South Asian Media Net

Introduction

Introduction

India, the world's second most populous nation, has seen its population explode from 300 million in 1947 to approximately one billion today. This rapidly growing population, along with increased economic development, has placed a strain on India's infrastructure, and also on the country's environment.

Deforestation, soil erosion, water pollution and land degradation continue to worsen and are hindering economic development in rural India. Rapid industrialization and urbanization in India's metropolises are also serious concerns.

The Government of India (GOI), recognizing the severity of these problems, has adopted a comprehensive policy to address the environment. India was the first country to insert an amendment into its constitution allowing for the state to intervene and to protect public health, forests and wildlife. The 42nd Amendment was adopted in 1976, but an important limitation on the amendment was a clause specifying that it "shall not be enforceable by any court". More effective environmental legislation was adopted in the form of the Environment Protection Act of 1986. Under this Act, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has overall responsibility for administering and enforcing environmental laws and policies. The MoEF established the importance of integrating environmental strategies into any development plan for the country. One of MoEF's main focuses continues to be the reduction of industrial pollution.

Industrial development has contributed significantly to economic growth in India; however, not without an environmental price. With coal accounting for 52% of total primary energy consumption in 1999, this industrial development has been fueled by a relatively high-polluting energy source. Not only is industrial pollution increasing public health risks, but abatement efforts also are consuming a significant portion of India's GDP. A report from MoEF estimates that the annual cost of environmental degradation in India in the past few years is averaging about 4.5% of GDP.

India has signed and ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as a non-Annex I country, and is therefore not obligated to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. India is not, however, a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol. While India recognizes the importance of reducing emissions, it also places a high priority on economic development. India is party to several other international environmental treaties, such as the Montreal Protocol, Law of the Sea, and the Convention limiting the movement of hazardous wastes.

Air pollution
Industrialization and urbanization have resulted in a profound deterioration of India's air quality. Of the 3 million premature deaths in the world that occur each year due to outdoor and indoor air pollution, the highest number are assessed to occur in India. According to the World Health Organization, the capital city of New Delhi is one of the top ten most polluted cities in the world. Surveys indicate that in New Delhi the incidence of respiratory diseases due to air pollution is about 12 times the national average. According to another study, while India's gross domestic product has increased 2.5 times over the past two decades, vehicular pollution has increased eight times, while pollution from industries has quadrupled.

Sources of air pollution, India's most severe environmental problem, come in several forms, including vehicular emissions and untreated industrial smoke. Apart from rapid industrialization, urbanization has resulted in the emergence of industrial centers without a corresponding growth in civic amenities and pollution control mechanisms.

Regulatory reforms aimed at improving the air pollution problem in cities such as New Delhi have been quite difficult to implement, however. For example, India's Supreme Court recently lifted a ruling that it imposed two years ago which required all public transport vehicles in New Dehli to switch to compressed natural gas (CNG) engines by April 1, 2001. This ruling, however, led to the disappearance of some 15,000 taxis and 10,000 buses from the city, creating public protests, riots, and widespread "commuter chaos." The court was similarly unsuccessful last year, when it attempted to ban all public vehicles that were more than 15 years old and ordered the introduction of unleaded gasoline and CNG.

India's high concentration of pollution is not due to a lack of effort in building a sound environmental legal regime, but rather to a lack of enforcement at the local level. Efforts are currently underway to change this as new specifications are being adopted for auto emissions, which currently account for approximately 70% of air pollution. In the absence of coordinated government efforts, including stricter enforcement, this figure is likely to rise in the coming years due to the sheer increase in vehicle ownership.

