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.
Climate Mitigation Policy Evaluation for the State of Gujarat - June 2020
This report contains the following elements:
▪ A listing of the policies/ programmes/ schemes/ missions/ laws applicable within boundary of the state of Gujarat considered for analysis across the sectors
▪ Analysis of achievement of targets under the policies/ programmes/ schemes/ missions/ laws. and an its assessment of GHG emission implications
▪ An assessment, wherever possible of the positive and/or negative impacts of the implementation of these policies on the climate
Energy and Emissions Implications for a Desired Quality of Life in India
Key Objective: The main objective of this project is to develop an energy model as a visualisation and planning tool (Decision Support System) that will enable policymakers to create and test their strategies virtually.
Simulating India's Safar to 2050
We believe that in long-term forecasting, understanding the dynamic behaviour of the system and its responses to various interventions is crucial.
Loss and Damage, and why this was a lost cause at COP25
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.
Cooling India
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.
A 'concrete' idea for stubble burning
Burning the generated straw in a closed system like a cement kiln, where the exhaust gas adheres to pollution norms, can significantly curb the woes of stubble burning. Every kilogram of rice produced implies 0.7-1.4 kg of rice straw, which means 4-8 million tonnes of straw being burnt on the fields in Punjab and Haryana collectively. The straw can produce as much as 50-100 petajoules (PJ) of energy. This can be used in cement kilns to meet the thermal energy demand for producing cement.
Assessing Impacts of Economic Growth Trajectories on Climate Goals: A CGE-TIMES Framework for India
Our study aims to simulate India’s long-term economic growth trajectories and assess the implications on energy and emissions till 2030.
Decarbonising the Cooking Sector
The optimal approach to decarbonise cooking is to start using a clean and low-carbon fuel. It is essential to ensure that the shift to modern, clean cooking fuels and the use of energy-efficient technologies go hand-in-hand. Transition to electricity-based cookstoves will offer similar or higher decarbonisation outcomes and lower the risks on energy security.
Spaceborne lidar retrieved composite and speciated aerosol extinction profiles and optical depths over India: A decade of observations
Based on satellite data, gathered over a decade (June 2006 to December 2016), polluted dust - defined as a mixture of dust and smoke - has emerged as the dominant aerosol species across India.