Fall in India’s CO2 Emissions | 06 Nov 2019

Why in News

According to an analysis published in ‘Carbon Brief’, Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in India are set to grow at their slowest in the year 2019, which is a rise of only 2% from the year 2018. The 2% rate is a lower rate than any annual increase since 2001.

  • As per the International Energy Emissions Agency, 2018 report:
    • India’s per capita emissions were about 40% of the global average.
    • The emissions contributed 7% to the global carbon dioxide burden.
    • U.S., one of the largest emitters, contributed 14%.
  • Carbon Brief is a site that tracks emission and carbon dioxide trends.

Reasons

  • Economic slowdown in the country.
    • Oil demand growth slowed to 2.6% in the first eight months of 2019, compared with 4.6% in 2018, and 5% on average over the past 10 years.
    • Use of petcoke (an oil refining byproduct) continues to fall after an import ban was put in place.
      • India banned the import of petcoke for use as a fuel in 2018.
      • Thus, import of petcoke is allowed for only cement, lime kiln, calcium carbide and gasification industries, when used as the feedstock or in the manufacturing process.
    • Demand for naphtha – a lighter fraction of refined crude oil used in the chemical industry – fell too, likely due to slower growth in petrochemicals.
  • Slowdown in the expansion of coal-fired electricity generation and surge in renewable power generation.
    • Due to rapid growth in renewable generation, the share of coal in meeting the electricity demand has decreased.
    • In the first six months of 2019, wind, solar and hydro met 70% of the increase in electricity demand.

Benefits

  • This fall will help India in achieving its renewable energy targets.
    • The targets of India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) include:
      • To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35% by 2030 from 2005 levels.
      • To achieve about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030.
  • Slower growth in coal-based power generation will benefit the country’s air quality efforts, as essentially all coal-fired power plants in India lack pollution controls which are necessary in countries like China and the European Union.

Source: TH