Energy Use and Carbon Emissions
Overall, 60% of energy needs in India are met by commercial energy sources, while the remaining 40% are comprised of non-conventional and renewable fuels. Behind China, India is the second largest commercial energy consumer in Non-OECD East Asia, comprising 19% of the region's total primary energy consumption. Industrial sector energy consumption accounted for 41% of total energy consumption in 1998. In absolute terms, industrial sector energy consumption increased by approximately 60% between 1980 and 1998, from 2.7 quadrillion Btu (quads) in 1980 to 4.4 quads in 1998. Transportation sector energy consumption has increased slightly over the past two decades from 0.8 quads in 1980 to 1.1 quads in 1998. Residential sector primary energy consumption exhibited a sharp increase over the past two decades, from 0.4 quads in 1980 to 5.1 quads in 1998. This can be explained largely by India's rapidly increasing population and urbanization.

India's energy-related carbon emissions have grown nine-fold over the past four decades. With 243.3 million metric tons of carbon released from the consumption and flaring of fossil fuels in 1999, India ranked fifth in the world behind the United States, China, Russia and Japan. India's contribution to world carbon emissions is expected to increase in coming years, with an estimated average annual growth rate between 1996 and 2020 of 3.2% in the EIA International Energy Outlook 2001 reference case (compared to 3.9% in China and 1.3% in the United States). India's reliance on low-quality coal with a high carbon content is the primary impetus for this expected increase.

Technologies to reduce the amount of coal consumed or the quality of coal combusted are a priority for a nation in which approximately 70% of electricity is generated from coal and 64% of all carbon emissions come from coal. Coal India Limited, a holding company of seven local production companies, coordinates the implementation of sustainable development programs to improve the efficiency of coal use. These programs focus specifically on ensuring conservation of coal sources during production and the improvement of end-use technologies, as well as conserving energy in production and transportation of coal. Other current efforts to reduce coal consumption are being undertaken in more remote areas, where compressed natural gas is often used as a substitute fuel in internal combustion engines.

Energy and Carbon Intensity
Unlike China, which has exhibited a dramatic decrease in the amount of energy and carbon consumed per dollar of GDP over the past two decades, India's energy and carbon intensity actually have increased slightly. Energy intensity in India is relatively high compared with levels in neighboring countries, with energy intensity levels reaching 25.3 thousand Btu per $1990 in 1999. High energy intensity levels in India are due in large part to the level of industrial activity that has taken place in the country during the course of its economic expansion, coupled with the virtual absence of energy efficiency and conservation measures in most industrial sectors.

Carbon intensity in India also is relatively high compared to the carbon intensity levels of its neighbors. In 1999, carbon intensity in India measured 0.51 metric tons of carbon per thousand $1990. While India and Indonesia had similar levels of energy intensity in 1999, India had a 25% higher carbon intensity due to its heavy reliance on coal. This high level of carbon emissions per output ratio, coupled with a rapid growth in power demand, results in expectations of rapidly increasing carbon emissions into the future.

Carbon emissions historically have been exacerbated by the low energy efficiency of coal-based electricity generating plants. With the high capital costs associated with replacing existing coal-based plants, the scarcity of capital, and the long time required to introduce advanced coal technologies, it is realistic to assume that the older existing plants will continue running for the next couple of decades.

Indian economic policies such as high import tariffs on high-quality coal and subsidies on low-quality domestic coal also have contributed to increased use of low-quality coal. The Indian government has recently undertaken initiatives to encourage the use of higher quality coal. Coal tariffs have been reduced to 35% and the use of washed coal will be mandatory in all power plants from 2001 onwards.

Per Capita Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions
India's per capita energy consumption and carbon emissions are relatively low. In 1999, per capita energy consumption in India was 12.3 million Btu, compared to 355.8 million Btu per person in the United States and a world average of 63.6 million Btu per person. The country's per capita carbon emissions are also relatively low. In 1999, India emitted 0.25 metric tons of carbon per person, approximately one quarter of the world average and 22 times less than the United States.

Per capita consumption levels of both energy and carbon are expected to increase in India in the coming years, due to the rapid pace of urbanization, a conversion away from non-commercial towards commercial fuels, increased vehicular usage and the continued use of older and more inefficient coal-fired plants. In fact, due to fast-paced industrialization, per capita emissions are expected to triple between 1990 and 2020. The absolute increase in emissions will partially be a function of the degree to which coal is relied upon as a major energy source. If coal consumption is substituted by oil and natural gas consumption, total per capita carbon emissions would be reduced.

