The first blog delved into the principles and relevance of circular economy (CE) in reducing the overconsumption of finite resources. In this concluding blog, the authors share their experiences from the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) 2024, held during the beginning of the financial year 2024−25 in Brussels, the capital of Belgium and a hub of policymaking in Europe.

In this two-part blog series, the authors share some of their research learning on circular economy (CE) and revisit their experiences from the recently concluded World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) 2024.

The Air Sensors International Conference (ASIC) 2024 was concluded at Riverside, California, USA, in May 2024. With participation from over 35 countries, the conference proceedings laid emphasis on expanding the use of sensors beyond increasing monitoring capacity. The conference enabled academics and industry experts to discuss the current challenges in the mass adoption of sensors for research and actual monitoring. During the South Asia-focused session, the authors participated in a discussion on the advances in the use of sensors in Bengaluru and Delhi NCR.

Earth, home to over 8 billion species, saw record CO2 emissions in 2023. The temperatures rose by 1.4 °C, close to the 1.5 °C cap of the Paris Agreement, making it the warmest year. Recently, as we celebrated the World Environment Day on 5th June — the biggest day on environment observed to increase awareness about and action against this aggravating climate change situation — it is timely to reinterpret our fundamental rights and duties through a climate lens.

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) issued the Draft Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Deviation Settlement Mechanism [DSM] and Related Matters) Regulations in April 2024. The commission found that the existing DSM pricing structure was leading to over-incentivisation of deviations from scheduled transactions, resulting in suboptimal grid operations and impacting grid stability. Generators were using DSM as a market medium rather than a tool to avoid frequency deviations and ensure grid stability.

India marked its presence as a serious contender in the green hydrogen space at the World Hydrogen Summit in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, which happened in May this year. The India Pavilion set up by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) showcased the nation’s progress in the green hydrogen (GH2) domain and conveyed the government’s intent to deploy it for meeting the nation’s energy requirements sustainably.

Rooftop solar (RTS) has the potential to revolutionise India’s energy landscape, offering a sustainable, decentralised, and affordable solution to meet the country’s growing electricity needs and making consumers self-reliant. The country’s installed RTS capacity increased by 2.99 GW in 2023-2024, the highest growth reported in a year. As of March 31 this year, the total installed RTS capacity in India was 11.87 GW, per the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

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Small industries or micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are a crucial sector in India’s development. They have a large carbon footprint, partly because of the nature of energy consumption, with over 80% of the energy consumed being required for thermal processes to produce heat (e.g. in boilers and furnaces). These thermal energy demands have traditionally been met through fossil fuel sources (such as coal, natural gas, and pet coke), making MSMEs a hard-to-abate sector.