It’s Getting Hot In Here

…or so the media has us all believe.

About two weeks ago, the Government of Delhi, India unveiled the much hyped Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), previously popular here as the High Capacity Bus Corridor (HCBS) and the construction for which had been on for the last few months. The little under 6 Km BRT stretch that is now completed and is being trial run came at the cost of some lives (accidental deaths) and at the reported cost of about 3,000 heritage trees of Delhi. The dedicated bus lanes invited mixed reaction from the public; with the car users complaining about having to spend more time on the road now than before and the bus riders being annoyed with the bus-stands being displaced to the middle of the road. Poor design and lack of coordination between different stake holders further worsened the situation. And as if all of that wasn’t enough, the media has taken on itself to narrate the “failure of BRT story” with much fervour.

The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Delhi is the brainchild of the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi’s Traffic Research and Injury Prevention Programme (TRIPP) and has been executed by RITES Ltd., a Govt. of India enterprise. The Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) a “special purpose vehicle” set up by the Govt. is supervising the Project. Clearly then, the Project does not have a single master: probably leading to the mess. The BRT stretch now requires over 70 traffic marshals, 35 traffic policemen and 20 transport department officials for enforcement.

However, it is not just poor planning and lack of coordination that is leading to the mayhem on the corridor. The people using the corridor are to be equally blamed. While the authorities are trying their best to ensure people drive in the lanes meant for the type of vehicle they are using, motorists are violating every rule in the book. The cycle lane is the worst hit and sees more motorcycles, scooters and auto-taxis than cycles. The BRT needs a disciplined traffic to work best, and Delhi unfortunately does not relate much to the latter. Halting on the road to take a call, changing lanes without signaling, over-speeding and jumping signals isn’t something too uncommon in the city. In fact, it is this very discipline now required to maintain on the road, that has been irritating many.

Apparently, the media has initiated a “scrap BRT campaign” of its own! Ever since the first trial run, images and footage of cars waiting forever, motorcycles scattered around the signals, pedestrians not knowing where/how to go; have been put up on the front page/prime time by several media houses. What is unfortunate is that the media seems to have ignored the large number of people who have benefited from the launch of the BRT. While some 1.2 lakh people using their personal vehicles may facing problems and hating the BRT, more than double this number of people using buses have not complained. Rather, they have not been heard.

To gain some experience, I myself took a ride on the entire strecth of the BRT. It felt good, the journey was much speedier and the same bus that used to crawl on the road was at a speed that would not have ever been possible without the corridor. The new low floored buses that have been around for some time added to my pleasant experience. Minus the AC, the experience came pretty close to what it feels when one travels in the Delhi Metro!

Next day, I took my car on the same route, got stuck at all signals - with an empty lane on my left - that had buses zooming pass by me. Then, I realized why all the irritation, disgust and hatred was for!

By Govind Singh, New Delhi

The time has come to worship the black rocks beneath our soil. India needs approximately 160,000 megawatts of electricity in the coming decade to be able to sustain its phenomenal growth rate. Conveniently enough, we have one of the largest coal reserves in the world. Unfortunately Indian coal is not of good quality as it has a high ash content. Much of our coal fields are also under developed (perhaps we should be thankful for this as these resources lie beneath our dwindling forests and tiger habitats) which makes us import from places like South Africa and Australia. That aside we know that coal will continue to play a major role in India’s economic growth and development for the coming decades. And as the government tries to rapidly electrify the entire nation by 2012 (as currently 500 million people are without access to electricity in rural areas) the need for power supply expansion is obvious. Add to that the fact that every urban center experiences power outages affecting business and agriculture both it is not surprising that we are seeing the approval of finances for Tata’s 4,000 Megawatt “Ultra Mega” Power Project at Mundra port in Gujarat.

The estimated cost of this project is $4.2 billion and the International Finance Corporation, part of the financing wing of the World bank is footing $450 million of that (Rs. 1,800 crore). This in conjunction with the Asian Development Bank ($450 million), Korean ECA ($800 million), “local banks” ($1.5 billion), and “an equity component” of $1 billion. The beneficiaries are expected to be the industrial and agricultural users along with 1.6 crore domestic households. The juice will be zapped through power lines into five states in western and northern India. Just imagine the gap between demand and supply this will fill! Or will it? Perhaps demand will never meet up with supply as the Indian middle class grows along with their ambitions to own more ACs, refrigerators, and electronic gadgets. Never mind that people in villages are still struggling to have electricity to read. The truth is that there is a very serious climate injustice at play here. Can India continue to just justify the need for more power in the name of the 500 million without access when an “electrified village” equates to just 10% of the households in the village having access to the grid? Meanwhile the demand in the urban areas continues to soar…

Will the electricity really reach the rural poor? Will the poor even be able to afford electricity at time when we are seeing a restructuring of the power system to reduce transmission and distribution costs (which have been as high as 50% in many places and only now begun to come down in states like Rajasthan and a few others)?

