Technology Assessment

An efficient recycling ecosystem will greatly help in reducing the loss of critical materials. It will promulgate our collective efforts in climate change mitigation, in a more holistic manner. We must embark on this aspirational journey, keeping in mind these three tenets of waste management. Our endeavours must stay put on sustainability in the age of neo-energy transformation.

LEDs consume 80-85 percent less electricity than conventional lighting sources and have much higher operating lifetimes (more than 50,000 hours). Unlike the preceding generation of lights – Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) – LEDs release zero mercury toxicity into the environment.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that the global solar photovoltaic (PV) installed capacity is expected to increase beyond 1,600 Gigawatts (GW) by 2030.

The threat of climate change is a serious global concern. India faces the twin challenges of adaptation and mitigation. As a country with many critical sectors and regions that are highly climate sensitive, there are significant costs associated with addressing the impacts of climate variability and future climate change. The National Action on Climate Change has set up an Expert Group to evolve Low Carbon Strategies for Inclusive Growth.

The Indian nuclear energy programme is at crossroads with several alternative pathways of industrial development potentially open to it. These possibilities include options for technology selection and development, as well as for organising the efforts of the state-owned entities and private companies. The nuclear energy programme also sets and aspires to target installed capacity through mid-century.

On a per capita basis, India is one of the lowest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world, yet it is threatened by the impact of global warming and climate change. The Expert Group on Low Carbon Strategies for Inclusive Growth has evolved a macro-model to fully elucidate the inter-sectoral implications of different mitigation measures and ensure that the low carbon strategies being recommended are mutually consistent with each other. The model output is summarised through two endpoint scenarios: BIG (Baseline, Inclusive Growth) and LCIG (Low Carbon, Inclusive Growth).

As a large developing country, India’s challenge is to meet its development aspirations in a carbon-constrained world. This study, undertaken by CSTEP, uses Sustainable Development (SD) as the overarching framework and aims at equitable access to energy, clean air and water, food, health and livelihoods and economic growth. The study connects elements of SD in an integrated bottom-up approach to understand the implications for economy, energy trajectories, emissions and costs. Any reduction of CO2 is treated as a co-benefit of the framework mentioned above.

There are continuing concerns over economic and environmental developments in many countries - some of these have intensified due to prolonged global energy, food and financial crises. In this context, “green economy” was proposed as a means for catalysing renewed national policy development and international cooperation and support for sustainable development. However, there is still a lack of clarity around what “green economy policy” encompasses and how it integrates with national and sub-national priorities and objectives relating to economic growth and poverty eradication.