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Emissions from residential cooking and heating, power generation, and industries together contribute up to 60 per cent of India's PM2.5 pollution, with about 80 per cent of this coming from <keyword id="23824528" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fossil-fuel-combustion" source="keywords">fossil fuel combustion</keyword>, a new study has found. The peer-reviewed study, published in MDPI's "Air" journal, suggests dividing India into 15 airsheds based on regional climate and pollution sources. <br /><br />An airshed is a geographic area where <keyword id="53848" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="air-quality" source="Orion">air quality</keyword> is influenced by common factors such as wind patterns and pollution sources. Since pollution can spread across regions, the <keyword id="22077484" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="airshed-approach" source="keywords">airshed approach</keyword> promotes coordinated action among states. <br /><br />"Residential cooking and heating, power generation, and all other industries together are responsible for 40-60 per cent of the PM2.5 pollution in all the airsheds, and approximately 80 per cent of the pollution comes from fossil fuel burning sources," said Sarath Guttikunda, lead author of the study and founder of UrbanEmissions.info. <br /><br />The study said biomass burning, including post-harvest crop residue burning, contributed less than 3 per cent to annual PM2.5 levels while transport accounted for 5-10 per cent in all airsheds. <br /><br />PM2.5 are fine particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less, about the width of a human hair. These are so small that these can penetrate deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream, posing significant health risks. <br /><br />An analysis of PM2.5 trends from 1998 to 2020, along with state-level data on fuel consumption, energy demand and emissions, revealed that 11 of the 15 airsheds were critical for India's air quality management and required coordinated interventions. <br /><br />The Indo-Gangetic Plains remain the most polluted region, with significant emissions from residential cooking and heating (especially in winter), power plants, brick kilns (driven by construction demand), waste burning, dust and vehicular movement for passengers and freight. <br /><br />The plateau region between the Eastern and Western Ghats, India's second most populated area, has seen the highest rise in annual PM2.5 pollution during this period, the study said. <br /><br />"This is an indication of the growing urbanisation and demand for transport, industrial, and commercial amenities," it said. <br /><br />Coastal areas, vital to India's industrial economy, have also experienced rising pollution despite the moderating effects of land-sea breezes. <br /><br />This increase is attributed to growing shipping emissions and overall industrial growth in cities such as Mundra, Surat, Mumbai, Goa, Mangalore, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Haldia.

Study traces 60% PM2.5 pollution in India to residential cooking, power generation, industries