The path of development chosen by India will greatly dictate the country's future growth in carbon emissions. Per capita carbon emissions in South Korea, for example, grew by 6.5% annually between 1970 and 1996. If per capita carbon emissions in India and China were to grow over the next 20 years as emissions in South Korea did over the past 26 years, total worldwide emissions could exceed current projections (9.8 billion metric tons in 2020) by 3.4 billion metric tons.

Renewable Energy
India is the world's second most populous nation. With 70% of the population living in rural areas, meeting energy requirements in a sustainable manner continues to be one of India's main challenges. Hydroelectric power and wind energy are two of India's primary answers to the needed increase in electricity generation.

With approximately 150,000 MW of hydropower potential, India has begun to focus on large-scale hydroelectric plants to meet its future energy needs. The government is planning to introduce subsidies to support hydro-plant development, with 12 projects already approved for completion by 2002. In 1992, India's installed capacity of small-scale hydroelectric plants was 93 megawatts (MW). By 1999, there was a combined capacity for all plants of 155 MW, with work in progress to bring that total to 230 MW.

India is also endowed with rich wind resources and currently is ranked fifth in the world in wind power generation. India's wind power capacity has been growing by about 150-200 MW annually. As of December 31, 2000 total installed wind power capacity had reached 1,267 MW - marking an increase of 187 MW from the previous year. Of this capacity, approximately 95% has come from commercial projects based on private investments.

In an effort to accelerate local manufacturing, the Indian government has introduced a number of incentives, including abolishing customs duties on major components. It has also exempted wind machines from excise duties and sales tax. More than 25 Indian companies have established joint local factory production with various European and US manufacturers. There are large plans for the future contribution of as much as 20,000 MW, which would make wind a substantial contributor to the national grid.

Tigers In the Wild

India, being home to about 60% of the world's wild tiger population, is now the best hope for tiger survival. The Indian tiger is under severe pressure from habitat reduction and poaching for Traditional Chinese Medicine. With only 2000-3000 tigers left in severely fractured habitats in India, there is a distinct threat that the wild tiger could collapse into the extinction vortex in the near future and disappear forever.

In a country that has 3% of the earth's landmass and 20% on its human population, it is a wonder that the Indian subcontinent has provided the wild tiger's safe haven. In the past, the cultural and spiritual traditions of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths revered nature and many animals were deified and worshipped. The maharajahs also set aside large tracts of land as hunting preserves that provided a natural home to tigers and their prey. Along with colonialism came large-scale sport hunting (which stopped in 1972) and combined with poaching for Traditional Chinese Medicine and modern day business and industry, the tiger population has been devastated and their habitat exploited for human needs.

Today there is still a will in the region to save the tiger. Law in India sets tiger habitat aside, and significant financial resources are committed every year by the governments to save the tiger. There are 22 tiger reserves and many more national parks and sanctuaries.

India Entering the 21st Century
India faces great challenges in energy and the environment in coming years. With a rapidly increasing population, the demand for electricity generation and vehicular usage also is going to rise. Electricity is the key to economic development and India's current shortages of electricity have hampered industrial growth. Government initiatives aim to reduce the incentive to firms to provide this electricity using older, more inefficient coal-fired plants, as well as reduce the subsidies on low-quality coal. For example, fiscal incentives, in the form of customs waivers and soft loans, encourage the installation of pollution abatement equipment. Market mechanisms such as user charges, deposit refund systems, marketable permits and taxes for implementing pollution measures also are being contemplated.

India has made significant efforts in the field of environmental protection, developing environmental standards for both products and processes, requiring environmental impact statements in certain areas, and introducing environmental audits. Sheer population growth and urbanization, however, dictate that these measures are only the first steps on a long and challenging road.

International Treaties/Conventions/Declarations