Climate Hour: Climate Crisis Basics and COP26
As part of CSTEP's Discussion Series on the Role of Science and Technology in Society,
the Climate team organised 'Climate Hour: Climate Crisis Basics and COP26' on 30 November 2021.
The virtual event discussed the climate crisis and COP26 in detail, and students from various educational institutes participated.
Please watch the recording of the event here.
RE Atlas Can Provide Pre-feasibility Analysis for Setting up Solar Plants to Make OSOWOG a Reality
The Green Grids Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG), announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the sidelines of COP26, aims to harness the solar potential and facilitate a faster transition to renewable energy. With the US being the latest country to join the India-led International Solar Alliance, One Sun, One World, One Grid may not be too distant a dream after all.
The Nuclear Option
With the escalating integration of intermittent renewables to the grid along with the net-zero 2070 target, nuclear energy must play a complementary role. However, nuclear energy in India seems to be on the backburner, with the installed capacity at just 6.8 GW even though we are expected to reach 22 GW by 2030. From this perspective, let us take a fresh look at nuclear energy in the Indian context.
Customised Interventions Needed for Air-Pollution Mitigation in Non-Attainment Cities
In line with strong emerging evidence on how air pollution affects human health, the World Health Organisation (WHO), in its latest guidelines, has recommended more stringent limits for all key air pollutants to protect populations worldwide. It also says that almost 80% of deaths related to PM₂.₅—the most hazardous pollutant for public health—could be prevented if the current air pollution levels were reduced to those proposed in the updated guidelines.
India's Food Systems: Approach to be Reimagined
In food, there is hope. September’s United Nations Food Systems Summit, the first of its kind, brought many international players, including farmers and agricultural experts, together to re-emphasise the need to strengthen and improve food systems (Figure 1
COP 26: What India Must Do
India must follow a three-fold strategy at the UN Climate Change conference. It must call upon developed countries to advance their net-zero target years by a decade or two. It should draw focus on shorter-term climate goals, particularly for developed countries, and highlight the enormous scale of finance needed for climate action in developing countries.
Ensuring Efficiency: Role of AI in Distributed Solar Segment
Renewable energy is gaining traction in India as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. It is cleaner and safer than traditional energy sources. The renewable energy sector in India has achieved substantial progress because of technological improvements in the recent decade. The most used renewable energy sources in India are solar (45 GW) and wind (39 GW), totaling 85 GW out of the total renewable energy capacity of 100 GW.
Delivering the Hydrogen Economy
Hydrogen demand will increase rapidly as several sectors realise its applications. It is important to start building capacity of storage technologies like compressed or liquefied hydrogen now.
How Supportive are Indian EV Policies to Charging Infrastructure in Order to Power the Mobility Transition?
It is known that adequate and accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure is a necessary precondition for the mass adoption of EVs in India. To support an electric mobility future, governments must focus on building the necessary charging infrastructure – one that supports the target vehicle numbers it hopes to achieve. Even though there is no perfect EV to charging station ratio to aim for, every country will have to design fit-for-purpose solutions to cater to their electric mobility needs.