<p><em><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div></span>Policies to slow down warming may be more attractive if framed as ways of speeding up growth</em></p>
<p>FOR years, people who worry about climate change have tried to persuade, cajole or scare governments into doing more to stop it. Nothing has made much difference. Carbon-dioxide emissions have risen relentlessly; in 2013 the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased at its fastest rate for 30 years.</p>
<p>Now, a team of the great and the good has a cannier pitch. In the lead-up to the New York climate-change summit they have issued a report arguing not that global warming will destroy the Earth, but that much of what is needed to reduce its risks would be a good idea anyway.</p>
<p>The group is chaired by Felipe Calderón, a former president of Mexico, and Nicholas Stern, author of an early review of the economics of climate change which played up the costs of inaction more than benefits of action.</p>
<p>Its members are a Who's Who of global influence: four former presidents or prime ministers; two Nobel economics laureates (Michael Spence of New York University and Daniel Kahneman of Princeton); and a bevy of people from all the main multilateral financial institutions (such as the World Bank, IMF and Asian Development Bank). They are people who know what presidents and finance ministers think is important, which is getting and keeping economies going.</p>
<p>"<a href="http://newclimateeconomy.report/">Better Growth, Better Climate</a>" starts not with threats to the environment but with weak global demand and dangers to jobs and income. Productivity and job growth in rich countries is feeble; middle-income countries are only rarely graduating into the rich club; poor countries fear they will not catch up. The solution, say the authors, is structural reform in urban infrastructure, in farmland and forests and in energy markets. Not by coincidence, these areas between them account for the lion's share of greenhouse-gas emissions.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>Cities and their inhabitants' consumption account for about 70% of global emissions. They are also where almost all the world's net population growth will occur in the next 20 years. For leaders of middle-income and poor countries getting urbanisation right is already critical. The report says "getting it right" means encouraging cities that are dense, not spread out, with good public transport, not clogged highways. Sprawl wastes money.</p>
<p>It ends up subsidised through the provision of more extensive systems of roads, sewers and the like; it reduces the gains in productivity that agglomeration provides. The report reckons that sprawl costs America $400 billion a year and quotes research from China that says labour productivity would rise 9% if its cities were denser.</p>
<p>The authors reckon better infrastructure policies would lower the capital requirements of urbanisation by $3 trillion over the next 15 years and be popular, too (riots in Brazil this summer were partly over the poor quality of urban services). Happily, they would also cut greenhouse-gas emissions by the equivalent of 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, mainly because commuters would switch from cars to public transport (or bicycles).</p>
<p>The report also pays a lot of attention to agriculture and forests, which are economically important in low- and middle-income countries and account for a quarter of the world's emissions. At the moment, governments spend about $16 billion a year on agricultural research and development in developing countries; this, the report says, should be doubled.</p>
<p>It also calls for drastic changes to farm subsidies. Subsidies for fertilisers lead to their overuse in many places, which brings with it environmental problems including the emission of nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas. Where this happens, fertiliser subsidies should be cut back. If all this were done, the authors calculate, greenhouse-gas emissions could be the equivalent of 4.2 billion to 10.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide less per year than they would otherwise be by 2030.</p>
<p>Lastly, the report proposes a combination of subsidy cuts and new investment in energy. Subsidies on fossil fuels (mainly in oil-exporting countries) run at $540 billion a year, a massive encouragement to burn carbon that should be done away with. So, to the extent practicable, should the use of coal.</p>
<p>Over the past decade increased electricity demand has been mostly met by coal-fired power plants, especially in China and India. If they continue in this way both countries will soon be importing huge amounts of coal, which would lead to higher, more volatile prices. And coal also kills a lot of people. Outdoor air pollution, largely from coal though also from cars and other industry, kills 4m people a year, more than any infectious disease, and in so doing has huge economic effects (see chart).</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>The authors argue therefore that some of the $45 trillion of infrastructure spending needed to keep up with energy demand in emerging markets over the next 15 years should go on encouraging low-carbon renewable forms of energy. Add that strategy to greater energy efficiency and reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry and you save greenhouse-gas emissions equivalent to another 5 billion-7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.</p>
<p>The authors thus think their prescriptions could reduce annual greenhouse-gas emissions by as much as the equivalent 24 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030. At the moment emissions are equivalent to 50 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year; at current rates that will rise to 68 billion tonnes by 2030. Models based on a need to keep warming at or below 2°C, compared to the pre-industrial climate, suggest they need to drop to 42 billion tonnes by then. So at best the report's measures could deliver 90% of that; a lower limit might be 50%. And there would be a lot more cuts to make post-2030. But if such reforms deliver growth, too, they will not just endear themselves to politicians. They will make at least some of the world better able to pay the costs of adapting to the climate change it has failed to avert.</p>
<p>Click <a href="http://www.store.eiu.com">here</a> to subscribe to The Economist</p>
<p></p>

