As a developing economy, India has numerous developmental aspirations. How India meets these goals without worsening the climate crisis is at the heart of CSTEP's work. Addressing climate change and enabling a secure and sustainable future for Indian citizens require an overhaul of previous paradigms on development and resource utilisation. This is reflected in our work on developing low-carbon trajectories for development with an emphasis on nature-based solutions.
We are working with state governments across India to build capacity on risk and vulnerability assessments to inform their respective action plans on climate change. The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is crucial to achieving a secure and sustainable future. CSTEP's studies explore the possibility of a greater integration of renewables in the energy sector.
Using COVID-19 Response Measures to Build Resilience in Systems
In the fight against COVID-19, India announced INR 1.70 lakh crore (0.8 per cent of GDP) stimulus package. The package covers food, cooking gas, and direct cash transfers to low-income households. It includes insurance cover for health workers and wage support to low-wage workers. Later on, in May 2020, the government announced INR 20 lakh crore (10 per cent of GDP) to revitalise the economy. This package is inclusive of the INR 1.7 lakh crore to make India self-reliant.
Climate change: The heat is on
The temperature in the Indian subcontinent is set to increase 4 degree Celsius or more by the turn of the century, with frequent heatwaves persisting over longer durations. This and more such acute insights were revealed in a recent study released by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. Based on a thorough assessment of the observed changes and future projections of temperature, rainfall, sea level, and extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and heatwaves, the report is a clarion call for immediate action.
Cab Aggregators' Data: An Untapped Opportunity for Transportation Planning
The emergence of app-based cab aggregators (CA) has disrupted the urban transportation system and transformed how people make travel choices in Indian cities. These choices impact public transport ridership, vehicle ownership, congestion, parking etc. Understanding the extent of these impacts is critical for efficient transportation planning and policy. Shared mobility platforms such as Ola and Uber have made commuter travel habits trackable and collect real-time data at every point of a commuter’s journey.
Reverse Migration due to COVID-19 Underpins the Need for Adaptation
The domino effect set in motion by COVID-19 is a blunt reminder that under-prepared systems will have to bear devastating shocks. Climate change is one such inexorable force that not only amplifies existing risks but also creates new risks to natural and human systems.
Black carbon and biomass burning associated high pollution episodes observed at Doon valley in the foothills of the Himalayas
- Ground-based BC showed positive relationship with MERRA2-BC and CAMS-BC
- CBPF analysis identified the local sources of BC and BCbb
- CWT analysis identified regional and long-range sources of BC and BCbb
- CRB in NW-IGP
How to Handle Locust Swarms
Swarms of locusts are currently on the rampage in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, after leaving a trail of destroyed crops in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. These are no ordinary hoppers in that they become dangerous when they enter the gregarious phase, by forming swarms that can travel up to 150 km per day and eat as much as about 10 elephants in a day. When millions of locusts descend on a crop, they destroy everything, devastating the agricultural supply chain and livelihoods of farmers.
Planning for Physical Distancing May Be Challenging, but It Could Solve India's Housing Woes
By now, it is evident that India’s current housing conditions make it challenging to practice lockdown and self-quarantining effectively. For starters, our high population density and low open space per capita in urban areas make outdoor social distancing practically impossible.
Water-reduction potential of air-cooled condensers in coal power plants in India and anticipated trade-offs
Wet cooling towers (WCT) are widely used to reject the unutilized heat in coal thermal power plants (TPPs). But this comes at the cost of excessive water consumption. Adoption of air-cooled condensers (ACC), also known as dry cooling systems, in all proposed Indian TPPs would reduce their water consumption by 26% in 2030. However, power producers are reluctant to install ACC due to technical and economic disadvantages such as high capital investment and land footprint.
IH2®: Potential and Impact Analysis
IH2® is a waste-to-energy technology which converts a broad range of residues, including sorted municipal waste (up to 20% plastic content), agricultural residues to gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel-range hydrocarbon fuels. CSTEP performed the resource and impact assessment for large scale deployment IH2®. We estimated the agro-residues (for 10 states) and municipal solid waste (for 42 major cities) to examine the potential for adoption of IH2® technology.
Importance of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories in Mitigation Analysis and Planning
The link between rising levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and changing climatic patterns was first definitively put forth in 1898 by Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist. In the decades since Arrhenius, climate science has developed considerably, establishing with even greater conviction that climate change is closely connected to anthropogenic GHG emissions. As a result, there is a growing global awareness of the importance of reducing emissions in an effort to mitigate climate change.