the developing and underdeveloped world must be serious in this field as the possibilities in the rural areas on a small scale are immense

POPULATION CONTROLReduction of population must be the primary goal for sustainable development; all other efforts will be of no use if population keeps on increasing. Educating people about the future effects of population rise is surely the best option instead of a policy of regulation on population as in case of China.

Programs of family planning have started in India decades ago but effective result is yet to be seen; politics on harsh population control laws along with cultural and religious issues are generally regarded as the barriers in the way of success. But countries such as Iran having a strong religious influence in the national politics has successfully reduced it population rise from 3% p.a. in 1986 to 0.7% in 2007 without any regulatory program on population rise.

Again it is observed that countries having a small population and fertility rate below replacement level try to give incentives for population rise while keeping a ban on immigration from other countries. The concept of looking at the humanity as a whole escaping national, cultural and religious boundaries for a common benefit of all seems to be the only way out from this hazard of overpopulation

FOLLOW UP ACTIONSWe would like to state that all these global theories, thesis and project works enriched with science and technology are just meaningless without the change in attitude of common public towards the environment. We would like to go here by the words of Mahatma Gandhi “1st of all, u must be the change u want to see in others“ regardless of which development is meaningless irrespective of place, time, field or an era.

The public opinion should be motivated by government as well as different NGOs that for the sake of entire humanity and being a human 1st and a citizen thereafter; we must start working in global cooperation to preserve this beautiful planet rather than condemning other nations or other individuals on part of pollution. Education will surely play the key role in motivating the public opinion towards environmental causes.

Again it is expected that more work can be seen on the site rather than on a paper regarding the various environmental projects; implementation of laws must be strict to see a green future.