It is said that super critical technology is being implemented in the construction of this power plant (the first of which will be operational by 2011 and the other units plugging into the grid in installments of every 4 months). This will make the coal power plants 40% more energy efficient at turning the black mineral into energy than the average power plant in India is currently able to manage. Also, it has already been estimated that the plant will emit 23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. The IEA stated at a side event in Bali last December highlighting the importance of China and India in the emerging energy scenario that for serious cut backs on global green house gas emissions, by 2012 we could no longer build any more thermal power plants that emit any CO2. Everything from that point on would need to be zero-emission and from there on a gradual reduction in emission from overall power generation as the global economy transitioned into renewables. But does this leave enough time and space for rapidly emerging economies (not to mention the least developed countries LDCs) to get cheap energy to grow and bring millions out of poverty? Who will finance zero emission coal plants or the transition into a completely zero-carbon growth path?

Original post at “What’s with the Climate?“  Voice of the Indian Youth Climate Network.

You would expect the climate change talks to have taken off with a “Bang” here in the capital of Thailand. Yet the sense amongst most observer groups is that there are no negotiations really taking place. The biggest challenge is carrying forward the energy of the Bali Action Plan which came out of intense final hour negotiations back in December 2007. It is already nearing the last day and it is becoming obvious that the delegates are losing track of time. And there are very heavy issues on the table including: adaptation (how we will finance technology for adaptation, do we couple it with mitigation, how do we determine which nations are the most vulnerable), mitigation (what does measurable, reportable, verifiable emissions reduction targets mean?), Finance (which instruments will be utilized for mobilization and control of funds, and more importantly where will we get the massive amounts of funding required?), etc.

“You can fly, to any city in Thailand. I hope you get a chance to explore this beautiful country before you all leave,” stated the deputy Prime Minister of Thailand during his opening plenary address. I noticed more than a few people smirk in the room. One of the key issues being discussed here are the roping in of various industrial and cooperative sectors into the negotiating process–one of the most important being bunker fuels from aviation and shipping–emissions from the former having continued to rise at 3% each year while the latter’s emissions have doubled since 1990. A presentation today by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the primary organization held responsible for checking the growth of emissions from this industry/sector revealed some of the key challenges to addressing the problem.

Challenges include things like access to and quality of data, methodology, comparability and the problem of emissions from transboundary and multinational  flights and those crossing areas outside national jurisdiction were of key concern.  However the presentation (which was quite poorly put together with only 3 slides) left a lot to be desired regarding actual moves to check the growth of emissions coming from the sector–and the main culprits having not checked the growth of emissions are the ICAO and IMO (International Maritime Organization). The aviation sector is expanding rapidly in the emerging economies (and rightly so, considering the new found wealth in these nations). Those with vested interests in trade would have business as usual with regards to curbing emissions in this sector–Panama, Singapore, and China again, being some of them. Curiously, small island states as well, as their remoteness requires a heavy reliance on both shipping and aviation for survival.  New Zealand made a point to address this latter issue and stated the need to consider geographical remoteness and national circumstances when drafting final policy.

The debate on forests has been reopened as the issue of carbon stocks is taken up once more. This time it comes under LULUCF (Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry). While NGOs are wanting appropriate accounting of emissions from peat and degraded forests, governments are talking of carbon harvested products (timber products) serving as carbon sinks!

To speak a little about the US here at the talks. According to various NGOs, there has been more engagement with the US congress this time on the issue of climate change. It is expected that there will be a steady 4-5 negotiators monitoring all related international talks from now on. We’ve also heard that both Obama and McCain are pledging to be a part of this deal.

For the 1000 delegates convening here from 190 nations around the world, time is running out in this “City of Angles.” Where is the divine intervention that is needed to move this process along?

“We’re on our 8th day of fasting,” said one of the students from Calicut University, Calicut, Kerela. “We don’t want nuclear to be a part of our future.” Several students including Abdul Rehman, Saji Mathew, Ramziya Rehmat, Tomy Jecob, Krupa and Divya, inspired by one of their professors came all the way from the southern state of Kerela up to the seat of power in Delhi to voice their concerns regarding the long-pending Indo-US nuclear power deal. They are members of the Students Against Nuclear Power (S.A.N.P) group.

