Sustainability

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Report has, for the first time in the three-decade history of its reports, dedicated an entire chapter to innovation and technological development. The immense potential of new technologies for climate adaptation and mitigation is being recognised by policymakers and investors alike.

India is among the top five leading countries in solar power installed capacity. Of India’s ambitious target of 500-GW RE capacity by 2030, over 292 GW is likely to be generated using solar power. This increase in installed capacity, while promising, also opens doors to massive waste streams and increased emissions. According to the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy’s (CSTEP’s) analysis, India is projected to generate approximately 4.5 million tonnes of solar photovoltaic (PV) waste by 2050.

The solar photovoltaic industry is witnessing a remarkable expansion worldwide. India is ranked fourth globally in ground-mounted photovoltaic deployment. While this is impressive, the waste resulting from such end-of-life photovoltaic panels is expected to be enormous at 4.5 million tonnes by 2050, as per our estimates. In the absence of suitable infrastructure facilities and a lack of proactive policies for recycling, waste accumulation can become an unmanageable problem.

At the Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference held in New Delhi in May, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, said that the demand for petrochemicals is expected to nearly triple by 2040 in India.

The growth of the Indian petrochemical industry can be made sustainable only by mitigating the emissions from it. This study examines the decarbonisation potential of India’s petrochemical sector until 2050 through low- or zero-emission technologies. It also underlines measures for decarbonising this hard-to-abate sector, with the aim to provide inputs for devising suitable strategies and guide policy formulation.

There has in the last few years been a concerted push from policymakers and thought leaders in India to transition to a circular economy to, among other things, enable effective waste management. However, waste management in the solar photovoltaic sector still lacks clear directives.

There is little doubt that India’s water shortage problem is real and happening! Numbers confirm the alarming reality. According to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, India’s annual average per capita water availability was assessed at 1816 cubic metres and 1545 cubic metres in 2001 and 2011, respectively. This could further reduce to 1367 cubic metres in 2031. In 2019, NITI Aayog reported that nearly 600 million Indians are water-deprived and about 40% of the population will not have access to drinking water by 2030.

Extreme and unpredictable changes in the climate are a cause of serious concern globally. In India, the impacts of climate change are already profound. The second part of the Sixth Assessment Report (Working Group II contribution) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released in early 2022, has referred to India as one of the countries to be most “economically harmed” by climate change. The situation mandates urgent nationwide measures to build climate resilience by mitigating climate-related adversities and enabling adaptation.