Carbon Neutrality Target Of India: Strategy & Challenges

Carbon neutrality is the balance between carbon emission from various sources and carbon absorption by carbon sinks. As per the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2022, densely populated countries that are highly dependent on agriculture, such as India, are especially vulnerable to climate insecurity. Decarbonization in cities is a real opportunity to keep global warming well below 2°C and cities in India can make an enormous contribution in reaching this goal.

• India has committed to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions by 2070.

Strategy

Panchamrita

To achieve the objective of carbon neutrality Indian Prime Minister declared a five-fold strategy at the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) — termed as the Panchamrita. The components of the strategy include:

• India will get its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatt (GW) by 2030
• India will meet 50 per cent of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030
• India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from now onwards till 2030
• By 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45 per cent
• By the year 2070, India will achieve the target of Net Zero

Transition towards Clean Energy

• Government of India has set a target for installing 175 GW of Renewable Energy capacity (excluding large hydro) by the end of 2021-22 which includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from Biomass and 5 GW from Small Hydro.
• India is developing the National Green Hydrogen Energy Mission to scale up green hydrogen production and utilization across multiple sectors.
• The Union Cabinet has approved a National Biofuel Policy in 2018.

Efforts of Indian Railways

Indian Railways has set a target of Net Zero Carbon Emission by 2030, primarily through sourcing its energy requirements through renewable energy sources. Major initiatives undertaken for reduction of carbon emissions include:

• 100 per cent electrification of its network by December 2023
• Use of three phase technology for regenerative braking
• “Head on generation” technology eliminating the need for separate diesel fuelled power cars
• Use of renewable energy sources (133.26 MW solar and 103 MW wind installed capacity)
• Creation of additional carbon sink by afforestation

Greener Transportation

To give an impetus to manufacturing and adoption of Electric Vehicles and High-Technology Automotive, Ministry of Heavy Industries is executing the following major schemes with a total outlay of Rs 54,038 crore:

• The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan’s objective is to use 30% electric vehicles in transportation by 2030, thus reducing fossil fuel consumption.
• Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India II (FAME India II) scheme with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore to incentivize demand for EVs by providing upfront subsidies and creating EV charging infrastructure.
• National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) with an outlay of Rs 18,100 crore to incentivize setting up of manufacturing facilities in the country for 50 GigaWatt Hour of ACC and 5 GWh of "Niche" ACC.
• Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Automobile and Auto Components with an outlay of Rs 25,938 crore to incentivise manufacturing of high technology automobiles and automotive components in India.
• Other key interventions by the Government to promote EVs include reduction of GST on EVs from 12 to 5 per cent, income tax deduction on the interest paid on loans taken to purchase electric vehicles, delicensing of EV charging by declaring it as a service and not sale of electricity, amendment of building bylaws codes and town planning rules for provision of EV charging stations, green license plates for EVs etc.

Sustainable Cities India Program

The World Economic Forum and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) signed a MoU to collaborate on a jointly designed ‘Sustainable Cities India Program’ which will aim to create an enabling environment for cities to generate decarbonization solutions across the energy, transport, and the built environment sectors.

• The ‘Sustainable Cities India program’ intends to enable cities to decarbonize in a systematic and sustainable way that will reduce emissions and deliver resilient and equitable urban ecosystems.
• The program will adapt the World Economic Forum’s City Sprint process and Toolbox of Solutions for decarbonization in the context of five to seven Indian cities across two years.
• The Toolbox of Solutions – It is a digital platform containing over 200 examples of clean electrification, efficiency and smart infrastructure best practices and case studies across buildings, energy systems and mobility from over 110 cities around the world.

Challenges

As the world’s third-largest emitter, accounting for 7.1 percent of global GHG emissions, India has its own set of challenges:

• Economic development is crucial to alleviate poverty and usher in sustainable income growth. However economic development occurs at the cost of environmental degradation.
• India’s energy mix is largely dependent on coal, so it is difficult to switch over from coal to other resources.
• The country’s energy demand is expected to rise due to increasing population and urbanization.
• The renewable energy resources have own set of limitations like lack of availability for 24*7 hours, high initial cost of installation of such projects, lack of availability of land to initiate renewable energy projects.
• Hydrogen is a “versatile energy carrier” which can help meet different energy challenges. It has a wide range of applications that can help reduce carbon emissions in many sectors. Most of the hydrogen production today still relies on fossil fuel as a power source, making it a pollution-heavy process.
• High R&D and other overhead costs to develop energy efficient system.
• Other challenges include ensuring that coal workers are not left behind, energy prices do not rise in the near term and getting the state governments on board.

Possibilities and Prospects

• Need of power distribution reforms.
• Push for renewable energy through solar and wind.
• Encourage R&D to ensure effortless switch to renewable sources of energy. This may also include focus on developing technology that recycles, reuses and repurposes minerals.
• Accelerate pace at which shift from conventional fossil-fuel based sources is made as the pace will determine the extent and mix of investment in renewable sources of energy.