The Indo-US Nuclear deal, also known as the “1, 2, 3″ Deal has been full of controversy ever since its inception. Though first started by the NDA government of the late 90s and early 2000, it has reached its final stages under the current UPA-led coalition. The deal is significant for many reasons but mostly for its implications of India finally being deemed a “responsible nuclear power” status by the US–bringing the country out of official isolation on the subject. It is important to note that India has not signed the non-proliferation treaty.

The deal is being mooted crucial for India in terms of energy security as the nation currently imports 70% of its oil, which is expected to go up to 90% by mid-century if not sooner. India currently lacks supplies of uranium and the deal would allow technology sharing and the ability to buy uranium from the global market for the very first time. India’s plans are to utilize home grown technology, particularly the fast-breeder closed cycle process which involves enriching some thorium (of which conveniently India has some 30-odd percent of the global supply) with uranium to start the closed cycle. If India is to maintain its economic boom, it is expected that it will have to increase its energy production from the 125 gigawatts today to over 250 gigawatts by 2016. It is debatable however, how much of this will actually be achieved by boosting nuclear energy generation. Critics state that nuclear will still play a very small role in the over all energy mix.

Energy aside, controversy also exists around the fact that the agreement might compromise India’s sovereignty over the rights to its own weapons program which technically is a separate entity all together. Regardless, the question of the hour is should India push through the nuclear deal without much debate (as the current administrations plan on doing especially before President Bush is out of office), will it herald yet another missed opportunity for India to follow a more genuine path towards carbon-neutral growth? Can a population of 1.03 billion people with really high density accept any form of nuclear melt down like 3-mile island or the one that happened in Japan more recently? Furthermore is nuclear the way we solve our climate challenge?

For the students, the purpose was clear: give the separate movements against nuclear from around the country a rallying point. I think they did just that. Many have come out in support. It was on the 8th day of fasting that I finally visited these brave youth. Leading leftist politicians arrived at the scene pleading them to stop the fast in assurance that they would carry forth the battle in parliament.  ” Now that we have had our voices heard and helped unite the movement, we are going back and will carry on our struggle from Kerela,” stated the professor leading the students. I only hope that it is not too late.

 Original posted at: whatswiththeclimate.org voice of the Indian Youth Climate Network.

The Climate Project (TCP) - a world-wide organization that supports Mr. Al Gore’s efforts on promoting climate change activism - launched its India chapter (TCP India) this weekend.With support and patronage from Mr. Gore and Dr. R.K. Pachauri and with funding and in-kind support from the JSW Foundation, TCP carried out a training session at the India Habitat Center, New Delhi. During the session, some hundred carefully selected Indian delegates from different professions were personally trained by Mr. Gore and others to spread the message of climate change and take up informed actions within their communities.Mr. Gore categorically emphasized the need for India to play an even greater role in combating climate change and in being a leader in taking such initiatives. “India is the world’s future”, he declared and went on to inspire the delegates to take the right action now lest all of us would regret later.

At a dinner hosted in his honor, a day before the training session, Mr. Gore talked about the opportunity that lies ahead, to raise global consciousness to a higher level. “As we do so” he further went on to add, “we will find it much easier to solve the crisis of extreme poverty, to solve the challenge of HIV/AIDS, to find the political will to halt the destruction of precious forest of the planet and the devastation of ocean fishery, to stop the chronic civil wars fought by child soldiers and to bring relief to all those who are suffering unnecessarily from easily preventable diseases.”He also pressed upon the need for nations to come together to address the above challenges, all of which are now defined as political problems. “Our ability to address them will increase as we develop the capacity for vision and build the moral authority essential to taking action together as a civilization,” was the take home message by him for the night.

The training session was even more thought provoking and the energy level and the charisma carried by Mr. Gore ensured that every eye was fixed on him throughout the day. There were useful inputs by Dr. Pachauri and the rest of the TCP team that kept trickling and adding to the learning experience as well. Mr. Gore’s passion and concern for the planet and towards the human civilization was exhibited in every single sentence that he put across. The audience only got more and more engaged as Mr. Gore shifted from one slide to the next. He concluded the day with sending best wishes to all and hoping for a better planet. He left back a fully charged up audience impatient to get out and spread the message while still wanting to hear and learn more from him.

TCP India is slated to be an independent body with a skills based advisory board to lend expertise and advice towards issues pertaining to climate change. It is also being setup to spread the TCP message further and to develop “Green curriculum” to support existing training/education.

 Original post by Govind Singh at whatswiththeclimate.org voice of the Indian Youth Climate Network. 