A Group Of Experts Has Changed The Entire Climate Change Debate For The Better

<p><em><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div></span>Policies to slow down warming may be more attractive if framed as ways of speeding up growth</em></p>
<p>FOR years, people who worry about climate change have tried to persuade, cajole or scare governments into doing more to stop it. Nothing has made much difference. Carbon-dioxide emissions have risen relentlessly; in 2013 the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased at its fastest rate for 30 years.</p>
<p>Now, a team of the great and the good has a cannier pitch. In the lead-up to the New York climate-change summit they have issued a report arguing not that global warming will destroy the Earth, but that much of what is needed to reduce its risks would be a good idea anyway.</p>
<p>The group is chaired by Felipe Calderón, a former president of Mexico, and Nicholas Stern, author of an early review of the economics of climate change which played up the costs of inaction more than benefits of action.</p>
<p>Its members are a Who's Who of global influence: four former presidents or prime ministers; two Nobel economics laureates (Michael Spence of New York University and Daniel Kahneman of Princeton); and a bevy of people from all the main multilateral financial institutions (such as the World Bank, IMF and Asian Development Bank). They are people who know what presidents and finance ministers think is important, which is getting and keeping economies going.</p>
<p>"<a href="http://newclimateeconomy.report/">Better Growth, Better Climate</a>" starts not with threats to the environment but with weak global demand and dangers to jobs and income. Productivity and job growth in rich countries is feeble; middle-income countries are only rarely graduating into the rich club; poor countries fear they will not catch up. The solution, say the authors, is structural reform in urban infrastructure, in farmland and forests and in energy markets. Not by coincidence, these areas between them account for the lion's share of greenhouse-gas emissions.</p>
<p>Cities and their inhabitants' consumption account for about 70% of global emissions. They are also where almost all the world's net population growth will occur in the next 20 years. For leaders of middle-income and poor countries getting urbanisation right is already critical. The report says "getting it right" means encouraging cities that are dense, not spread out, with good public transport, not clogged highways. Sprawl wastes money.</p>
<p>It ends up subsidised through the provision of more extensive systems of roads, sewers and the like; it reduces the gains in productivity that agglomeration provides. The report reckons that sprawl costs America $400 billion a year and quotes research from China that says labour productivity would rise 9% if its cities were denser.</p>
<p>The authors reckon better infrastructure policies would lower the capital requirements of urbanisation by $3 trillion over the next 15 years and be popular, too (riots in Brazil this summer were partly over the poor quality of urban services). Happily, they would also cut greenhouse-gas emissions by the equivalent of 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, mainly because commuters would switch from cars to public transport (or bicycles).</p>
<p>The report also pays a lot of attention to agriculture and forests, which are economically important in low- and middle-income countries and account for a quarter of the world's emissions. At the moment, governments spend about $16 billion a year on agricultural research and development in developing countries; this, the report says, should be doubled.</p>
<p>It also calls for drastic changes to farm subsidies. Subsidies for fertilisers lead to their overuse in many places, which brings with it environmental problems including the emission of nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas. Where this happens, fertiliser subsidies should be cut back. If all this were done, the authors calculate, greenhouse-gas emissions could be the equivalent of 4.2 billion to 10.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide less per year than they would otherwise be by 2030.</p>
<p>Lastly, the report proposes a combination of subsidy cuts and new investment in energy. Subsidies on fossil fuels (mainly in oil-exporting countries) run at $540 billion a year, a massive encouragement to burn carbon that should be done away with. So, to the extent practicable, should the use of coal.</p>
<p>Over the past decade increased electricity demand has been mostly met by coal-fired power plants, especially in China and India. If they continue in this way both countries will soon be importing huge amounts of coal, which would lead to higher, more volatile prices. And coal also kills a lot of people. Outdoor air pollution, largely from coal though also from cars and other industry, kills 4m people a year, more than any infectious disease, and in so doing has huge economic effects (see chart).</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>The authors argue therefore that some of the $45 trillion of infrastructure spending needed to keep up with energy demand in emerging markets over the next 15 years should go on encouraging low-carbon renewable forms of energy. Add that strategy to greater energy efficiency and reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry and you save greenhouse-gas emissions equivalent to another 5 billion-7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.</p>
<p>The authors thus think their prescriptions could reduce annual greenhouse-gas emissions by as much as the equivalent 24 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030. At the moment emissions are equivalent to 50 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year; at current rates that will rise to 68 billion tonnes by 2030. Models based on a need to keep warming at or below 2°C, compared to the pre-industrial climate, suggest they need to drop to 42 billion tonnes by then. So at best the report's measures could deliver 90% of that; a lower limit might be 50%. And there would be a lot more cuts to make post-2030. But if such reforms deliver growth, too, they will not just endear themselves to politicians. They will make at least some of the world better able to pay the costs of adapting to the climate change it has failed to avert.</p>
<p>Click <a href="http://www.store.eiu.com">here</a> to subscribe to The Economist</p>
<p></p>

