Decarbonising the transport sector is essential not only to achieve the net-zero target but also to improve quality of life through benefits such as better air, reduced traffic-related woes, and urban heat management. Studies have modelled low-carbon strategies for the transport sector in India, with a focus on energy demand and emissions, but the cross-sectoral trade-offs of the strategies, such as their impact on land, water, and material use, are often missed. Further, the ripple effects through the economy or the macroeconomic impacts of the strategies are not well understood in the Indian context. In this study, we aimed to explore the natural resource and macroeconomic implications of two main strategies—biofuel use and electrification—to develop a decarbonisation strategy for the sector with minimal trade-offs.
We used two models for this analysis—the Sustainable Alternative Futures for India (SAFARI) and Social Accounting Matrix (SAM)-based multiplier. Ethanol blending and EV adoption have benefits and trade-offs across the value chain. Based on our findings on ethanol blending and EVs, as well as the other levers examined in the SAFARI model, we developed a roadmap for an optimistic and sustainable decarbonisation trajectory for the transport sector in India.
The study findings also provide policy insights impacting the net-zero landscape. You can access the policy briefs here:
Towards the long-term sustainability of ethanol use in India
Macroeconomic impacts of decarbonising mobility in India
The dataset linked to the study can be found under Downloads.
About the dataset:
This dataset contains a detailed Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for India for 2017-18. Building upon CSTEP's previously published SAM with disaggregation in the energy- and power-producing sectors (link), this SAM provides more disaggregation in vehicle manufacturing, ethanol-blended petroleum production, and transport equipment. Vehicles have been disaggregated into electric and non-electric types of different modes (two wheelers and three-wheelers, cars, and buses) and represent a part of the total ethanol production flowing to the petroleum-producing sector in accordance with the ethanol-blending mandate announced in the National Biofuels Policy (2018). This SAM enables the analysis of the macroeconomic impacts on various transport decarbonisation scenarios in India, centred around ethanol blending and electrification policies. Most recently, it has been used along with various other tools to produce CSTEP's report titled 'Decarbonising India’s Transport Sector: Navigating Trade-offs of Biofuel Use and Electrification'.
