We believe that in long-term forecasting, understanding the dynamic behaviour of the system and its responses to various interventions is crucial.

COP25 comes close on the heels of the UN Climate Summit in New York, in September. Several countries (68 countries accounting for 8% of global GHG emissions) signalled that they will be strengthening commitments at Madrid.

As parties to the Paris agreement prepare to enhance their NDCs next year, non-party stakeholders have a crucial responsibility in leading the governments to take concrete measures to urgently align their growth and climate actions with the 1.5 degree Celsius target. Bridging the emissions gap and enabling a transition to a low carbon economy will require concerted efforts from industries: take responsibility for their contribution to the overall emissions by leveraging and using their strength to rapidly deploy innovative technologies at scale.

The 25th Conference of the Parties (COP25) in Madrid was a disappointment on many accounts. Hailed as the ‘ambition COP’, it proved to be everything but. One of the core issues that negotiators were attempting to resolve, but were unsuccessful at, was Loss and Damage financing.

The subsidy to the agricultural sector in Karnataka has seen a whopping increase of 86% - from INR 4,993 crore in FY13 to INR 9,295 crore in FY18 - in just five years. A large portion of this subsidy can be saved by the government by merely mapping the already segregated agricultural feeders with associated distribution transformers and irrigation pump (IP) sets. Mapping will help the distribution company (DISCOM) assess the actual number of active IP sets drawing power, resulting in a better estimate of electricity consumed by them.

In this interview, Dr VS Arunachalam speaks on technology — the great leveller — and how the strategic application of science and technology can help India meet its policy goals.

CSTEP has developed a framework for feeder-wise revenue analysis and monitoring of energy sales (FRAMES) at the 11 kV-feeder level.

We see an urgent need for integrated decision-support systems for now and the future, to address every conceivable emergency. It is time we built such a system in India to deal with our emergencies. With ingenuity and foresight, we can replace fear with hope and confidence.

Think tanks can play the role of a mediator, critic and facilitator, by exploring technology beyond the designer’s tunnel vision to look at the big picture.

This article was originally published in the On Think Tanks Annual Review — 2019–20. You may read the complete review on this link.

The primacy of finding cost-effective solutions for achieving deep cuts in India’s space cooling requirement cannot be overstated. Considering this, it is perhaps time to take more ambitious leaps and curb carbon emissions by slowing down the space cooling demand through Energy-Efficient Building Envelopes, by strategically putting to use existing technology and discovering more effective and efficient ways of doing the same.