Encouraging Climate Action: Try Jam Today

<br /> ‘Save thy <keyword id="6356826" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="environment">environment</keyword>’ is a cause that is not new in any way. The battle started long ago with scientists, researchers and technology experts highlighting the varied <keyword id="74957" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="climatic-changes">climatic changes</keyword> and their ecological impacts occurring across the world, most often with disastrous results. There are several on-the-face environmental scenarios that also pinpoint how the imbalance created by rapid urbanisation is accelerating the depletion of <keyword id="6368742" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="natural-resources">natural resources</keyword>. But this <keyword id="2034087" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ecological-disparity">ecological disparity</keyword> is man-made and it is our responsibility to try and control it. And there can be no better way to act than starting it from your home.<br />
 <br />
On the macro level, green buildings or eco-friendly homes as a concept are at a nascent stage in India. As of now, it constitutes a very small percentage of the booming Indian real-estate market. But there is optimism among developers, governments and experts indicating, as a tremendous opportunity exists for expanding energy-efficient construction in India.<br />
 <br /> Also, the ‘green construction technology’ is a wide category, covering everything from energy-efficient appliances to <keyword id="1226286" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="geothermal-heating">geothermal heating</keyword> to <keyword id="70990" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Solar-power">solar power</keyword> to bio-degradable paints and many more. Given the breadth of this category, this article will narrow down the theme to three key product categories – <keyword id="2034096" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Water-closets">water closets</keyword>, <keyword id="1609750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Faucets">faucets</keyword> and tiles, elements that a home cannot do without. As every act counts, every micro step is a step towards a macro initiative and ultimately, the objective is to build a greener environment in and out of home.<br />
 <br /> Clean and <keyword id="95422" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Green-Technology">green technology</keyword> is more advanced than ever before, and can be as beneficial for your wallet as it is for the Earth. What’s more, adopting or rather installing those products is not at all cumbersome. Plus, they are well-designed to match your taste. A variety of products are already there in the market and that will make designing your <keyword id="2034084" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Green-home">green home</keyword> even easier. Here are some simple choices to look at when you build your home or renovate it.<br />
 <br />
<strong>Water closets:</strong> Bathrooms happen to be the primary source of water and its usage. So the products used here are designed around eco-friendly technologies. The modern-day water closet is an intelligent toilet. The 3/6 litres per flush has become the norm and products like NANO, which uses 1.5 litre per flush, waterless urinals and star-rated, WEP-certified closets usher in a contemporary outlook to the concept of water-saving.<br />
 <br /> In India, we have already switched to energy-efficient appliances, ranging across various products, even the light bulbs. But when it comes to a stamp of approval for water-saving products, both awareness and a trusted certification seem to be missing. But things are now getting better, with the <keyword id="2034080" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="International-Association-of-Plumbing">International Association of Plumbing</keyword> and Mechanical Officials (<keyword id="2034102" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="IAPMO">IAPMO</keyword>) issuing its <keyword id="524544" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="WEP">WEP</keyword> certification. A safe and sustainable environment is everyone’s responsibility and IAPMO has taken the initiative to blend experienced leadership and broad resources, necessary to ensure a focused code development and produce model codes to help the industry and the consumer go green.<br />
 <br /> And the result? The WEP – 1 star-rated certification designed to provide information through labelling at the point of sale to consumers buying products that use water. A natural choice for authentication across the world with its 80 years of experience, IAPMO is equipped with the tools to build a better, more sustainable co-existence with the planet. So, if you have set your mind on being a wholehearted person looking to save our precious natural resources, choose from India’s first <keyword id="2034103" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Water-star-rated-product">water star-rated product</keyword> and you can save over 50,000 litres of water per year. Over 10 models of <keyword id="2034105" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Star-rated-water-closets">star-rated water closets</keyword> are available under the Hindware Italian Collection, all in different shapes and designs. The choice lies with you.<br />
 <br />
<strong>Faucets:</strong> After water closets, faucets are probably the most used in a house! Be it your washroom or kitchen, faucets are in use every two minutes or so as you wash your hands or clean vegetables or rinse your crockery. So is it possible to do without water and a faucet? The answer is – no.<br />
 <br /> However, what you surely can do is to choose the right faucet to lessen <keyword id="66392" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="water-wastage">water wastage</keyword>. Several ranges are available in the market, which are technologically smart, in tune with consumers’ diverse styles and requirements, of superior quality and offer best value for money. The single-lever faucet mixes hot and cold water smoothly, made possible by the new cartridge technology incorporated in the faucets. Then there is the quarter-turn faucet, a traditional two-handle faucet with the ability to turn from full turn to half turn to quarter turn, as per usage. Not only does it make the entire experience better, but it also helps reduce water consumption without compromising on the water pressure.<br />
 <br /> Modern faucets use a technology called the <keyword id="2034111" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Faucet-aerator">faucet aerator</keyword>. It adds air to the stream of water coming out of the faucet by breaking the water into fine droplets. Finally, there are the sensor-operated, <keyword id="2034113" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Pressmatic-faucets">pressmatic faucets</keyword>. They have a standard, <keyword id="2034114" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Predetermined-water-flow">predetermined water flow</keyword> timer, which controls <keyword id="2034112" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Water-flow">water flow</keyword> for every usage.<br />
 <br />
<strong>Flooring:</strong> The main purpose of floor tiles is protection. But technological advancements such as digital-printed, <keyword id="1064949" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="glazed-vitrified-tiles">glazed vitrified tiles</keyword> and stain-free, multi-charged vitrified tiles offer plenty of designs and surface finish options like marble, wood, stone, rustic, metallic, satin and matt. High-definition, <keyword id="2034118" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Multi-colour-digital-printing">multi-colour digital printing</keyword> technology offers the perfect replacement of natural marble and wooden flooring. These are technically superior and reduce the consumption of precious natural resources. GRIHA-certified tiles are easily available in the market today, and the product range reaffirms the commitment towards our environment. Once you install them, you become a part of the go-green community as well.<br />
 <br /> In short, the best way to design a green home is to make the most of the space and elements around you. This includes using <keyword id="790505" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="natural-light">natural light</keyword> and environment-friendly materials &amp; products. Your home can run on the beauty and wonders of nature, with a <keyword id="2034127" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Minimal-carbon-footprint">minimal carbon footprint</keyword>.<br />
 <br />
<strong>About the author:</strong> Sandip Somany is the JMD of HSIL Ltd.<br />
 <br />
<strong>Image:</strong> Wikipedia

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Study traces 60% PM2.5 pollution in India to residential cooking, power generation, industries

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A Group Of Experts Has Changed The Entire Climate Change Debate For The Better

Business Insider

Encouraging Climate Action: Try Jam Today

The Economist

Eco-friendly Home Technology: Now Design Your Green Home

Sandip Somany

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