“Give us things that will help us run engines with local resources. Diesel and petrol prices are killing us farmers,” said Ram Karan. I sat listening intently to him at his farm on the very fringes of Ranthambore National Park. The majority of farmers here who do not have access to electricity spend anywhere between Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 1 lakh on diesel to run generators to irrigate their farm lands. Imagine that amount of money instead being put towards a decentralized renewable energy source to sustain their livelihoods. “Give us solar, we are willing to pay!” he said. “I know that there are even solar powered pumps out there.” Solar pumps have been questioned for their efficacy especially where ground water levels have dropped severely—and they have in this part of Rajasthan. I was doing a survey on the local biogas plant dissemination project by a local NGO, the Prakratik Society. Though a technology around since the 1970s and considering one of the most abundant decentralized resources available to rural India being livestock, it is unfortunate that not much more research and development has gone towards its advancement. My survey revealed more than just a drastic reduction in fuel-wood consumed by villagers owning the biogas plants (50-100% drop by 100% of the households surveyed): some of the villagers are fueling some of their ambitions in rather unique ways with this old technology.

On this morning, Ram Karan was running his tractor engine with a mix of diesel and the gas generated by his biogas plant. The two cylinder tractor engine used to run the pump usually consumes 2.5 liters of diesel in one hour, but with a mix of biogas, it consumes diesel at a rate of 1.5 to 1.75 liters an hour. The only draw back was the limited amount of gas generated by the 3 cubic meter biogas plant being sucked out more quickly by the hungry engine. Still, it reveals the scope of larger sized biogas plants in meeting additional needs of villagers beyond cooking. The problem with larger plants (those with greater width and depth) being the higher likelihood of cracks developing in the tank—which render plants completely useless. “If we could get enough gas to run an 8-10 horse power engine to pump water, and perhaps some for additional electricity generation, we would be all set!” He touted. Further down the road, a dhaba had been set up near the roadside. “I opened up this dhaba soon after getting my biogas plant,” stated Janki Lal. “Business has been good [as was visible during my short chai break] and it is so much easier to operate using gas as opposed to wood. But I want my lamp as well!” He was referring to the gas lamps the Prakratik Society used to disseminate with the plants earlier on which failed because of lack of proper infrastructure in place for replacement parts.

One of my final stops was at Ameen’s house. He had a large family and ambitions to match the size. “I want to have several biogas plants, or perhaps a few large ones. I will get nearly 10 artificially inseminated hybrid cows [scaling up from the 2 he had currently]. I am going to stop farming and start a dairy,” he stated confidently. His cattle will be stall fed by the fodder he will be planting instead. It will including the “sul babul” tree which grows quite well in this climate and grows rapidly. The native cows are artificially inseminated with the semen of high-milk yielding Jersey cows with help of Prakratik Society. With nearly 50% of the respondents (from 7 different villages surrounding the park) claiming they would be willing to take on bank loans to finance more biogas plants, perhaps its time the advancement of this technology take precedence to meet the ambitions of the people. “The jungle is disappearing, so you need to make these plants everywhere,” stated Ram Karan—revealing a true grasp of the human-wildlife conflict that is plaguing the country.

Original post at: whatswiththeclimate.org (voice of the Indian Youth Climate Network)

“I really like Tagore’s poem about the sun,” said Liang Xu, an independent investment consultant and my new found Chinese friend. “Let my love, like sunlight, surround you and yet give you illumined freedom.” He put such emotion into the recitation of this verse that I sat speechless in the back of the cab: first, because a man in China was expressing his appreciation for Tagore, an Indian poet and philosopher, and secondly, because he was specifically recalling a poem mentioning the sun. I was after all in Beijing for the Solar World Congress (SWC) sponsored by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), the Chinese Solar Energy Society (CSES), many Chinese solar companies, and supported by the Chinese government. This single experience could probably sum up what is beginning to happen in China. The country is waking up to address the need to invest in renewable energy technologies, especially when the demand for energy is stretching supplies of conventional fuels thin and the impact of pollution from use of abundant coal reserves has put China under international pressure. The latter being a key worry for Beijing because it is hosting the 2008 Olympic Games despite the city’s legendary air pollution. Certainly all eyes were on China during this event as over 1,000 delegates were present from 60 different nations.

There has been much hype regarding China’s emergence into the solar arena because of their manufacturing abilities. According to CNN, China “will become the world’s dominator in solar energy industry.” With some 300 manufacturers of solar photovoltaics and approximately 3000 manufacturers of solar collector technologies, China has propelled itself into the world’s largest manufacturer of solar technologies. This has in large part helped bring down the costs of solar products in places like Europe and the US. When asked about the irony of the fact that despite China having such a large number of manufacturers but most of the products being made for export to other countries, Head of Chinese Solar Energy Society simply brushed aside the question and continue to boast of China’s ranking of largest solar product manufacturer in the world. Furthermore, upon questioning of what concrete steps the Chinese government is taking to reduce CO2 emissions, the session was nervously concluded and the moderator of the session pushed for a concluding applause. Though all of this may make it seem like there is a thin veneer for the solar cause over the reality that in China’s development ambitions, solar is still but a blip in terms of the foreseeable energy mix—after all, China is set to become the world’s largest energy consumer by 2010 according to the International Energy Agency. Continue reading ‘China Looks to the Sun’

A view from the Global South.

Editorial By Sunita Narain (Director, Center for Science & Environment, New Delhi)

Continue reading ‘Bali: The Mother of All No-Deals’

It is 8:30 pm on January 10th, 2008. I am writing from the famous Ranthambore National Park–known for its tigers–where 80% of the world’s “tiger in the wild” photos are taken. I have been on two game drives and seen no tigers. It is said that there are somewhere between 30 o 40 tigers in this 400 sq. km sanctuary. Much has been done to protect the species from certain extinction on his subcontinent of 1.03 billion people. Here the battle that will determine which India wins–the urban/”shining India” or the rural/depressed India–is being waged on the basis of land. As people are moved out of parks to make way for non-community based conservation in this part of India, on the eastern side of the country people are being bought off (forcibly) from productive farm lands to make way for an auto manufacturing plant. This single manufacturing plant is going to redefine the way the world moves–starting with the Indians.

It is 8:45 pm on January 10th, 2008 and on TV I am seeing the long awaited release of the “People’s Car” by India’s Tata Motors. The car is the cheapest the world has seen yet with a base price of Rs. 1 Lakh (US$2500)–all of this having met the Indian safety standards as well as pollution standards (Euro IV). The idea was to provide a car within easier reach of India’s burgeoning middle class and despite all the nay-sayers, Tata may have pulled this off. It is a four door car with a 33 hrs power engine and it is called the “Nano.” This name being chosen to signify the innovation possibilities (of doing a lot with a little) thanks to improvements in technology. Unfortunately the car may be diesel powered - wreaking havoc on the reduced suspended particulates achieved in cities like New Delhi through forced use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) by he city’s public transport. However it is said to have fuel efficiency of 20 km/L or 50 mpg–which is just as good as any Japanese Hybrid. And if the world DOES figure out biofuels, then the diesel engine may not be so bad.

Continue reading ‘The People’s Car Arrives…’

I enjoy taking the bus to work. For a 40 minute commute it costs me Rs. 7 (US$ 0.1 instead of Rs. 50 if I choose to take an auto-rickshaw. But today as the bus sat still for 40 minutes in the middle of the traffic choked road, I looked longingly at the High Capicty Bus Corridor that is still under construction. It is a project that has taken a long time to get the green light for a city which is now adding 1000 cars a day to its streets. The availability of credit has made it easier for the burgeoning middle class of India to buy more goods and one of the things that is on the top of many peoples’ list is the car. At this point in time it looks as if India is all set to embrace the car culture. With more money going into roads, parking spaces, construction of more flyovers and underpasses to decongest traffic, and the imminent arrival of India’s version of the Model-T, a $2,500 car built by India’s Tata Motors.

COP 13, Bali, Indonesia, December 2007:

“It is strange that India has been labeled as a major emitter, when we are not, we are simply a large country with a big population,” stated Minister of State of Environment & Forests, Meena at the side event hosted by the Indian delegation during the Bali conference. Yes, it’s true: India is a country of approximately 1.03 billion people (and rising) and still nearly 500 million of its citizens are living in the darkness. Nearly 700 million of its citizens depend on non-conventional fuels like biomass (dung and wood) for their energy needs. When the primary concern of the government is to electrify the entire nation by 2012, we know that the energy will be coming from coal-fed thermal power plants. In fact, India plans on building 150 of such plants within the next 5 years with China not far ahead at 200. When an audience member innocently asked what India could do to reduce emissions, he was replied with, “I am shocked that you would ask such a question after what you have heard here during our presentation.” Being an Indian citizen and at the same time a resident of the world’s largest emitter, the United States, I was having a hard time reconciling the need for India to grow and reduce emissions when the country is already on a pathway of development that the industrialized nations have laid. Continue reading ‘Incredible! India not Inclined to Tackle Climate Change?’